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WASHINGTON, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- The U.S. Congress has been notified that Foreign Military sales deals are in the works for Iraq for spare parts and more than 20,000 laser-guided rockets.

The required notifications were made by the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which said both possible contracts -- worth a combined total of $697 million -- had already won approval from the U.S. State Department.

The proposed sales "will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a strategic partner," the agency said, and "directly supports the government of Iraq and serves the interests of the people of Iraq and the United States."

The first deal, worth an estimated $600 million, is a Foreign Military Sales Order II contract to provide funds for blanket order requisitions under a Cooperative Logistics Supply Agreement.

The CLSSA is for spare parts to support M1A1 tanks, M1070 heavy equipment tactical trucks, M88A1/2 tank recovery vehicles, M113 vehicles, M198 towed Howitzers, M109A5 self-propelled Howitzers, High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicles, and heavy expanded mobility tactical trucks.

Spare parts and other items covered include heavy and light machine guns, common repair sets, and additional authorized items with associated equipment and services.

"Iraq requires continuing procurement and repair of spare parts through the U.S. Government's FMSO II program in order to maintain its military fleets of tanks, vehicles, and other associated equipment," DSCA said. "The spare parts and repair sets to be procured under this proposed sale are critical for maintaining these ground transportation vehicles in operational condition."

The principal contractor would be General Dynamics Land Systems in Michigan. U.S. government or contractor representatives would not be required to travel to Iraq.

The second proposed contract is for as many as 20,000 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon Systems, or APKWS, and associated equipment, parts and logistical support.

The APKWS is a 70mm Hydra rocket fitted with a laser guidance and control section between the warhead and rocket motor with standard tools. It is fired from helicopters.

More here:
Iraq seeks rockets, vehicle spare parts

Iraqs prime minister removed 36 senior army officers in a shakeup of a military that collapsed in the face of the offensive by Islamic State militants.

Haidar al-Abadi late yesterday fired 26 commanders, retired 10 others and made 18 appointments in his biggest overhaul of the security forces since he took office three months ago. Abadi said the steps were taken to re-energize the military leadership, according to postings on his Twitter page. Military chiefs needed to show integrity, competence and courage to defeat Islamic State, he added.

The Iraqi army, which has received billions of dollars in U.S. training and equipment over the past 10 years, disintegrated in June as Islamic State swept through mainly Sunni areas in western and northern Iraq. The militants have declared an Islamic caliphate in an area straddling the Iraq-Syria border.

The al-Qaeda splinter group led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, an Iraqi with a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head, has carried out mass killings of captured Iraqi Shiite troops, beheaded members of religious minorities and forced women into sexual slavery.

Abadis changes include replacing his chief of staff, Lieutenant General Babaker Zibari, with Lieutenant General Khorsheed Saleem, according to the Al-Mada news agency and Sharqiya television channel. Staff Brigadier Qasim Muhammad was named as commander of the restive mainly Sunni Anbar province, neighboring Baghdad, according to the reports. Anbar has seen fierce fighting in recent weeks between the Islamic State and Iraqs army backed by sectarian militias.

Since taking office Abadi has sought to overcome deep Sunni hostility toward the ruling Shiite elite that has dominated the government and the military since the ouster of Saddam Hussein by U.S.-led forces.

To contact the reporters on this story: Aziz Alwan in Baghdad at aalwan1@bloomberg.net; Donna Abu-Nasr in Beirut at dabunasr@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrew J. Barden at barden@bloomberg.net Mark Williams, Karl Maier

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