Defence & security capability for Iraq

Iraq's economy rests overwhelmingly on its oil, and every barrel tapped, bunkered or diverted illegally drains the national revenue that reconstruction depends on. The pipeline and field network stretches across terrain from the southern fields to the north, much of it hard to watch from the ground. Protecting that revenue is inseparable from protecting the state's finances.

Iraq's hard-won stability is still tested by insurgent and terrorist networks that exploit its western deserts, porous borders and unprotected communications. Its security forces need a decisive information edge to stay ahead of an adaptive adversary. That edge should come from a supplier with no political agenda attached to it.

Small unmanned aircraft have become a routine threat over Iraq's bases, energy sites and public spaces, launched cheaply by non-state actors. Recent conflicts across the region have made the danger unmistakable and affordable to mount. A layered counter-drone capability is now a baseline requirement for Iraqi security.

Iraq's power, water and transport networks are under pressure from both physical sabotage and cyber intrusion, even as the country rebuilds them. Disruption to these systems undermines daily life and public confidence alike. Keeping essential services running under attack is central to Iraq's stability.

Iraq's borders run for great distances across desert, marsh and mountain, adjoining several neighbours whose stability varies. Long stretches of the frontier are effectively unwatched, letting armed groups, smugglers and irregular movement exploit the gaps. Turning that porous line into a monitored one, under sovereign control, is a priority for the state.

Contraband, fuel and untaxed goods cross Iraq's borders wherever surveillance is thinnest, draining customs revenue and financing illicit networks. Diverted fuel in particular is a persistent drain in an oil economy. Making the smuggling routes visible protects both the treasury and wider security.

For Iraq's security forces operating across contested terrain and against adaptive adversaries, protecting command traffic is fundamental. Unprotected networks hand an adversary the operational picture for free. Sovereign-controlled communications are the baseline on which counter-terrorism, border and infrastructure missions all depend.

Iraq's ministries, registries and national databases face continuous attack from criminal and state-linked actors as the state digitises its functions. These are the systems governance runs on, and their compromise would undermine institutions and public trust. The defence they need must be accountable to Iraq's government, not a foreign one.

Iraq's custodial facilities hold individuals whose escape or continued coordination would carry serious security consequences. Drones now deliver contraband over walls, and escapes are increasingly coordinated through compromised networks. Closing these modern gaps in custodial security is a direct contribution to counter-terrorism and public safety.

Iraq operates ageing aircraft, vehicles and vessels that stay in service well beyond their original design life, as is common in much of the world. Verifying that this equipment remains structurally sound is essential to keeping it available and safe. Doing so independently of the original manufacturer's schedule gives Iraq control over its own sustainment.

Sustaining Iraq's security forces across its western deserts and other remote regions exposes convoys and strains budgets. The distances are long, the routes vulnerable and the connectivity thin. Keeping remote operations supplied and connected is a persistent logistical and communications challenge for the state.

Power, water, transport and port systems assessed, hardened and watched continuously, by a team with no foreign government to report the findings to.

Persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance across land, sea and air, tasked on national priorities and accountable to the flag that owns it.

Command-and-control links that adapt in the field and keep working where terrestrial networks cannot reach, owned outright with no partner able to listen in or cut the line.

Layered defence against hostile unmanned aircraft: detection, tracking and defeat priced for the mass threat rather than a missile economy that empties the magazine first.

Hardened control systems, security that works with the network down, and inspection that certifies the physical estate, the unglamorous half of national defence that decides the loud half.