US forces hand over an air defense system to the Iraqi army after withdrawing from Ain al-Asad.
US forces hand over an air defense system to the Iraqi army after withdrawing from Ain al-Asad.
2026-01-20
On Tuesday (January 20, 2026), US forces handed over an air defense system to the Iraqi army following their complete withdrawal from Ain al-Asad Air Base in Anbar province, western Iraq, in a move that comes as part of arrangements to transfer the base file and everything related to its protection to Iraqi forces exclusively.
Press sources said that “the American forces, after completing the evacuation procedures from Ain al-Asad base, handed over to the Iraqi army an air defense system installed inside the base, and an Iraqi team was trained to operate and maintain it during the past months,” indicating that “the system will be used to protect the base from any missile or drone threat.”
The sources added that “the type of system has not yet been officially revealed, but it is widely believed to be a short-range anti-missile and anti-drone air defense system (C-RAM), which is one of the systems that have been used in recent years to intercept missiles and drones that have targeted the base from time to time.”
The Iraqi Ministry of Defense announced on Saturday (January 17, 2026) the completion of the withdrawal of US forces from Ain al-Assad Air Base in the al-Baghdadi district of Anbar province, and the Iraqi army taking over the entire security and military file at the base, within the framework of the agreement signed between Baghdad and Washington in 2024 to end the presence of coalition forces in Iraqi federal bases and move to a bilateral cooperation relationship.
Ain al-Asad Air Base is one of the largest and most important air bases in Iraq. For years, it has hosted US and international coalition forces and has been the target of several missile and drone attacks, most notably the Iranian missile strike in early 2020 in retaliation for the assassination of Qassem Soleimani. During this period, advanced air defense systems, including C-RAM systems, were employed to counter missile and drone threats.
With the completion of the American withdrawal from Ain al-Asad and the handover of the air defense system to the Iraqi army, the burden of protecting the base and its airspace is transferred entirely to the Iraqi forces, at a time when the government confirms that receiving these bases with all their facilities and systems represents part of “establishing sovereignty” and strengthening national air defense capabilities, amid close monitoring of any potential escalation in the region that may affect military bases and facilities inside Iraq.
burathanews.com
