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Iraq Acquired Missile Engines From Poland, Documents Reveal
In 2001, Iraq orchestrated an illicit network to obtain old rocket engines to modify its al-Samoud 2 ballistic missiles, the Los Angeles Times reported today (see GSN, Aug. 20). The existence and depth of the network was revealed in Iraqi military-industrial documents recovered after Operation Iraqi Freedom, according to the Times. The documents describe a deal involving an Iraqi missile development facility, an Iraqi procurement company and a Polish export firm, the Times reported. In addition, the arrangement was funded by a Jordanian bank and overseen by a Syrian firm. The clandestine effort netted Iraq 380 engines for old air-defense missiles, but the al-Samouds were never modified sufficiently to allow the engines to be fitted, according to the Times. In the summer of 2001, Iraq signed four contracts to acquire Volga/SA-2 rocket engines from Poland between January 2001 and August 2002, the Times reported. Baghdad intended to use the engines to extend the range of its al-Samoud 2 missile. The engine contracts were signed by Karama Co., Iraq’s main missile development facility; the Armos Trading Co., an Iraqi procurement organization; and the Polish firm Evax, according to the Times. According to a June 2001 contract, Evax was to provide Iraq with 96 Volga engines of “Eastern production” for about $1.3 million. To obtain the engines, Evax used Polish scrap dealers and middlemen, who gathered Volga rocket components from scrapyards operated by the Polish Military Property Agency, the Times reported. Both the Iraqis and the Polish firm seemed confident of their ability to smuggle the engines into Iraq undetected, the Times reported. “The embargo against Iraq is not considered an (obstacle) for the supplying Polish party,” the June contract said (Fleishman/Drogin, Los Angeles Times, Dec. 31).
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