ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s Defense Industries Commission (DIC) announced on Sunday that it saved $700 million over the past two years by locally producing weapons and ammunition instead of relying on imports.
“The volume of contracts with the [Military Industrialization] Authority for the local production of weapons and ammunition for the Iraqi Armed Forces in 2023 and 2024 contributed to saving more than $700 million,” DIC Chairman Mustafa Aati told Iraqi state media. He added that the preserved funds were “allocated for the procurement of weapons and ammunition from foreign sources.”
Aati added that “the factories of the Military Industrialization Authority are working on producing new types of light weapons, medium-caliber ammunition, heavy artillery, mortars, field rocket launchers, and artillery throughout 2025.”
In September 2019, Iraq’s legislature passed a bill to establish the DIC with aims of expanding military production. Iraq’s interior minister last September showcased the first batch of domestically produced armored vehicles manufactured by the commission.
Although Iraq remains heavily reliant on arms imports, particularly from the United States, the country has experience in producing light weaponry and upgrading Russian-made missiles.
Official data indicates that the US provided Iraq with approximately $13.8 billion in aid from 2015 to 2023, including around $430 million in 2023. These funds covered security assistance, development programs, and humanitarian support.
With Donald Trump’s return to the US presidency in 2025, his administration is set to reassess funding priorities.
The US-led Global Coalition Against ISIS, formed in 2014 to support Iraq’s fight against the terrorist group, provided military assistance, intelligence sharing, and training to Iraqi forces.
While the territorial defeat of ISIS was declared in 2017, coalition forces remained in Iraq at Baghdad’s request to assist in counterterrorism operations.
In September, Iraq and the US jointly announced an agreement to end the coalition’s combat mission against ISIS by September 2025.
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