CENTCOM Gives Iraq Campaign Update-Iraq receives F-16s

The first 4 of the Iraqi Air Force's 36 new Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcons have arrived at Balad Air Base,Iraq,their pilots and crews having undergone extensive US Air Force training in Arizona.The NATO platform aircraft gives the IAF the interoperability necessary to conduct operations with coalition forces,said US Central Command spokesman Colonel Patrick Ryder,USAF in a teleconference with reporters on 24 July.
COL Ryder also gave an assessment of the Iraqi Security Forces' recent progress against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.They are in the process of isolating Ramadi in Anbar Province,to conduct a deliberate clearing operation to retake the provincial capital city,COL Ryder noted.The counterattack began on 12 July,and since then,76 Operation Inherent Resolve airstrikes have weakened ISIL by targeting enemy positions,weapons caches and equipment.ISIL is resisting by using vehicle bombs,suicide bombers and other tactics to slow the ISF advance,as well as by circulating propaganda to mitigate their losses and overstate operational performance.CENTCOM is encouraged by the ISF well-developed and comprehensive plan they have put together and executed.
The majority of Beiji is now under ISF control,although its oil refinery,the largest in Iraq,is still being contested.In the North,the Kurdish forces hold their defensive lines from Sinjar to the north side of Mosul,then down to the north of Kirkuk aginst ISIL's harassing attacks centered between Sinjar and Mosul.Since 12 July,coalition aircraft have conducted 16 dynamic airstrikes on enemy personnel,weapons and equipment in the Mosul area.
Overall,we've removed hundreds more fighters from the battlefield in Iraq and Syria,including numerous ISIL leaders and facilitators.This inevitably reduces the organisation's effectiveness and forces them to make tough choices on how and where to apply resources,COL Ryder concluded.*
Among the latest airstrike results as of 28 July:
Fighter,fighter-attack,bomber and remotely-piloted aircraft conducted airstrikes in Syria.Near Hasakah,7 sorties destroyed 4 ISIL fighting positions,a staging position,a bunker,a motorcycle and a structure.
Near Aleppo,2 sorties destroyed a vehicle,7 fighting positions and a bunker.*
There were 23 airstrikes in Iraq approved by the Iraqi Ministry of Defence:
Near Beiji,3 sorties struck 2 tactical units and terrain,denying ISIL a tactical advantage,and destroying 2 buildings.
Near Makhmur,3 sorties destroyed 19 fighting positions,10 tunnels and 3 vehicles.
Near Mosul,2 sorties destroyed 2 fighting positions and a vehicle.
Near Ramadi,6 sorties destroyed an excavator,2 fighting positions,a resupply truck,a mortar position,an anti-aircraft artillery weapon,a vehicle and a structure.
Near Sinjar,5 sorties destroyed a vehicle,a heavy machine gun,5 fighting positions and a light machine gun.
Those participating in the Iraq strikes included the US,Australia,Canada,Denmark, France,Jordan,the Netherlands and the UK.
Participating in the Syria strikes were the US,Bahrain,Canada,Jordan,Saudi Arabia and the UAE.*
Lockheed Martin (LMT)