Patriotic Union of Kurdistan Air Force Taking Shape!

In January 2021, Scramble Magazine first reported on the developments in the semi-autonomous region of Northern Iraq before and we have good reasons to do so again.

Bafel Jalal Talabani, the President of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) posted a tweet on 8 July 2023 with a video of a parade of the “Lexoman Parastin” Counter-Terrorism Group (CTG) forces.

In the video, a well-known AS350B3e (YI-APU), a recently acquired but unmarked EC225 helicopter, but also two unmarked Blackshape Prime ultralight aircraft were shown!

The video was shot at Arbat airport, just south-east of the PUK hometown of Sulaymaniyah. It is known to house the Ikarus C42A and some AutoGyro Europe MTO sport and Scramble Magazine expects that the Blackshape Prima aircraft are also located here. If you know the identity of any of these aircraft, please let us know at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

In the recently updated Scramble Air Order of Battle of the Kurdistan Region in Iraq we try to explain the complex geo-political situation in the region and the efforts of the two major Kurdish ruling families (the Talabani and Barzani) to gain the upper hand in the internal Kurdish power-struggle. For those interested, please at the Kurdistan OrBat pages.

Photos: screen captures of the Tweet by @Bafeltalabani