ex-Iraqi, now Iranian Il-76 AWACS
This plane is Iraqi AWACS aircraft based on Il-76 with electronics supplied from France before 1991. During Persian Gulf War along with some other combat aircrafts fled to Iran to avoid destruction. Iran kept those aircraft as compensation for 1980 - 1988 Iran-Iraq war.

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1315765/L/

If linking isn't allowed please delete it just thought it was a cool find.

good posts rock, how do you know so much about everything aircraft?

therise21
I'm just a huge aviation fan and been following them since I was a kid. I like to follow aircraft sales and aviation news the most I guess. My newest thing I'm getting into is the after sale effect of aircraft when sold to a country. Like the 'Ghana’s Air Force will soon be modernized with Chinese K-8
Air Force To Be Re-Equipped" post. This is a very small East African country that's going to have jet trainers and one can assume Chinese fighters down the road. Think of the impact on the surrounding nations nearby that might not the aircraft nor the money to buy them. One could project power in a sense if you think about it that way.
Look at Venezuela for example to the the US he's still a small fry but to nearby country's he has Flankers and 100,000 AKs and more. Colombia has I think 7 to 9 Kfir's or Mirage 5s, think how they feel? If Chavez were to triple his aircraft order supported by training & maintenance programs and then purchase a squadron or two for Ecuador he would get a lot more attention.
Sudan is another country that down the road could buy more aircraft and other arms then Chad. Africa to me is interesting because there's no big players anymore.
Algeria is another interesting country that could go in a few different directions and have the money to do it. There the 5th largest producer of natural gas in the world but I'm not sure if they have the personnel to support all there incoming goodies. Hired help is a wonderful thing right.

This is the kind of stuff I like to follow.