The Iraqi vision is grand: build one of the Middle East's premier air forces flying F-16s, attack helicopters and modern airlifters. But years of neglect, combat losses and domestic turmoil mean that attaining this goal will be an enormous challenge.

Trying to create a new air force in what's effectively still a war zone may be an unprecedented undertaking. Nevertheless, such efforts are gaining momentum as a new generation of systems, pilots, maintenance personnel and processes starts coming into its own.

Transitioning to a Western-style flying culture is proving to be an arduous task, since Iraq is hobbled by economic and security difficulties that continue to define daily life here. Although the U.S.-led Coalition Air Force Transition Team (CAFTT) - which is helping to build the Iraqi air force (IQAF) - is seeing signs of progress, the verdict is still out on whether lasting change can be achieved.

The Iraqi ambitions are significant and the shopping list is long. The government already has requested information related to buying a fleet of F-16s; purchase plans for C-130Js and attack helicopters are underway.

The IQAF also is considering buying an advanced jet trainer that could double as a counter-insurgency aircraft and also perform reconnaissance tasks. An often-mentioned option is the AT-6B, an armed derivative of the Raytheon T-6A Texan II trainer. "We'll need many aircraft to keep up with the capability of the Iraqi army to fight terrorists," says IQAF Col. Ahmed, a senior squadron commander in the service. (Some Iraqi officers use only their first names, for fear their families might be targeted if their identities become known.)

The goal is to rebuild the air force by 2020 to have around 18,000 personnel and 550 aircraft, far below the 50,000 troops and 1,000 fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft the IQAF fielded in 1990.

The pace of growth already is brisk. "About a year ago, there were 750 people. Now there are 1,900, and by year-end it will be 2,800. By next year there [should] be 6,000" in the IQAF, notes U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Nathan Brauner, adviser to the Iraqi training squadron.

With regard to airpower, the CAFTT team has been stressing the importance of a using a Western-style approach but is nevertheless wary of taking that too far. "We have to be careful not to mirror-image," says USAF Col. Sean Frisbee, CAFTT's chief of staff. "We are not creating the U.S. Air Force; we are creating the best Iraqi air force we can," adds USAF Lt. Col. Mark Brunsworth, adviser to Iraq's C-130E squadron.

The rebuilding effort started in 2004 and gathered steam around two years ago when larger numbers of former IQAF pilots started rejoining the service, says Ahmed. Safety concerns early on kept pilots from returning, he adds. As the security situation improved in the past two years, more pilots returned. But that doesn't mean security isn't still a problem. Senior IQAF officers worry about a "hit list" that has some of their names on it. Also, many pilots still don't want to be identified with their service affiliation for fear of reprisals.

With the Iraqi public, the IQAF appears to be resonating well. The service has painted the Iraqi flag under its aircraft. It's the best self-protection system that can be fielded, quips one senior Iraqi officer. U.S. pilots also note that when they fly on Iraqi helicopters, they see civilians below waving - emotions not seen when the ubiquitous U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawks are overhead.