Royal Omani Air Force
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Royal Omani Air Force |
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|---|---|
 Emblem of the RAFO |
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| Lineup | March 1959 |
| Country |
 Oman
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| Armed forces | Omani Armed Forces |
| Type | Armed forces ( air force ) |
| Strength | 5,000 |
| insignia | |
| Aircraft cockade |
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| flag |
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The Royal Omani Air Force ( Arabic سلاح الجو السلطاني العماني, DMG Silāḥ al-ǧaww as-sulṭānī al-ʿumānī ; English Royal Air Force of Oman , abbreviated RAFO ) is the air force of the armed forces of the Sultanate of Oman .
history
The Royal Omani Air Force , then Sultan of Oman's Air Force , was founded in March 1959 with the help of British personnel and material. The equipment consisted of two Scottish Aviation Pioneers and one armed Percival Provost .
In 1968, a total of twenty-four training and light attack aircraft of the type BAC Strikemaster were purchased in order to be able to take action against rebels in Dhofar Governorate . These were reinforced by De Havilland Canada DHDC-4 transport aircraft and UH-1 Iroquois helicopters. These machines were flown by seconded pilots of the British Royal Air Force or recruited mercenaries .
In the 1970s, the Omani Air Force was reinforced by other aircraft such as the Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander , BAC 1-11 , BAC VC-10 , Hawker Hunter and the SEPECAT Jaguar . Since 1990, the referred Royal Air Force of Oman in English as Royal Air Force of Oman . The pilots are trained at the Sultan Qaboos Air Academy.
Current equipment
To modernize its air force, Oman ordered twelve Eurofighter Typhoon and eight BAE Hawk in 2012 ; delivery is planned for 2017.
Planes
Status: end of 2018
| Aircraft | origin | use | version | active | Ordered | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warplanes | |||||||
| Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon |
 United States
|
Multipurpose fighter | F-16C block 50 | 14th | 4th | ||
| BAE Hawk |
 United Kingdom
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Ground attack aircraft | Hawk 203 | 10 | |||
| Transport and multipurpose aircraft | |||||||
| Lockheed C-130 Hercules |
United States
|
Tactical combat zone transporter | C-130H C-130J |
3 3 |
|||
| Airbus C-295 |
 European Union
|
Tactical transport aircraft maritime patrol |
4 3 |
1 | |||
| Short Skyvan |
United Kingdom
|
Maritime patrol | 3 | ||||
| Training aircraft | |||||||
| General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon |
United States
|
two-seat fighter aircraft | F-16D block 50 | 6th | |||
| BAE Hawk |
United Kingdom
|
Jet trainer | Hawk 103 | 5 | |||
| Pilatus PC-9 |
 Switzerland
|
Training aircraft | 12 | ||||
| Passenger planes | |||||||
| Airbus A320 |
European Union
|
Passenger Airplane (VIP) | Airbus A320-200 (CJ) Prestige | 3 | |||
| Gulfstream IV |
United States
|
Passenger Airplane (VIP) | 2 | ||||
helicopter
Status: end of 2014
| Aircraft | origin | use | version | active | Ordered | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bell 205 |
United States
|
Light multipurpose helicopter | 4th | |||
| Bell 206 |
United States
|
Light multipurpose helicopter | 4th | |||
| NHIndustries NH90 |
European Union
|
Multipurpose tactical helicopter | NH90 TTH | 15th | 5 | |
| Aérospatiale AS 332 Cougar |
 France / United Kingdom
|
Medium-weight transport helicopter | 2 | |||
| Aérospatiale SA 330 Puma |
France / United Kingdom
|
Medium-weight transport helicopter | 2 | |||
| Westland Lynx |
United Kingdom
|
Multipurpose helicopter | Lynx Mk.120 | 15th |
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Oman buys Eurofighter. Flug Revue, December 21, 2012, accessed September 13, 2015 .
- ↑ a b World Air Forces 2015 . In: Flightglobal Insight (English) . 2015. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
- ↑ New F-16C handed over to Oman. Flug Revue, April 7, 2014, accessed September 13, 2015 .