Royal Omani Air Force
Royal Omani Air Force |
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![]() Emblem of the RAFO |
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Lineup | March 1959 |
Country |
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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 | |
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Warplanes | |||||||
Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon |
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Multipurpose fighter | F-16C block 50 | 14th | 4th | ||
BAE Hawk |
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Ground attack aircraft | Hawk 203 | 10 | |||
Transport and multipurpose aircraft | |||||||
Lockheed C-130 Hercules |
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Tactical combat zone transporter | C-130H C-130J |
3 3 |
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Airbus C-295 |
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Tactical transport aircraft maritime patrol |
4 3 |
1 | |||
Short Skyvan |
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Maritime patrol | 3 | ||||
Training aircraft | |||||||
General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon |
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two-seat fighter aircraft | F-16D block 50 | 6th | |||
BAE Hawk |
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Jet trainer | Hawk 103 | 5 | |||
Pilatus PC-9 |
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Training aircraft | 12 | ||||
Passenger planes | |||||||
Airbus A320 |
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Passenger Airplane (VIP) | Airbus A320-200 (CJ) Prestige | 3 | |||
Gulfstream IV |
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Passenger Airplane (VIP) | 2 |
helicopter
Status: end of 2014
Aircraft | origin | use | version | active | Ordered | Remarks |
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Bell 205 |
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Light multipurpose helicopter | 4th | |||
Bell 206 |
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Light multipurpose helicopter | 4th | |||
NHIndustries NH90 |
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Multipurpose tactical helicopter | NH90 TTH | 15th | 5 | |
Aérospatiale AS 332 Cougar |
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Medium-weight transport helicopter | 2 | |||
Aérospatiale SA 330 Puma |
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Medium-weight transport helicopter | 2 | |||
Westland Lynx |
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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 .