Royal Air Force of Oman
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The Royal Air Force of Oman (Template:Langx or RAFO) is the air arm of the Armed Forces of Oman.
History
Sultan of Oman's Air Force era
The Sultan of Oman's Air Force (SOAF) was formed with British personnel and aircraft in March 1959. The first aircraft were two Scottish Aviation Pioneers transferred from the Royal Air Force. The first armed aircraft was the Percival Provost T52.[1]
In 1968 the SOAF received the first of 24 BAC Strikemaster jet trainer and light strike aircraft for operation against insurgents in the Dhofar region. In 1974 the SOAF was expanded with orders for the Britten Norman Defender, BAC One-Eleven, BAC VC10 and 32 Hawker Hunter ground attack aircraft. In 1977 Jaguar International joined the SOAF, followed in the 1980s by the BAE Hawk.[1]
Royal Air Force of Oman era
In 1990 the SOAF was renamed the Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO).[1] In 1993 and 1994 the RAFO replaced its Hawker Hunters with four BAE Hawk Mk 103 fighter-trainers and 12 single-seat Hawk Mk 203s, equipped with Westinghouse APG-66H radar, as light ground attack aircraft/interceptors. In September 1997, after the evaluation of new combat aircraft, the RAFO decided to upgrade and extend the service lives of its remaining 17 SEPECAT Jaguar ground attack aircraft until the second decade of the 21st century. A contract was placed with the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence to upgrade the avionics of the Jaguar aircraft for $40 million. In 2005, deliveries of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 50 aircraft began, equipped with improved GPS/INS. The aircraft can carry a further batch of advanced missiles; the AGM-88 HARM missile, JDAM, JSOW and WCMD.
On 3 August 2010, the USA Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified the Congress of a possible sale of 18 F-16 Block 50/52 to Oman in a contract worth US$3.5 Billion. In addition to the new fighters, the contract included upgrading existing 12 F-16 C/D in the RAFO inventory.[2] On 14 December 2011, it was announced that Oman had agreed to buy an additional 12 F-16C/D Block 50s to join the 12 F-16C/Ds already in service.[3]
Oman was considering the purchase of either the Eurofighter Typhoon or the JAS 39 Gripen,[4] but on 21 December 2012 a £2.5 billion deal was signed in Muscat to supply RAFO with 12 Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets and eight BAE Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer aircraft. The deliveries were completed in 2018.[5]
Bases
| Installation | Unit with aircraft type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| RAFO Adam | No. 8 Squadron with Eurofighter Typhoon | |
| RAFO Khasab | No. 14 Squadron (det) with NH90-TTH | |
| RAFO Musannah | No. 14 Squadron (det) with NH90-TTH | |
| No. 15 Squadron with NH90-TTH & Super Lynx Mk.120 | ||
| RAFO Masirah | No. 1 Squadron with Super Mushshak & PC-9(M) | |
| No. 6 Squadron with Hawk 103, Hawk 103A & Hawk 203 | ||
| No. 15 Squadron (det) with Super Lynx Mk.120 | ||
| RAFO Muscat | No. 2 Squadron with SC7-3M-4022 Seavan | Air base co-located within Muscat International Airport. Shifted to Mussanah. |
| No. 4 Squadron with A320-214CJ | ||
| No. 14 Squadron with NH90-TTH & SA330J | ||
| No. 16 Squadron with C-130H & C-130J | ||
| RAFO Salalah | No. 3 Squadron with NH90-TTH, Bell 206B3, Bell 429 & Super Lynx Mk.120 | |
| No. 5 Squadron with C295M | ||
| RAFO Thumrait | No. 18 Squadron with F-16C-50-CF & F-16D-50-CF | |
| No. 20 Squadron with F-16C-50-CF & F-16D-50-CF |
Aircraft
Current inventory
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| Aircraft | Origin | Type | Variant | In service | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Combat aircraft | ||||||
| Eurofighter Typhoon | Europe | Multirole | 12[6] | |||
| BAE Hawk 200 | United Kingdom | Light multirole | 203, 103’s | 21[6] | 11 103s provide LIFT | |
| F-16 Fighting Falcon | United States | Multirole | F-16C/D | 23[6] | 6 F-16Ds provide conversion training | |
| Maritime patrol | ||||||
| CASA C-295 | Spain | Maritime patrol | 3[6] | |||
| Transport | ||||||
| Airbus A320 | France | VIP transport | 2[7] | |||
| CASA C-295 | Spain | Transport | 5[6] | |||
| C-130 Hercules | United States | Transport | C-130H | 3[6] | ||
| C-130J Super Hercules | United States | Tactical airlifter | 2[6] | One aircraft is a C-130J-30[8] | ||
| Helicopters | ||||||
| Westland Lynx | United Kingdom | ASW | 13[6] | |||
| NHIndustries NH90 | Europe | Transport / Utility | 18[6] | |||
| Eurocopter EC225 | France | VIP transport | 6[9] | Flown for the Oman Royal Flight | ||
| Trainer aircraft | ||||||
| Bell 206 | United States | Rotorcraft trainer | 4[6] | |||
| Bell 429 | United States | Rotorcraft trainer | 5[6] | |||
| Pilatus PC-9 | Switzerland | Trainer | 12[6] | |||
| PAC Super Mushshak | Pakistan | Trainer | 7[6] | |||
Retired
Previous aircraft flown by the Air Force included the SEPECAT Jaguar S/B, Hawker Hunter, BAC Strikemaster, Douglas DC-8, Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander, Skyvan 3M, BAe BAC-1-11, Scheibe Super-Falke, and the Bell 214B helicopter[10][11]
Commanders
The first Omani to command the Air Force was Air Vice-Marshal Talib bin Meran bin Zaman Al-Raeesi who was appointed in June 1990.[12]
Ranks
Commissioned officer ranks
The rank insignia of commissioned officers.
Template:Ranks and Insignia of Non NATO Armed Forces/OF/BlankTemplate:Ranks and Insignia of Non NATO Air Forces/OF/OmanOther ranks
The rank insignia of non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel.
Template:Ranks and Insignia of Non NATO Air Forces/OR/Oman| Rank group | Senior NCOs | Junior NCOs | Enlisted | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
References
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- ↑ Hoyle, Craig. "Omani F-16 deal means continued wait for Eurofighter." Template:Webarchive Flight International via flightglobal.com, 14 December 2011. Retrieved: 18 December 2011.
- ↑ Royal Air Force of Oman, JAS 39 Gripen and Eurofighter Typhoon Template:Webarchive. Tactical Report (2010-06-03). Retrieved on 2013-08-16.
- ↑ BBC News - BAE Systems wins £2.5bn Oman Hawk and Typhoon contract Template:Webarchive. Bbc.co.uk (2012-12-21). Retrieved on 2013-08-16.
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External links
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- The Sultan’s Armed Forces mentioning the Royal Air Force of Oman
- World aircraft information files Brightstar publishing File 330 Sheet 1
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