| Royal Air Force of Oman | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Founded | March 1959-present |
| Country | Oman |
| Commanders | |
| Commander of the RAFO | Air Vice-Marshal Yahya Rasheed Al-Juma |
| Insignia | |
| Roundel |  |
| Fin Flash |  |
| Ensign |  |
| Aircraft flown | |
| Fighter | Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Fighting Falcon, SEPECAT Jaguar S/B |
| Trainer | BAe Hawk 103, Pilatus PC-9M, PAC Super MFI-17 Mushshak |
| Transport | Airbus A320CJ, Lockheed C-130 Hercules, Dornier Do 228-10 |
History
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.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.
In 1990 the SOAF was renamed the Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO). In 1993 and 1994 the RAFO replaced its Hawker hunters with four BAE Hawk Mk 103 lead in fighter-trainers and 12 single-seat Hawk Mk 203, equipped with Westinghouse APG-66H radar, as light ground attack/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 fighters until the second decade of the 21st centuary. A contact was placed with the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence to upgrade the avionics of the Jaguar aircraft for $40 million. In 2005 deliveries started of the F-16, equipped with improved GPS/INS. The aircraft can carry a further batch of advanced missiles; the AGM-88 HARM missile, JDAM, JSOW and WCMD. Block 50 aircraft are powered by the F110-GE-129 while the Block 52 jets use the F100-PW-229.
Oman was considering the purchase of either Eurofighter Typhoon or JAS 39 Gripen aircraft, however 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 3.5 Billion USD. In addition to the new fighters, the contract included upgrading existing 12 F-16 C/D in the RAFO inventory. 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-16s C/Ds already in service.
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A Royal Air Force of Oman Jaguar intercepting an Il-38 in 1987.
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Lockheed Hercules at RIAT 2010
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Royal Omani Air Force Hawker Hunter at RAF Museum in Hendon
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Hawker Siddeley Hunter FR.10 at the RAF Museum in London. This aircraft formerly served as part of The Royal Air Force of Oman
Equipment
| Aircraft | Origin | Type | Versions | In service | Notes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agusta-Bell AB205A-1 | Italy | search and rescue helicopter | AB205A-1 | 21 | To be retired and replaced with NH90 and Lynx Mk 120. A total of 37 delivered and 3 on loan from Iran. | |||||
| Agusta-Bell AB212 Twin Huey | Italy | helicopter | AB212 | 3 | ||||||
| AgustaWestland AW139 | Italy | helicopter | AW139 | 4(6) | 10 purchased for Royal Oman Police aviation wing. | |||||
| Airbus A320CJ | transport | A320CJ | 2 | |||||||
| BAe Hawk 103 | UK | trainer | Hawk 103 | 4 | A total of 5 delivered, including 1 ex-Canadian. | |||||
| BAe Hawk 203 | UK | fighter | Hawk 203 | 11 | 12 delivered | |||||
| Bell 206B JetRanger | USA | helicopter | Bell 206 | 3 | 7 delivered. | |||||
| Bell 214\214ST | USA | utility helicopter | 11 (5 Bell 214 + 6 Bell 214ST) | |||||||
| Bell HH-1H Iroquois | USA | helicopter | HH-1H | 20 | ||||||
| Dornier Do 228-100 | Germany | light transport | Do 228-100 | 2 | ||||||
| Eurocopter AS 550 Fennec | helicopter | AS 550 | 3 | For Omani Royal Flight. | ||||||
| Eurocopter EC 225 Super Puma | helicopter | EC 225 | 4 | Transferred to Air Force from Omani Royal Flight. | ||||||
| Lockheed C-130 Hercules | USA | tactical transport | C-130H C-130J-30 |
3 0 |
One C-130J-30 to be delivered in mid-2012. 2 more ordered in August 2010. | |||||
| Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Fighting Falcon | USA | fighter | F-16C F-16D |
8(10) 4(2) |
December 2011 purchase of 12 additional F-16 Block 50 | |||||
| NHI NH90 | helicopter | 20 | ||||||||
| PAC Super MFI-17 Mushshak | Pakistan | trainer | 7 | 8 delivered. | ||||||
| Pilatus PC-9M | Switzerland | trainer | PC-9M | 12 | ||||||
| Scheibe Super-Falke | Germany | trainer | 2 | |||||||
| SEPECAT Jaguar S/B | ground attack | Jaguar S Jaguar B |
2 16 |
A total of 27 SEPECAT Jaguar delivered. | ||||||
| Short SC.7 Skyvan 3M | UK | light Transport | Skyvan 3M | 12 | ||||||
| Westland Lynx Mk 120 | UK | helicopter | Lynx Mk 120 | 15 | 16 Delivered | Total | 224+ |
AAMs
- 70 MBDA R.550 Magic
- 550 AIM-9P\L Sidewinder
- 50 AIM-120 AMRAAM
- 310 AIM-9M Sidewinder
- 60 MBDA MICA-IR\RF
AGMs
- 20 AGM-84D
- 80 AGM-65D\G Maverick
Bombs
- BL-755
- GBU-31\38
- (84) JDAM (GBU-13\32)
- Paveway-II (150) (GBU-10\12\16)
- CBU-97 SFW350 (50)
Avionics\Pods
- 2 TARS
- 7 Sniper AN-AAQ-33
- AN-ALE-47
- AN-ALQ-211
- JHMCS Pilot helmet
- Topowl
- TWE
- 12 AN\APG-66 combat aircraft radars (forF-16C\D)
Target Drones
- 53 TTL BTT-3 Banshee
Radars
- AR-15
- 4x S-713 Martello 3-D
- 2x S-600
- 1x Watchman
Historical Aircraft
- 33 Hawker Hunter FGA.73\73A\73B, FR.10, T.66
- 4 Douglas C-47 Dakota
- 5 de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver
- 6 de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou
- 4 de Havilland Canada DHC-5D Buffalo
- 7 Vickers Viscount
- 9 Percival Provost Mk 52
- 4 Westland Wessex HC.2
- 25 BAC 167 Strikemaster Mk 82\82A
- 8 Northrop F-5A Freedom Fighter - on loan from Iran
- 2 Pilatus PC-6 Porter
- 4 FFA AS-202 Bravo
- 4 Scottish Aviation Pioneer
- 8 Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander
- 3 BAe BAC-1-1
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