Royal Air Force of Oman

"RAFO" redirects here. For a Romanian oil refinery, see RAFO Oneşti.
Royal Air Force of Oman
سلاح الجو السلطاني العماني

Royal Air Force of Oman emblem
Founded Since March 1959
Country Oman
Commanders
Commander of the RAFO Air Vice-Marshal Matar bin Ali Al Obaidani
Insignia
Fin flash
Ensign
Former roundel
Aircraft flown
Fighter Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Fighting Falcon / BAe Hawk 203
Trainer BAe Hawk 103, Pilatus PC-9M, PAC Super MFI-17 Mushshak
Transport Airbus A320CJ, Lockheed C-130 Hercules, Dornier Do 228-100

The Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO — سلاح الجو السلطاني عمان - Silāḥ al-Jaww as-Sulṭāniy ‘Umān) 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 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 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 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.

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.[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-16s C/Ds already in service.[3]

Oman was considering the purchase of either Eurofighter Typhoon or JAS 39 Gripen aircraft,[4] but on the 21st of December 2012 a £2.5 billion deal was signed in Muscat to supply RAFO with 12 Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets and 8 BAE Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer aircraft, the delivery should start by 2017.[5]

A Royal Air Force of Oman Jaguar intercepting an Il-38 in 1987

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Royal Air Force of Oman BAC 1-11 Model 485GD at RIAT 2008, UK

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Lockheed Hercules C-130H at RIAT 2010
Lockheed Martin Hercules C-130J departs the 2014 Royal International Air Tattoo, England

Bases

Installation Unit with aircraft type Notes
RAFO Adam Eurofighter Typhoon Air base is currently being built.
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. Shefted to musana
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 Squadron expected to move to RAFO Musannah soon.
No. 20 Squadron with F-16C-50-CF & F-16D-50-CF

Aircraft

Current inventory

A C-130H Hercules on take-off
Type Origin Role Variant In service Notes
Combat aircraft
Lockheed Martin F-16 United States multirole F-16C 14 4 on order[6]
BAE Hawk 200 United Kingdom light multirole 203 10[6]
Eurofighter Typhoon United Kingdom multirole 12 on order[6]
Maritime patrol
CASA C-295 Spain maritime patrol 3 on order[6]
Short SC.7 Skyvan United Kingdom maritime patrol 3[6]
Transport
Airbus A320 France VIP 2[7]
Lockheed C-130J United States tactical airlift 4[6] one aircraft is a C-130J-30[8]
C-130 Hercules United States transport C-130H 3[6]
CASA C-295 Spain transport 4 1 on order[6]
Helicopters
Bell 206 United States utility 4[6]
Bell 429 United States utility 5[6]
NHIndustries NH90 European union utility / transport 15[6] 4 on order
Aérospatiale SA330 France transport / utility 2[6]
Eurocopter AS332 France transport / utility 2[6]
Westland Lynx United Kingdom ASW Super Lynx 120 15[6]
Trainer aircraft
F-16 United States conversion trainer F-16D 6[6]
BAE Hawk United Kingdom advanced trainer 103 5 8 on order[6]
Pilatus PC-9 Switzerland trainer 12[6]
PAC MFI-17 Mushshak Pakistan trainer 08

Historical aircraft

BAC 167 Strikemaster Mk 82A in Sultan of Oman's Air Force colour scheme at the 2013 Shoreham Airshow.

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]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Royal Air Force of Oman". Retrieved 31 January 2014.
  2. ↑ http://www.dsca.mil/PressReleases/36-b/2010/Oman_10-40.pdf
  3. ↑ Hoyle, Craig. "Omani F-16 deal means continued wait for Eurofighter." Flight International via flightglobal.com, 14 December 2011. Retrieved: 18 December 2011.
  4. ↑ Royal Air Force of Oman, JAS 39 Gripen and Eurofighter Typhoon. Tactical Report (2010-06-03). Retrieved on 2013-08-16.
  5. ↑ BBC News - BAE Systems wins £2.5bn Oman Hawk and Typhoon contract. Bbc.co.uk (2012-12-21). Retrieved on 2013-08-16.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 "World Air Forces 2015 pg. 24". Flightglobal Insight. 2015. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  7. ↑ "Royal Air Force of Oman orders two Airbus A320 Corporate Jets". airbus.com. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  8. ↑ "Oman gets ready to induct C-130J". arabianaerospace.aero. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  9. ↑ Oman retires last Jaguar strike aircraft - Flightglobal.com, 12 August 2014
  10. ↑ "RAFO retires Jaguar aircraft after 37 years in service". Muscat Daily News. 23 October 2014.
  11. 1 2 "Aeroflight » Oman. Air Force". aeroflight.co.uk.
  12. ↑ "The Evolution of Oman's Royal Air Force". rafmuseum.org.uk.
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