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Lebanese Air Force

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Lebanese Air Force
  • القوات الجوية اللبنانية
  • Al Quwwat al-Jawwiya al-Lubnaniyya
Emblem of the Lebanese Air Force
Founded1 June 1949; 75 years ago (1949-06-01)
Country Lebanon
TypeAir force
RoleAerial warfare
Size
  • 2,500 active personnel
  • 82 active aircraft
  • 18 UAVs
Part ofLebanese Armed Forces
Motto(s)"Here I am, Lebanon's sky"
Anniversaries1 August
Engagements
WebsiteOfficial website
Commanders
Current
commander		Major General Ziad Haykal
Insignia
Roundel
Fin flash
Flag
Aircraft flown
AttackCessna 208, Embraer EMB 314
HelicopterHuey II, AB212, MD530F+, Puma IAR 330, Gazelle SA342L, AW139
ReconnaissanceRaven RQ-11B, ScanEagle
TrainerRobinson R44, Scottish Aviation Bulldog

The Lebanese Air Force (LAF) (Arabic: القوات الجوية اللبنانية, romanized: Al Quwwat al-Jawwiya al-Lubnaniyya) is the aerial warfare branch of the Lebanese Armed Forces. The seal of the air force is a roundel with two wings and a Lebanese Cedar tree, surrounded by two laurel leaves on a blue background.

History

[edit]

The Lebanese Air Force were established in 1949 under the command of then-Lieutenant Colonel Emile Boustany, who later became commander of the army. Soon after its establishment, a number of aircraft were donated by the British, French, and Italian governments. Britain donated 4 Percival Prentices and 2 World War II-era Percival Proctors, while Italy donated 4 Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 bombers which were mainly used for transportation. In 1953, jet fighters were introduced when 16 de Havilland Vampire jets were received. The first Hawker Hunters arrived in 1959 and were followed by additional fighters through 1977. In 1968, 12 Mirage IIIELs were delivered from France but were grounded in the late 1970s due to lack of funds. In 2000, the grounded Mirages were sold to Pakistan.[1]

In 2018, the United States government delivered six Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano to the Lebanese Air Force.

In the absence of advanced fighter aircraft, the air force currently relies on a helicopter force, a squadron of Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano, and three Cessna AC 208s for the reconnaissance and ground attack roles.

In October 2018, MD Helicopters confirmed receipt of a delivery order of six MD 530F+ for Lebanese air force with estimated delivery scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2020.[2]

Combat history

[edit]
Savoia Marchetti SM.79.

The Lebanese Air Forces have a long history operating Hawker Hunter jets since 1958. During the Six-Day War Two Hawker Hunter strafed Israeli positions in Galilee. One Lebanese Hawker Hunter was shot down by an Israeli Air Force Mirage IIICJ.[3] The Hawker Hunters have not flown any combat sorties since September 17, 1983. This was at a time when the French and Americans were rebuilding the Lebanese Army. Three F.Mk.70s were made airworthy, and resumed combat operations on September 15. Because the main airfield, Rayak Air Base, had been shelled by Syrian forces, the Hunters had to operate from an airfield in Byblos. The Hunters were finally grounded in 1994 after a minor accident with one of the T.66 trainers during landing and the remaining 8 were stored in Rayak. The last loss took place in 1989 near Batroun during routine training, when the undercarriage failed to lower, causing the jet to crash. The pilot ejected safely from the doomed aircraft and landed in the Mediterranean sea, where he was promptly rescued by the Syrian Army, which then handed him over to Suleiman Frangieh, who in turn handed him over to the Lebanese Army at the al-Madfoun crossing.

During operations in the Nahr el-Bared camp in North Lebanon, lacking any airworthy, fixed-wing strike aircraft, the Lebanese Army modified several UH-1H Huey helicopters to permit the carrying of 500 pound Mark 82 and 1000 pound Mark 83 bombs (all unguided iron bombs, also known as dumb bombs) as well as Matra SNEB 68 mm rocket pods (taken from stored Hawker Hunters). Special mounting pads engineered by the Lebanese Army were attached to each Huey on the sides and belly to carry the bombs. The air force, in collaboration with the engineering regiment, developed and used two dumb bomb variants, the 250 kg LAF-GS-ER2 and the 400 kg LAF-GS-ER3.[4] Usually, helicopters cannot bomb using this method, in comparison to ground attack aircraft, so this became one of the rare moments in history during which helicopters were used in such a way. The Lebanese Army also made extensive use of Aérospatiale Gazelles armed with Euromissile HOT anti-tank guided missiles and machine gun pods.

The Lebanese air force played a decisive role throughout the Syrian Civil War spillover in Lebanon, conducting surveillance operations and precision attacks against terrorist groups Al-Nusra Front and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant who had invaded the border town of Arsal in 2014 and subsequently kept positions along the outskirts of Arsal and al-Qaa, keeping them at bay and severely hindering their movement. Most notably, the air force put their AC-208 Combat Caravans to effective use during the Dawn of the Outskirts operation in 2017, striking terrorist targets with AGM-114 Hellfire missiles and, in a rare display of joint warfare tactics by different branches of the Lebanese Armed Forces, using their laser designators to pinpoint high-value targets for M712 Copperhead shells being used by the First Artillery Regiment deployed along the front.

Squadrons and Air Bases

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Squadron Airbase Aircraft
1st squadron Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport.[5][6] Scottish Aviation Bulldog T.1
4th Squadron Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport[5] AC-208B Combat Caravan
7th Squadron Wujah Al Hajar Air Base (Hamat)[5] Embraer A-29B
8th Squadron Rayak Air Base[5] Aerospastiale SA-342L Gazelle
9th Squadron Wujah Al Hajar Air Base (Hamat)[5] MD530F Defender
12th Squadron Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport[5] UH-1H-II
14th Squadron Rene Mouawad Air Base (Kleyate)[5] SA 330 Puma
15th Squadron Rayak Air Base[5] Robinson Raven R44 II and UH-1H
Presidential Flight Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport[5] Agusta Westland AW139

Equipment

[edit]
An A-29B of the Lebanese Air Force
Aircraft Origin Type Variant In service Notes
Combat aircraft
Cessna 208 United States attack / CAS AC-208 3[7] modified to carry AGM-114 missiles for CAS
Embraer EMB 314 Brazil attack / COIN A-29B 5[7] 1 crashed on May 18, 2023[8]
Helicopters
Huey II United States utility 38[7] 5 are AB212
SA 330 Puma France utility / transport IAR 330 11[7] former United Arab Emirates Air Force[5]
MD500 Defender United States light attack MD530F+ 5[9]
Aérospatiale Gazelle France scout / anti-armor SA342L 8[10]
AgustaWestland AW139 Italy VIP transport 1[11]
Trainer aircraft
Bulldog 126 United Kingdom basic trainer T.1 3[7] In service since 1975[5]
Robinson R44 United States rotorcraft trainer 6[7]
UAV
RQ-11 Raven United States surveillance 12[12] donated by the United States
Scan Eagle United States surveillance 6[13] Sensors:
  • EO950/MWIR
  • 775EO Camera with ViDAR (for maritime surveillance) - TBD [14]

Notable Munitions

[edit]
Munition Quantity Platform Notes
AGM-114 Hellfire 1000+ [15] AC-208 Multiple variants
Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System[16] approx. 2000
GBU-12 Paveway II[17][18] Unknown A-29B
GBU-58 Paveway II[17][18] Unknown A-29B

Simulators

[edit]
  • UH-1H Flight Simulators [19]

Former aircraft

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The Lebanese Air Force has operated a variety of aircraft over the years, ranging from training aircraft to fighter jets and helicopters. Some of the notable aircraft formerly operated by the Lebanese Air Force include:[20]

References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Air force of Lebanon.
  1. ^ "Air Force". Lebanese Army. Archived from the original on 2007-12-31.
  2. ^ "Lebanon air force orders six armed MD 530F+ attack helicopters". MD Helicopter. 1 October 2018. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  3. ^ Griffin, David J. (2006). Hawker Hunter 1951 to 2007. Lulu.com. p. 336. ISBN 9781430305934. Archived from the original on 2017-01-13. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  4. ^ Njeim, Colonel Antoine; Rima Dumet (October 2007). القوات الجوية (in Arabic). Lebanese Army. Archived from the original on 2007-12-19. Retrieved 4 April 2009.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "LEBANESE AIR FORCE". scramble.nl. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  6. ^ Based at Beirut but subordinated to the Lebanese Air Force Aviation School ar Rayak.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Hoyle, Craig (2023). "World Air Forces 2024". FlightGlobal. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
  8. ^ "Incident Embraer EMB-314 Super Tucano , Thursday 18 May 2023". asn.flightsafety.org. Retrieved 2024-09-21.
  9. ^ McLanahan (2022-01-07). "Lebanese Cayuse Warrior mishap". scramble.nl. Retrieved 2024-09-21.
  10. ^ "World Air Forces 2023". Flightglobal Insight. 2023. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
  11. ^ "Lebanese Air Force". AirForces Monthly. Key Publishing. February 2019. p. 70.
  12. ^ "Heavy U.S. Military Aid to Lebanon Arrives ahead of Elections". Naharnet Newsdesk. April 9, 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-09.
  13. ^ "Lebanon receives ScanEagle UAVs". janes.com. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  14. ^ "Contract N0001923F0578 Insitu". www.highergov.com. Retrieved 2024-09-29.
  15. ^ "AGM-114 Hellfire II missiles | Defense Security Cooperation Agency". www.dsca.mil. Retrieved 2024-09-22.
  16. ^ Digest (unofficial), Laf (2019-05-14). "LAF Digest (Unofficial): Significant deliveres during Q1/Q2 2019 further bolser LAF capabilities". LAF Digest (Unofficial). Retrieved 2024-09-22.
  17. ^ a b "The Air Force conducts laser guided aerial bombing". @LebarmyOfficial. 2022-09-15.
  18. ^ a b "Contracts for November 27, 2017". U.S. Department of Defense. Retrieved 2024-09-29.
  19. ^ "مدرسة سلاح الجو والطيران". www.lebarmy.gov.lb (in Arabic). 2019-11-07. Retrieved 2024-10-04.
  20. ^ "Lebanese Air Force". milavia. January 2011.
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