The Royal Lao Air Force (; – AVRL), best known to the Americans by its English acronym RLAF, was the air force component of the Royal Lao Armed Forces (FAR), the official military of the Royal Lao Government and the Kingdom of Laos during the Laotian Civil War between 1960 and 1975.
The original Lao military aviation establishment was the Laotian Aviation (), established by the French on 28 January 1955 as a small aerial observation and transport arm of the then National Lao Army (ANL). As the French withdrew from Indochina, the Lao Aviation was supported by American aid. With the addition of offensive capabilities, it morphed into the Royal Lao Air Force (RLAF).
The RLAF struggled into existence in the face of its enemies, while dealing with its own internal divisions as well as bucking a tide of pilot and aircraft losses. As it expanded from its 1960 foundation, and as the fighting power of the Royal Lao Army was diminished and broken during the 1960s, the RLAF came to carry the weight of the battle against Vietnamese communist invaders and local Pathet Lao insurgents. Despite its continual drain of heavy pilot and aircraft losses, the RLAF grew to the point where it flew 30,000 combat sorties annually against its enemies in the years 1970 through 1972, as well performing essential logistics duties.
The RLAF began its operations as a liaison, logistics and transport unit. Its initial stock were a melange of French and American supplied rotary-wing and fixed-wing aircraft inherited from its predecessor, Aviation Laotienne. On 9 January 1961, the new RLAF was supplied with six AT-6 Texans as its first strike aircraft. Although these were quickly lost, they were replaced by five T-28 Trojans. Despite ongoing losses, the T-28 inventory would eventually burgeon under American auspices to 75 Trojans on board in 1973. It would also acquire ten AC-47 gunships for a time. Pilot procurement for the swelling fleet would always be problematic, with the inadequate roster of Lao and Hmong pilots being filled out with Thai mercenary pilots, and a few Americans from Air America. By the time American aid was withdrawn in 1973, dooming the force, the RLAF would total 180 aircraft, both fixed wing and helicopters.
Structure The RLAF, along with the Royal Lao Navy, and the Royal Lao Army, was placed under the control of the Ministry of Defense in Vientiane. The RLAF received assistance over the years from France, the US and Thailand. Initially a transport organisation beginning operations with the Morane-Saulnier MS.500 Criquet and then the C-47, it acquired a light strike capability with the North American T-6 Texan and later the T-28 Trojan.Air Enthusiast #74, March/April 1998 article by Conboy, Ken, Wings Over the Land of a Million Elephants – Military Aviation in Laos 1949–1975, pp. 64–70.
List of U. S. Ambassadors to Laos during the Laotian Civil War On 29 May 1961, President John F. Kennedy issued a directive letter to the United States Ambassador to Laos Leonard S. Unger granting Unger the authority to control "...all the functions of a Military Assistance Advisory Group...".At War in the Shadow of Vietnam, pp. 54–55. The serving ambassador thus became a de facto commander of the Royal Lao Air Force during the Laotian Civil War; it existed only through U. S. support from 1962 through 1975.At War in the Shadow of Vietnam, pp. 1–2.
Leonard S. Unger (25 July 1962 – 1 December 1964) William H. Sullivan (23 December 1964 – 18 March 1969) G. McMurtrie Godley (24 July 1969 – 23 April 1973)Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War, p. 96. Charles S. Whitehouse (20 September 1973 – 12 April 1975)
List of Aviation Laotienne and RLAF Commanders Brigadier general Sourith Don Sasorith (1957–1959) Brigadier general Thao Ma (1959–1966) Major general Sourith Don Sasorith (1966–1973) Brigadier general Bouathong Phothivongsa (1973–1975)
Air Commanders Lieutenant colonel Lee Lue – Wing Leader of the Hmong T-28 fighter-bomber special squadron (1967–1969) Major Vang Sue – Wing Leader of the Hmong T-28 fighter-bomber special squadron (1969–1972)
History
French beginning Plans to create an air wing for the Laotian National Army (ANL) were first laid by the French in May 1954. Proposed equipment consisted of French Morane-Saulnier MS.500 Criquets, de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beavers, helicopters, as well as Douglas C-47 transports. On 6 August 1954, as Laos became independent, the departing French military lent Criquets to the ANL for artillery observation.Shadow War, p. 15. The treaty of independence granted France the right to maintain a military training mission in Laos. Beginning on 28 January 1955, the military mission provided a staff of instructors headed by a colonel to train 200 Laotian military personnel in air operations; that same day, the Laotian Aviation () was officially founded at Wattay Airfield, near Vientiane. Its initial unit was the 1st Observation and Liaison Squadron, which served a double purpose as its Criquets were used for training Lao pilots, as well as ongoing military duties. By February 1955, it was equipped with ten Criquets delivered by the French.
Other than Wattay, available landing strips in the country consisted of rough runways at Xieng Khouang, Luang Prabang, Pakse, and the Plain of Jars. The French Air Force bequeathed four C-47s with French aircrews to the RLAF; three were repainted in RLAF insignia. The loan was conditional upon aircraft remaining in-country.
Some 6,500 Royal Lao Army troops out of its 30,000 personnel were surrounded by North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao forces. Because Laos lacked a functional road network, the RLAF's first mission was aerial resupply of these besieged troops. The French air crews operated the transports while Laotians were being trained. The first aggressive action by the new air force was the aerial movement of Royalist troops to the Plaine de Jarres in early 1955. These Royalist ground troops on the Plaine de Jarres became part of the air bridge resupply effort. In late 1955, 22 Lao students departed to France and Morocco for aviation training.Shadow War, page 27 (note 24). One of these cadets was Thao Ma, an ex-paratrooper who later rose to command the Royal Lao Air Force.
The French-crewed C-47s were used for this operation, in conjunction with C-46 Commandos leased from Civil Air Transport. "Civilian" C-47s under contract were used to drop the Royalist Paratroop Battalion in Xieng Khouang to counter Pathet Lao expansion into the province. As part of this action, Lao pilots in training flew reconnaissance missions in the Criquets. The four Sikorsky H-19 helicopters of the new air force were insufficient for such duties as medevacing the ill and wounded, so two additional H-19s were acquired from the Royal Thai Air Force in October 1955. These were supplied without markings, and were officially Thai Airways craft.
French military intelligence had set up anticommunist guerrilla units throughout northern Laos, up to and over the North Vietnamese border. However, the loaner transports were not used for logistical support of the units in North Vietnam because they were not allowed to fly internationally. Instead, the "special missions" were entrusted to two private charter airlines flying under contract to the Lao military–Laos Air Lines and Lao Air Transport. Retrieved 13 December 2010. Note 1: Known equipment for these two charter lines consisted of eight DC-3s, three Dragon Rapides, two Bristol Freighter 170s, and Boeing 307. There were also some Nooruduyns and Beaver L-20s on hand. Note 2: Civilian Air Transport (which later became Air America) had 2 C-47s and 4 C-46s in Laos. http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_347.shtml Retrieved 13 December 2010.
In late 1956, the C-47 transports were crewed by newly trained Lao. In 1957, the last 85 French instructors left Laos. By the time of their departure, most of the Lao aircraft were grounded due to lack of maintenance.
American takeover The United States of America took up the slack as the French departed, setting up the Programs Evaluation Office as a sub rosa military mission in January 1954. It supplied 100 instructors to replace the departing French mentors. It also supplied six C-47s, two DHC L-20s, and two L-19 Bird Dogs. They also began airfield construction throughout the country.
In January 1956, PEO turned over four C-47s to the Lao, in the first direct U. S. support of the fledgling air force. The PEO's three-year development plan for Aviation Laotienne called for a transport squadron of eight C-47s, an observation squadron of 12 L-19 Bird Dogs, and a liaison squadron containing four Sikorsky H-19s and four DHC L-20 Beavers. A light strike force of twelve AT-6 Texans was also envisioned. The first six Bird Dogs arrived in March 1956, even as the last of the Criquets were scrapped.
A few more DHC L-20s were delivered in 1957; its short takeoff and landing capabilities well suited it for the primitive conditions of Laotian airstrips. One or more of these L-20s arrived with a .50 caliber machine gun still mounted; the natural use for such an armed craft was as a gunship for strafing ground targets. Also in 1957, Sourith Don Sasorith, the first Lao commander was appointed to head the Aviation Laotienne.Shadow War, p. 27 (note 24).
In July 1958, a coup brought Phoumi Nosavan to power in Laos; he subsequently requested additional aid from the United States. By the following year, PEO planned to reinforce the Lao air force with six North American T-28 Trojans. It also became apparent that the aviation support available for the Royalist government's war against the Communists was insufficient, even when augmented by Air America contract flights. The U.S. Air Force 315th Air Division sent a detachment incountry dressed in civilian clothing on a month's temporary duty to operate C-119G Flying Boxcars, C-123 Providers, and C-130 Hercules transports in support of the Royalists. After they flew 72 sorties, they were withdrawn on 27 April 1959 because of international political pressure.
Two French Alouette helicopters were purchased for the Lao air force in 1960. In August, Kong Le's Neutralist paratroopers launched a coup to unseat Nosavan; once he gained power, he requested aid from North Vietnam and the Soviet Union. Three months later, Nosavan launched an American-backed countercoup from his base in Savannakhet, successfully attacking the Neutralists in Vientiane. Nosavan received aerial logistical support not only from the diminished Lao air force, but from Royal Thai Air Force H-19s and four Air American H-34s, as well as a Bird & Son C-46. In addition to logistical support from these craft, Bird and Son dropped paratroopers onto Vientiane from the C-46.
In August 1960, Aviation Laotienne officially became the Royal Lao Air Force.
Soviet air bridge Although the Soviet Union did not contribute directly to the development of the RLAF, its actions in 1960–1961 had a great influence on RLAF development. In response to an appeal for help from Kong Le, the Soviet Union dedicated 44 transport aircraft to support of the Neutralist forces. Beginning in December 1960, the Soviets flew in military supplies, beginning with a battery of 105 mm howitzers. Soviet pilots flew about 1,000 sorties by March 1961 in support of the Neutralists even as they withdrew northward onto the Plain of Jars. The Soviet effort included some drops of Kong Le's paratroopers, as well as the provision of three Lisunov Li-2s to his air force. During the same time frame, the Vietnam People's Air Force's 919th Transport Regiment flew 184 resupply sorties from northern Vietnam into Sam Neua. The communist efforts sparked American efforts to beef up the RLAF.