The Royal Air Force of Oman ( or RAFO) is the air arm of the Sultan's Armed Forces.

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 seven pilots under Squadron Leader Barry Atkinson gathered at RAF Manby in Lincolnshire that month. They were initially allocated a total of five aircraft. 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, Vickers VC10 and 32 Hawker Hunter ground attack aircraft. In 1977 SEPECAT Jaguars joined the SOAF, followed in the 1980s by the BAE Hawk.

Royal Air Force of Oman era

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 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 Fighting Falcon 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 US Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified 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 the existing 12 F-16C/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-16C/Ds already in service.Hoyle, Craig. "Omani F-16 deal means continued wait for Eurofighter." Flight International via flightglobal.com, 14 December 2011. Retrieved: 18 December 2011.

Oman was considering the purchase of either the Eurofighter Typhoon or the JAS 39 Gripen,Royal Air Force of Oman, JAS 39 Gripen and Eurofighter Typhoon . Tactical Report (2010-06-03). Retrieved on 2013-08-16. 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.BBC News - BAE Systems wins £2.5bn Oman Hawk and Typhoon contract . Bbc.co.uk (2012-12-21). Retrieved on 2013-08-16. Accidents and incidents On May 19, 1971, a De Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou crashed on takeoff in Janook Airstrip in Dhofar, killing all 3 crew members, the cause was determined a engine failure, causing an explosion.

On September 30, 1976, Hawker Hunter was taxiing at RAFO Thumrait, until the pilot smell smoke coming from the cockpit, the fire came to the aircraft, both crew are unable to ejected and both were killed by Asphyxiation.

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 Super Lynx Mk.120 No. 16 Squadron with C-130H & C-130J No. 5 Squadron with C295M RAFO Masirah No. 1 Squadron with Super Mushshak & PC-9(M) No. 6 Squadron with Hawk 166 No. 15 Squadron (det) with Super Lynx Mk.120 RAFO Seeb Air base co-located within Muscat International Airport. No. 4 Squadron with A320-214CJ RAFO Salalah No. 3 Squadron with NH90-TTH, Bell 429 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

Aircraft Origin Type Variant In service Notes Combat aircraft Eurofighter Typhoon United Kingdom /Germany /Italy /Spain Swingrole fighter Tranche 3A 12 F-16 United States Multirole fighter F-16CBlock 50 17 BAE Hawk United Kingdom Light multirole fighter Hawk 203 10 Special mission aircraft Airbus C295 Spain Maritime patrol C295 MPA 4 Transport Airbus C295 Spain Tactical airlifter C295M 4 C-130 Hercules United States Tactical airlifter C-130H 3 C-130 Super Hercules United States Tactical airlifter C-130J-30 2 Helicopters NHIndustries NH90 France /Germany /Italy /Netherlands Medium utility military helicopter NH90 TTH 18 Assembled on the French assembly line. Westland Lynx United Kingdom ASuW /SAR Super Lynx Mk.120 13 Trainer aircraft F-16 United States Conversion trainer F-16DBlock 50 6 BAE Hawk United Kingdom Advanced trainer Hawk AJT - 166(advanced jet trainer) 8 Hawk 103 3 Pilatus PC-9 Switzerland Basic trainer PC-9M 12 PAC Mushshak Pakistan Ab initio trainer MFI-395 Super Mushshak 7 Bell 429 USA/Canada/South Korea Helicopter Bell 429 5 Bell 206 USA Helicopter Bell 206 4 Bell 429 Canada /United States /South Korea Surveillance helicopter /CSAR – 5 Made in Canada Agusta-Bell 206 Italy /United States Rotorcraft training /liaison aircraft AB206A 4 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

Commanders Squadron Leader Barry Atkinson supervised the first group of pilots allocated for the SOAF from the time they gathered at an RAF station in northern England in early 1959.

Air Vice-Marshal Erik Bennett of the Royal Air Force commanded the Sultan of Oman's Air Force from 1974 to 1990. In June 1990, Air Vice-Marshal Talib bin Meran bin Zaman Al-Raeesi became the first Omani national to command the air force. He was succeeded by Air Vice-Marshal Mohammed bin Mahfoodh bin Saad Al-Ardhi, who was appointed Commander of the Royal Air Force of Oman on 23 November 1992 and served through the 1990s and into the 2000s. On 1 February 2003, Air Vice-Marshal Yahya bin Rashid Al-Juma was appointed Commander. Air Vice-Marshal Khamis bin Hammad Al-Ghafri assumed command on 18 January 2021.

Ranks Commissioned officer ranks The rank insignia of commissioned officers.

Other ranks The rank insignia of non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel.

References

External links

The Sultan’s Armed Forces mentioning the Royal Air Force of Oman