The Khmer Air Force (; ; AAK), commonly known by its americanized acronym KAF, was the air force component of the Khmer National Armed Forces (FANK), the official military of the Khmer Republic during the Cambodian Civil War between 1970 and 1975.
History Although an air wing for the fledgling Khmer Royal Army (ARK) was first planned in 1952, it wasn't until April 22, 1954, however, that the Royal Khmer Aviation (; AVRK) was officially commissioned by a Royal decree from the Cambodian Head of State, Prince Norodom Sihanouk. Commanded by Prince Sihanouk's personal physician, Colonel Dr. Ngo Hou, and known sarcastically as the "Royal Flying Club",Conboy and Bowra, The War in Cambodia 1970-75 (1989), p. 19. the AVRK initially operated a small fleet of four Morane-Saulnier MS 500 Criquet liaison aircraft, two Cessna 180 Skywagon light utility aircraft, one Cessna 170 light personal aircraft, and one Douglas DC-3 modified for VIP transport. At this stage, the AVRK was not yet an independent service; since its earlier personnel cadre was drawn from the Engineer Corps, the Ministry of Defense placed the AVRK under the administrative control of the Army Engineer's Inspector-General Department. The first flight training courses in-country were initiated in October 1954 by French instructors seconded from the airforce component of the French Far East Expeditionary Corps (CEFEO) at the newly founded Royal Flying School () in Pochentong airfield near Phnom Penh, though Khmer pilot students ( – EPKs) were later sent to the at Salon-de-Provence in France.Conboy, FANK: A History of the Cambodian Armed Forces, 1970-1975 (2011), p. 213.
Early expansion phase 1955–63
During the first years of its existence, the AVRK received assistance from France – which under the terms of the November 1953 treaty of independence had the right to keep a military mission in Cambodia –, the United States, Japan, Israel, and West Germany,Conboy, FANK: A History of the Cambodian Armed Forces, 1970-1975 (2011), p. 224. who provided training programs, technical aid, and additional aircraft. The French delivered in 1954–55 fifteen Morane-Saulnier MS 733 Alcyon three-seat basic trainers,"Morane-Saulnier MS.733 Alcyon – a trainer with Gallic flair!". Shortfinal's Blog, 29 June 2013. Retrieved: 1 January 2014. and Japan delivered three Fletcher FD-25 Defender single-seater ground-attack aircraft and three Fletcher FD-25B two-seat trainers,Grandolini, Air Enthusiast 37 (1988), p. 39. whilst deliveries by the United States Military Assistance Advisory Group (U.S. MAAG) aid program – established since June 1955 at Phnom PenhRoss, Cambodia, a Country Study (1987), p. 241. – of fourteen North American T-6G Texan trainers, eight Cessna L-19A Bird Dog observation aircraft, three de Havilland Canada DHC L-20 Beaver liaison aircraft,Grandolini, Air Enthusiast 37 (1988), p. 40. seven Douglas C-47 Skytrain transports (soon joined by with two additional C-47 transports bought from Israel) and six Curtiss C-46F Commando transports allowed the AVRK to acquire a limited light strike capability, as well as improving its own reconnaissance and transportation capabilities. A small Helicopter force also began to take shape, with the delivery in 1958–59 of three Sikorsky H-34 Choctaws by the US MAAG, followed in 1960 of two Sud Aviation SA 313B Alouette II by the French and of two Sikorsky H-19 Chickasaws by the Americans in 1963. Although Cambodia was theoretically forbidden of having fighter jets under the terms of the July 1955 Geneva Accords, the AVRK did receive its first jet trainers in September 1961 from France, in the form of four Potez CM.170R Fouga Magisters modified locally in 1962 to accept a pair of AN/M2 7,62mm aircraft guns and under-wing rocket rails. By the end of the year, the AVRK aligned 83 airframes of American, Canadian and French origin, though mostly were World War II-vintage obsolescent types well past their prime – U.S. MAAG advisors often described the AVRK at the time as an "aerial museum" – and training accidents were far from uncommon, due to Col. Ngo Hou's insistence on using the T-6G Texans for flight instruction.
The baptism of fire of the AVRK came the following year when its FD-25 Defenders and T-6G Texan armed trainers supported Khmer Royal Army troops in Takéo Province fighting a cross-border incursion by Vietnamese militiamen from the Hòa Hảo militant sect fleeing persecution from the neighbouring Republic of Vietnam.Conboy, FANK: A History of the Cambodian Armed Forces, 1970-1975 (2011), p. 213. The obsolete Texans and Defenders were eventually replaced in August that year by sixteen North American T-28D Trojan trainers converted to the fighter-bomber role.Nalty, Neufeld and Watson, An Illustrated Guide to the Air War over Vietnam (1982), p. 114. Also under the U.S. MAAG program, the AVRK received in March 1963 four Cessna T-37B Tweet jet trainers;Love, Greer and Sewell, A-37/T-37 Dragonfly in action (1991), p. 16. however, unlike the Fougas provided earlier by the French, these airframes had no provision for weapon systems, since the Americans resisted Cambodian requests to arm them.
Early structure and organization The main tactical air elements of the AVRK by mid-1956 were a training squadron, a transport and liaison squadron and the 1st intervention (or combat) squadron, all based at Pochentong airfield. As the AVRK expanded its flight and technical branch services, in 1958 the Air Force Command re-organized them more systematically into air wings or "Groups" () based on the French Air Force model – the Territorial Group () which handled administrative tasks, the Technical Group () for the maintenance of aircraft and other equipments and the Tactical Air Group ( – GATAC). This later formation aligned three squadron-sized flight units:
A reconnaissance squadron, the 1st Observation and Combat Accompanying Group ( – 1ér GAOAC); A combat and ground support squadron, the Intervention Group ( – GI); A transportation squadron, the Liaison and Transport Group ( – GLT).
The Technical Group aligned the AVRK's support and technical branches, which comprised the Communications (), Civil engineers and Construction (), Flight engineers (), Medical (, or simply ), Transportation ( or ), and Military Fuel/Petrol, Oil and Lubricants – POL () services.Conboy, FANK: A History of the Cambodian Armed Forces, 1970-1975 (2011), pp. 233–234.
The neutrality years 1964–1970 In response to the coup against President Ngô Đình Diệm in South Vietnam, Prince Sihanouk cancelled on November 20, 1963, all American aid, and on January 15, 1964, the US MAAG program was suspended when Cambodia adopted a neutrality policy,Ross, Cambodia, a Country Study (1987), p. 241.Chinnery, The rise of the Eagle Flights in Vietnam, the air war over south-east Asia (2016), p. 26. so the AVRK continued to rely on French military assistance but at the same time turned to Australia, Yugoslavia, the Soviet Union and China for aircraft and training. Already in 1961, Khmer student pilots returning from previous training stints in France had been sent to the USSR for conversion training in Soviet fighter jet types, and in November 1963 the Soviets delivered an initial batch of three MiG-17F fighter jets, one MiG-15UTI jet trainer and one Yakovlev Yak-18 Max light trainer. France continued to deliver aircraft to Cambodia in 1964–65, supplying sixteen night attack Douglas AD-4N Skyraiders and six Dassault MD 315R Flamant light transports, soon followed by more Alouette II and Sud Aviation SA-316B Alouette III light helicopters and ten Gardan GY-80 Horizon light trainers, which replaced the obsolete MS 733 Alcyons. The Yugoslavians provided at the time four UTVA-60AT1 utility transports,Jan Forsgren, "Aviation Royale Khmere/Khmer Air Force Aircraft". Aeroflight . 22 April 2007.Grandolini, Air Enthusiast 37 (1988), p. 43. whilst the USSR delivered two Ilyushin Il-14Jan Forsgren, "Cambodia Aviation Royale Khmere:Order of Battle for 1968", Aeroflight, 7 December 2004. Retrieved 21 February 2010. and eight Antonov An-2 Colt transports, and China sent one Chinese-built FT-5 jet trainer, ten Shenyang J-5 fighter jets, and three Nanchang BT-6/PT-6 light trainers. Not to be outdone, the Soviets delivered in April 1967 a second batch of five MiG-17F jets and two Mil Mi-4 Hound light helicopters.
Like the other branches of the then FARK, the Royal Cambodian Aviation's own military capabilities by the late 1960s remained unimpressive, being barely able to accomplish its primary mission which was to defend the national airspace. Due to its low strength and limited flying assets, the AVRK was relegated to a combat support role by providing transportation services to ARK infantry units and occasional low-level close air support (CAS) to ground operations. Apart from two modern tarmacked airstrips located respectively at Pochentong and at a Chinese-built civilian airport in Siem Reap, the other thirteen available airfields in the country at the time consisted of rudimentary unpaved runways previously built by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II that lacked permanent rear-echelon support facilities, which were only used temporarily as emergency landing strips but never as secondary airbases.
Consequently, and in accordance with Cambodia's neutralist foreign policy, few combat missions were flown. AVRK activities were restricted to air patrols in order to protect Cambodia's airspace from the numerous incursions made by U.S. Air Force (USAF), Republic of Vietnam Air Force (VNAF) and Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) aircraft. In 1962, during a period of heightened tension with Thailand over Preah Vihear, a disputed temple in the Dângrêk Mountains border area, the C-47 transports of the Liaison and Transport Group (GLT) dropped at night three planeloads of paratroopers over the Choam Ksan district of Preah Vihear Province, in a show of force intended to intimidate the Thai government. The AVRK C-47 transports resumed the same role again in 1964, when they carried out another battalion-sized parachute drop over two days near Samrong in Oddar Meanchey Province along the Thai border,Conboy and Bowra, The War in Cambodia 1970-75 (1989), p. 40, Plate A3.Conboy, FANK: A History of the Cambodian Armed Forces, 1970-1975 (2011), pp. 176; 214. and landing strips were improvised at Siem Reap and Battambang for the C-47 and An-2 transports supplying the ARK troops. Detachments of MiG-17F jets and AD-4N Skyraiders were also deployed at these locations after the intrusion of RTAF airplanes into the Cambodian airspace, but both sides prudently avoided confrontation and there were no incidents. A more serious clash occurred on March 21, 1964, when a patrol of two AVRK T-28D fighter-bombers penetrated 3.22 km (over 2 Mi) into South Vietnam and shot down an L-19 light aircraft in retaliation for a VNAF strike into Cambodia, killing both the Vietnamese pilot and the American observer.Adcock, Greer and Sewell, T-28 Trojan in action (1989), p. 32.Conboy, FANK: A History of the Cambodian Armed Forces, 1970-1975 (2011), p. 214.Jan Forsgren, Cambodia: Khmer Air Force History 1970-1975 (Part 1) - https://www.aeroflight.co.uk/waf/aa-eastasia/cambodia/cam-af-history1.htm