Royal Moroccan Air Force
| Royal Moroccan Air Force القوات الجوية الملكية المغربية al-Quwwat al-Jawwiyah al-Malakiyah al-Maghribiyah Forces Royales Air |
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| Active | 1956 – present |
| Country | Morocco |
| Branch | Air Force |
| Size | 130,500 personnel |
| Part of | Administration of Defence إدارة الدفاع |
| Engagements | Sand War Yom Kippur War Western Sahara conflict |
| Commanders | |
| Military Leadership | General Ahmed Boutaleb (Inspector of the Royal Air Force) |
| Civilian Leadership | Mohammed VI (Commander-in-Chief) |
| Insignia | |
| Roundel |  |
| Fin flash |  |
| Aircraft flown | |
| Attack | Mirage F1CH/EH Lockheed F-16 Fighting Falcon Alpha Jet Aérospatiale SA 342 Gazelle F-5 Tiger III MD 500 Defender |
| Electronic warfare |
Dassault Falcon 20 |
| Fighter | Mirage F1CH/EH F-5 Tiger III F-5E Tiger II Lockheed F-16 Fighting Falcon |
| Interceptor | Lockheed F-16 Fighting Falcon Mirage F1CH F-5 Tiger III |
| Reconnaissance | Falcon 20 |
| Trainer | Alpha Jet E T-34 T-37B FFA AS-202/18 Bravo T-6 Texan |
| Transport | C-130H Hercules CASA CN.235M |
The Royal Moroccan Air Force (RMAF) (Arabic: القوات الجوية الملكية المغربية ; transliterated: 'al-Quwwat al-Jawwiyah al-Malakiyah al-Maghribiyah; French: Forces Royales Air) is the air force branch of the Moroccan Armed Forces.
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[edit] History
The Moroccan air force was formed on November 19, 1956 as the “Aviation Royale Chérifienne” (Sherifian Royal Aviation).
Its modern installations and bases were inherited from France (Meknes, Rabat {in tandem with the United States}, Marrakech), the United States (Rabat {in tandem with France}, Kenitra, Benguérir, Boulhault, Nouasser and Sidi Slimane) and Spain (Laayoune).
The first acquisitions of this newly formed air force were 6 Morane-Saulnier MS-500 Criquet, 3 Max Holste MH.1521 Broussard transport aircraft, 2 Beechcraft Twin Bonanza, 1 de Havilland DH.114 Heron and 1 Bell 47G helicopter.
In 1961, it changed its name to "Force Aérienne Royale Marocaine" (Royal Moroccan Air Force), a denomination still used until now. In the same period, it obtained 12 MiG-17 fighters, 2 MiG-15UTI "Midget" trainers and 4 Ilyushin Il-28 bombers from the Soviet Union. 24 Fouga Magister training aircraft were also received from France.
The political rift with the USSR pushed Morocco to seek a new ally in the United States, acquiring from the latter 6 Northrop F-5 combat aircraft (4 single-seat F-5A and 2 two-seat F-5B) and another 20 F-5A and 4 F-5B in 1966. As for the transport units, they had at that moment 10 Douglas C-47, 18 Fairchild C-119G and 6 C-130 Hercules. The helicopter fleet was composed of 24 Augusta-Bell AB205A, and training was satisfied with 12 North American T-6 Texan.
The next modernization of the Moroccan air force took place just before the Sahara conflict, with the acquisition of Mirage F-1CH attack aircraft, Beech T-34C Mentor training aircraft, Aerospatiale Puma helicopters, and new Hercules transport aircraft to substitute the older units.
[edit] Operations
[edit] Yom Kippur War
[edit] Western Sahara Conflict
At the beginning of the conflict, the Fouga Magister aircraft were the first to see action. Later on, the F-5 aircraft were thrown into action, to strike against Polisario targets. From the beginning, the objective of Morocco was to create a controlled and safe zone in the area considered as “useful” for its political and economic interests, that is, the Capital Al-Aaiun, the religious center Smara, and the phosphate field of Bu-Craa.
In 1980 construction of the Sahara defensive walls began, consisting of every type of obstacles for infantry and armoured vehicles, such as mines and radars, all backed by Quick Intervention Units (Détachements d'Intervention Rapide) able to move to and quickly reinforce every location along the wall, aided by air-transport composed of Super Puma, AB-205 and CH-47 Chinook helicopters.
As to the anti-tank defenses, it was decided additionally to use Hughes 500MD light helicopters with TOW missiles to neutralize the Polisario T-54, T-55 and BMP tanks. And apart from the ground radars of the Wall, two C-130 Hercules with SLAR system were also used for the detection of enemy units. After the loss of 1 F-5A and 2 RF-5A in the battles, 20 F-5E "Tiger II" and 4 F-5F were acquired thanks to Saudi financial support.
The main problem that faced the F-5 in Western Sahara was its insufficient range to realize missions in depth in the vast battlefield of the Sahara desert.
To minimize this problem, 4 tankers were purchased to provide the Moroccan “Freedom Fighters” with air-to-air refueling, and consequently increase their attack range. The Mirage F-1 were responsible of defending the air-space against a possible Libyan or Algerian attack, whose governments supported both financially and politically the Polisario front, during the beginning of the conflict.
In 1977, the Moroccan Mirage pilots started their training in an Air-force base located in Orange, France. In this same year, the Moroccan Air Force started receiving its first Mirage F-1C fighters. Libya and Algeria did not attack Morocco, and consequently Morocco destined its Mirages to ground-attack missions against Polisario. 3 Mirage Deliveries were received between 1978 and 1982. The first delivery were 30 Mirage F1-CH received between February and December 1978. The second one, was received between December 1979 and July 1982 and comprised 14 Mirage F1-EH. Between July 1980 and June a final delivery of 6 Mirage F-1EH-200 was received.
During the 90’s there were plans for purchasing Mirage 2000 or F-16 fighter aircraft, however due to unavailable funding they were not realized. Currently, and possibly as a result of the Algerian negotiations with Russia to purchase MiG-29 and Su-30MKA attack aircraft, the Royal Moroccan Air Force started seeking to modernize its ageing fleet.
[edit] Accidents
In July 2011, a RMAF C-130H crash killed 78 people. The plane was en-route from Dakhla, a city in Morocco to the Kenitra Air Base in Kenitra. A stop-over landing at Guelmim was planned but the plane crashed on 6 miles from the airport.
All 78 people on board were killed. The plane had 6 crew, 60 members of the army and 12 civilians, mainly partners traveling with their partners[1]
[edit] Airbases
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[edit] Aircraft inventory
The Royal Moroccan Air Force flies a variety of Western-built airplanes, particularly American built aircraft. The RMAF currently operates approximately 100 combat aircraft of 4 different types. There are 5 front-line squadrons.
[edit] References
- ^ Crash in Morocco leaves 78 dead, 27 July 2011, visited 28 July 2011
- "Morocco plane crash claims 80 lives". http://www.presstv.com/detail/190871.html/. Retrieved 27 July 2011.
[edit] External links
- http://far-maroc.on.ma Unofficial Moroccan Army Forum
- Order of Battle at Scramble.nl
- Moroccan air force fleet photos - airliners.net
- Moroccan air force losses - skywar.ru
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