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Libyan Air Force

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Libyan Arab Republic Air Force Al Quwwat al-Jawwiya al-Libiyya
Active1970 -present
Country Libya
HQOkba Ben Nafi, Tripoli
EngagementsSix-Day War 1967

Yom Kippur War 1973 Libyan–Egyptian War 1977 Chadian–Libyan conflict 1978-1987 Gulf of Sidra incidents 1981,1989

Libyan Revolt 2011
Insignia
Roundel
Aircraft flown
AttackSu-22, J-21, Mi-14, Mi-24, Bell 206,
BomberSu-24
FighterMiG-21, MiG-23, Mirage F1
TrainerSF-260, L-39, G-2, Yak-130
TransportAn-26, Falcon 20, Falcon 50, Gulfstream II, Il-76, L-410, C-130, Il-78 Midas, Bell 212, CH-47, Mi-8

The Libyan Air Force (Arabic: القوات الجوية الليبية, Berber: Adwas Alibyan Ujnna) is the air force of Libya, with an air force personnel estimated at 22,000. There are 13 military airbases in Libya.[1]

After U.S. forces had left Libya in 1970, Wheelus Air Base, a previous U.S. facility about seven miles from Tripoli, became a Libyan Air Force installation and was renamed Okba Ben Nafi Air Base. OBN AB housed the LPAF's headquarters and a large share of its major training facilities.

LPAF Soviet-made MiG-17/19/25 fighters and Tu-22 bombers were based at Okba Ben Nafi Air Base. Of the combat aircraft, the United States Department of State estimated in 1983 that 50 percent remained in storage, including most of the MiG fighters and Tu-22 bombers.

History

Cold War

Royal Libyan Air Force roundel.

The air force was first established as the Royal Libyan Air Force (Al Quwwat al Jawwiya al Malakiya al Libiyya) in 1951. In 1970 it changed its name to the Libyan Arab Republic Air Force.

The main suppliers were Soviet Union and Italy and France.

During the Cold War, aircraft and personnel of the Soviet Air Force took residence at Okba Ben Nafi Air Base. With Soviet assistance, the Libyan Air Force was organized into one medium bomber squadron with Tupolev Tu-22s, three fighter interceptor squadrons, five forward ground attack squadrons, one counterinsurgency squadron, nine helicopter squadrons, and three air defense brigades deploying SA-2, SA-3, and Crotale missiles.[2]. In 1971 11 civilian C-130's were delivered by the USA and converted in Italy to military version, four C-100-30's were acquired later by purchasing them from the Philippines and Luxembourg in 1981. In 1976 20 CH-47 Chinook heavy transport helicopters were acquired in Italy. 14 were transferred to the army in the 1990s.

Combat experience

The Libyan Arab Republic Air Force (LARAF) lost a total of four aircraft to United States Navy F-14 Tomcats in two incidents over the Gulf of Sidra, in 1981 and 1989. In addition, many planes were destroyed or damaged on the ground in 1986 when American planes attacked targets at Benghazi and Tripoli airports.

In the 1970s and 80s Libyan Migs and Tupolevs were common visitors to the international airspace, close to Italy. On June 1980 a Libyan MiG-23 crashed on the Sila Mountains in Castelsilano, Calabria, southern Italy.

The air force was extensively used in the fighting in Chad in the 1980s, in support of Libyan ground units. It was reported that many Libyan bombing raids were carried out at excessively high altitudes when met with anti-aircraft fire so the attacks did not play a decisive role. On 17 February 1986, in retaliation for the French Operation Èpervier, a single LARAF Tu-22B attacked the airport at N'Djamena. One Tu-22 bomber was shot down by captured SA-6 missile during an attack on an abandoned Libyan base on 8 August 1987. Another Tu-22 was lost on 7 September 1987, when a battery of French MIM-23 Hawk SAMs shot down one of the two LARAF bombers that were attacking N'Djamena.

The Chadians seized Ouadi Doum base in 1987 and destroyed or captured two SF.260s, three Mi-25s, two Tu-22B bombers, eleven L-39 jets, two complete SA-8 SAM-batteries and a plethora of additional equipment, weapons, supplies and ammounition, a good deal of which was flown out to France and the USA within the next five days. Four USAF C-5 Galaxy transports were sent to N'Djamena to collect the captured Libyan equipment.

The Libyan Arab Republic Air Force (LARAF) was also involved in combat against Tanzania during 1979 as part of the Uganda–Tanzania War to help its Ugandan allies, with a single Tu-22 flying a unsuccessful bombing mission against the town of Mwanza .[21]

Post–Cold War

With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the elimination of military aid by the new Russian Federation, Soviet/Russian support was drastically curtailed. The last major delivery of Soviet aircraft was 15 Su-24 Fencers in March/April 1989.

Much of Libyan air doctrine appears now to be of an ad hoc nature and contracted personnel from Yugoslavia, South Africa, Russia, North Korea and Pakistan provide piloting, maintenance and technical services.

UN sanctions were lifted in early 1999 and Libya has talked to Russia about upgrades for its MiG-21s and MiG-25s while also expressing an interest in MiG-29s, MiG-31s and long-range SAMs. However, many of the transport and combat aircraft are in storage.

Libyan Revolt

During the Libyan Revolution, Libyan Air Force warplanes and attack helicopters launched repeated airstrikes on protesters, reportedly targeting a funeral procession and a group of protesters trying to reach an army base.[3][4] On 21 February 2011, two senior Libyan Air Force pilots defected and flew their Mirage F1 fighter jets to Malta and requested political asylum after defying orders to bomb protesters.[5] On 23 February 2011, pilot Abdessalam Attiyah al-Abdali and co-pilot Ali Omar al-Kadhafi, crew of a Sukhoi-22, ejected with parachutes near Ajdabiya, 100 miles west of Benghazi, after refusing orders to bomb the city of Benghazi[6].

Current air force equipment

Aircraft Origin Type Versions In service Notes
Dassault Mirage F1  France Multi role fighter Mirage F1BD/ED 1 32 delivered in the seventies, most of them have disappeared. Some are based at Gamal Abdul El Nasser Air Base, south of Tobruk. In 2007, Dassault Aviation was awarded a contract to put 12 remaining ones back in flying condition. Only four have been refitted[7]. Two have been used by a pair of colonels who defected to Malta on 21 February 2011 after being instructed to bomb protesters[8]. As a result, only two remain in Libya - they are two-seat versions used for training among other tasks. One more is reported to have crashed into the Gulf of Sirte on 23 February 2011, after the pilot ejected from the plane[citation needed].
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21  Soviet Union Trainer/interceptor 25 Most are grounded
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23  Soviet Union Ground attack/interceptor/trainer MiG-23BN/MS/ML/UB 124 Most are grounded. some captured by rebels in air bases in Benghazi and Tubruk, February 2011[citation needed].
Sukhoi Su-22  Soviet Union Ground attack Sukhoi Su-22M3/UM-3K 39 One lost on 23 February 2011 as the crew refused to abide an order to attack protesters and ejected out of their plane, which crashed near Ajdabiya, 100 miles west of Benghazi.

[9]

Sukhoi Su-24  Soviet Union Long range bomber Sukhoi Su-24MK 3 One lost in fire
Soko J-21 Jastreb  Yugoslavia Light ground attack 13
Aero L-39ZO Albatros  Czechoslovakia Light attack/trainer 110
Aermacchi SF-260WL  Italy Basic trainer 20
Soko G-2 Galeb  Yugoslavia Light attack/trainer 116
Yakovlev Yak-130  Russia Jet trainer 6 On order (2010)
Dassault Falcon 20  France Light transport 3
Antonov An-26  Soviet Union Medium transport 10
Gulfstream II  USA Light transport 1
Dassault Falcon 50  France Light transport 1
Ilyushin Il-76  Soviet Union Heavy transport 17
Let L-410 Turbolet  Czechoslovakia Light utility transport 15
Lockheed C-130H Hercules  USA Heavy transport 10
Antonov An-124  Soviet Union Heavy transport 2
Ilyushin Il-78  Soviet Union Air to air refueller 4
Mil Mi-24 Hind  Russia Heavy attack helicopter 38 Some source considers Mi-35; anyway, #853 destroyed by fire on the ground on 23 Feb 2011 or days before[citation needed]. Mi-24 shot down by anti-Gaddafi rebels in Misrata, 28 Feb 2011[citation needed].
Mil Mi-14  Russia Medium utility helicopter 12
Bell 206 JetRanger  USA Training helicopter 4
Bell 212 Twin Huey  USA Light transport helicopter 2 Delivered from Italy
Boeing CH-47 Chinook  USA Heavy transport helicopter 8 Delivered from Italy
Mil Mi-8 Hip  Russia Medium transport helicopter 25
Mil Mi-17  Russia Medium transport helicopter ? Status unknown
Lavochkin SA-2  Soviet Union Air defence SAM 88 At least 2 have been captured by anti government protesters and defected military units in Tobruk
Isayev SA-3  Soviet Union Air defence SAM 10
SA-6  Soviet Union Air defence SAM 43

Captured aircraft

Aircraft Origin Type Versions No. Captured Notes
Westland Lynx  Netherlands ASW, SAR and MEDEVAC duties 1 Captured, along with its crew of 3, from the Dutch Navy on 27 February 2011, during an attempted civilian rescue mission.[10]

Retired Aircraft

File:Figuur1.jpg
Libyan MiG-25

References

  1. ^ Middle East Military Balance: Libya
  2. ^ Library of Congress Country Study Libya, Chapter 5:National Security, 1987
  3. ^ "Report: Libya air force bombs protesters heading for army base - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News". Haaretz.com. 2 April 2008. Retrieved 21 February 2011.
  4. ^ Yasmine Ryan. "Report: Libyan protesters fired on - Africa". Al Jazeera English. Retrieved 21 February 2011.
  5. ^ "Updated: Libyan fighter jets arrive in Malta". timesofmalta.com. Retrieved 21 February 2011.
  6. ^ "Libya pilot rejects Benghazi bombing, ditches plane". Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  7. ^ "La Libye n'a plus que deux Mirage F1 en état de vol". Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  8. ^ "Libyan fighter jets arrive in Malta". Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  9. ^ "Libya pilot 'rejects Benghazi raid, ditches plane'". www.dawn.com. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
  10. ^ BBC News item (retrieved 3 March 2011)
  11. ^ Libyan Mirages in Use for Pakistan AF Spares, Air Forces Monthly, June 2008 issue, p. 32

World Aircraft Information Files. Brightstar Publishing, London. File 337 Sheet 03

Further reading

  • Libyan Air Force article, Air Forces Monthly, September 2010

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