Libyan Air Force Totally Explained

Everything about The Libyan Air Force totally explained

The Libyan Air Force (- Al Quwwat al-Jawwiya al-Libiyya) is the air force of Libya.
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.

Cold War

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, 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.

Post–Cold War

With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the elimination of military aid by the new Russian republic, 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.

Combat History

LAF has lost a total of four aircraft to United States Navy F-14 Tomcats in two incidents, in 1981 and 1989.

Aircraft Inventory

Combat Aircraft - most aircraft are grounded and considered withdrawn from service
- 12 Dassault Mirage F1BD/ED - all grounded but to be refurbished and return to service
- 25 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21bis Fishbed-L/N
- 125 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23BN/MS/ML/UM Flogger-E/F/G/H
- 40 Sukhoi Su-22M3/UM-3K Fitter-G/H
- 5 Sukhoi Su-24MK Fencer-D
- 13 Soko J-21 Jastreb

Trainers

110 Aero L-39ZO Albatros
20 Aermacchi SF-260WL - 12 of them will refubished in Italy
116 Soko G-2 Galeb
6 Yakovlev Yak-130 - on order

Transport Aircraft

10 Antonov An-26 Curl - plans to procure new transport planes to replace them
3 Dassault Falcon 20
1 Dassault Falcon 50
3 Gulfstream II
15 Ilyushin Il-76 Candid
15 Let L-410 Turbolet
2 Lockheed JetStar
10 Lockheed C-130H Hercules

Refuellers

4 Ilyushin Il-78E Midas

Attack Helicopters

4 Bell 206 JetRanger
12 Mil Mi-14 Haze
43 Mil Mi-24 Hind - 13 of them modernised in South Africa

Transport Helicopters

2 Bell 212 Twin Huey
8 Boeing CH-47 Chinook - another 12 sold to U.A.E
25 Mil Mi-8 Hip including Mi-17
? Mil Mi-17 Hip-H

Air Defence

90 Lavochkin SA-2 Guideline
10 Isayev SA-3 Goa
48 SA-6 Gainful
BAC Rapier missile 'Jernas' system - under study

Future Aircraft

14 Dassault Rafale - MoU signed December 9, 2007 runs until July 1, 2008
12 Eurocopter EC 665 Tiger - MoU signed December 9, 2007 runs until July 1, 2008
20 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29SMT Fulcrum - under study
12 Sukhoi Su-30MK Flanker - under study
15 Eurocopter EC 725
10 Eurocopter AS 350 Ecureuil

Retired Aircraft

Further Information

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