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Lebanese Air Force
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The Lebanese Air Force (LAF) (Arabic: ?????? ?????? ????????? Al Quwwat al-Jawwiya al-Lubnania) is the aerial warfare branch of the Lebanese Armed Forces. The seal of the air force is constituted of a Roundel with two wings and a Lebanese Cedar tree, surrounded by two laurel leaves on a blue background.
Lebanese Air Force was established in 1949 under the command of then Lieutenant Colonel Emile Boustany who later became commander of the army.
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Encyclopedia
The Lebanese Air Force (LAF) (Arabic: ?????? ?????? ????????? Al Quwwat al-Jawwiya al-Lubnania) is the aerial warfare branch of the Lebanese Armed Forces. The seal of the air force is constituted of a Roundel with two wings and a Lebanese Cedar tree, surrounded by two laurel leaves on a blue background.
History
The Lebanese Air Force was established in 1949 under the command of then Lieutenant Colonel Emile Boustany who later became commander of the army. Soon after its establishment a number of planes were donated by the British, French, and Italian governments, while an additional number of planes were donated by Britain and Italy the same year. Britain donated 4 Percival Prentices and 2 World War II period Percival Proctors while Italy donated 4 Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 bombers which were mainly used for transportation. In 1953, jet fighters were introduced when a number of de Havilland Vampire jets were received. The first Hawker Hunters arrived in 1959 and were followed by additional fighters through 1977. In 1968, 12 Mirage IIIELs were delivered from France but were grounded in the late 1970s due to lack of funds. In 2000, the grounded Mirages were sold to Pakistan.
The air force, in the absence of advanced fixed wing aircraft, currently relies on a helicopter force and a some Hawker Hunter jets that have been put back in service at late 2008. The Lebanese Air Force consists of six squadrons distributed on three air bases.
Combat history
The Lebanese Air Force has a long history operating Hawker Hunter jets since 1958. A Lebanese Hawker Hunter shot down an Israeli jet over Kfirmishki in early sixties, its pilot was captured by the LAF . One Lebanese Hawker Hunter was shot down on the first day of the Six-Day War by the Israeli Air Force. The Hawker Hunters has not flown any combat sorties since September 17, 1983. This was during the period where the French and Americans were rebuilding the Lebanese army, and three F.Mk.70s were made airworthy, and started combat operations on September 15. Because the main airfield, Rayak Air Base had been shelled by Syrian forces, the Hunters had to operate from an airfield in Byblos. The Hunters were finally grounded in 1994 after a minor accident with one of the T.66 trainers during landing and the remaining 8 were stored in the Rayaq Air Base. The last loss took place in 1989 near Batroun during a routine training, according to the pilot the wheels did not eject, later the jet made a nose down. The pilot successfully ejected himself into the sea, where he was rescued by the Syrian army after one and half hour, which handed him to Suleiman Frangieh, who in order handed him to the Lebanese Army on al-Madfoun crossing.
During the battle of Nahr el-Bared camp in North Lebanon, the Lebanese army, lacking fixed-wing aircraft, modified the UH-1H allowing it to carry 400lb. (250Kg) Mk.82 dumb bombs to strike the militant positions. Each Huey was equipped on each side with a special pads engineered by the Lebanese army, and attached to each was a dumb bomb. It is one of the very rare if not the only time where a helicopter is used to bomb in this fashion. The Lebanese army also made use of Gazelle helicopters equipped with Euromissile HOT missiles and machine guns pods.
Air Bases
The Lebanese Air Force has three bases
Squadrons
Eighth Squadron
Employs: Aerospastiale SA-342 Gazelle
Serials: L-808 to L-816
Tenth Squadron
Employs: UH-1H
Serials: Unknown
Eleventh Squadron
Employs: UH-1H
Serials: Unknown
Twelfth Squadron
Employs: UH-1H
The helicopters of this squadron are on loan from the squadrons at Beirut Air Base.
Fourteenth Squadron
Employs: UH-1H
The helicopters of this squadron are on loan from the squadrons at Beirut Air Base.
Fifteenth Squadron
Employs: Robinson Raven R44 II
Serials: L-1501 to 1504
The squadron is part of the Aviation School, which is also based at Rayak.
Aircraft inventory
|+ Helicopters
! style="text-align: left; background: #aacccc;"|Aircraft
! style="text-align: left; background: #aacccc;"|Origin
! style="text-align: left; background: #aacccc;"|Type
! style="text-align: left; background: #aacccc;"|Total
! style="text-align: left; background: #aacccc;"|Status
! style="text-align: left; background: #aacccc;"|Notes
|-----
| Augusta-Bell AB 212 || || Utility Helicopter || 5 || Stored || To be made operational
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| AB-205/UH-1H || || Utility/Bomber/Attack helicopter || 23 || Active || Some with local modifications to carry 250 kg and 400 kg bombs or SNEB Matra 68mm rocket launchers
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| Aérospatiale SA-319 Alouette III || ||Utility Helicopter || 3 || Retired || Currently being used for crop spraying
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| Aérospatiale SA-342L Gazelle || ||Naval Patrol
Battlefield Scout
Anti-tank|| 8 || Active || UAE will help the Lebanese Army to restore three of the original batch delivered in 1980 . Additionally, one was damaged during training and it is currently inactive.
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| Aérospatiale SA-330 Puma || ||Utility and Transport Helicopter || 17 || Stored/TBD || Ten of them to be delivered by UAE.
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| AgustaWestland AW139 || || VIP Transport || 1 || Active || President's helicopter with presidential setting
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| Robinson R44 || ||Utility Helicopter
Trainer || 4 || Active ||
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Future
The air force is currently making efforts to enhance its capabilities after over a decade of negligence, which has affected all branches of the Lebanese Armed Forces. Reported interests include additional number of attack and utility helicopters and a small number of (3 to 6) jet fighters or trainers. Many types have been rumored but still no official statement has been made by the army or the air force. Due to lack of funds, donations from friendly nations are believed to be a strong possibility.
On February 10, 2009, UAE officially announced approval to provide Lebanon with 10 Aérospatiale Puma transport helicopters that can be delivered immediately . Before a day, the As-Safir newspaper wrote that Lebanon received positive signs from UAE concerning providing Lebanon with 10 PUMA transport helicopters and some Euromissile HOT missiles for the Aérospatiale SA-342L Gazelle attack helicopters.
On December 16, 2008, Russia announced that it will supply Lebanon with 10 MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters, Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr said on Tuesday after a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Anatoly Serdyukov. Serdyukov said Moscow had received a weapons procurement list from the Lebanese Armed Forces which would be considered in the near future. He added that the fighter deliveries would provide a fresh impetus to military cooperation between the two countries . Before all aircraft are shipped to Lebanon they will be repaired and modernized to "export standards". The Russian government has mentioned that the Lebanese pilots will be trained in Russia .
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