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Royal Air Force of Oman
سلاح الجو السلطاني عمان Silāḥ al-Jaww as-Sulṭāniy ‘Umān
Badge of the Royal Air Force of Oman
Founded	1959; 65 years ago (1959)
Country	Oman
Type	Air force
Role	Aerial warfare
Part of	Sultan of Oman's Armed Forces
Commanders
Commander-in-Chief	Sultan Haitham bin Tariq
Commander of the Air Force	Air Vice-Marshal Khamis bin Hammad Al-Ghafri
Insignia
Fin flash
Flag
Aircraft flown
Fighter	F-16 Fighting Falcon, Eurofighter Typhoon, BAe Hawk 203
Helicopter	(SuperLynx, NH90, Bell429/Bell206)
Trainer	BAe Hawk 103, Pilatus PC-9, PAC Super MFI-17 Mushshak
Transport	C-130 Hercules, Airbus A320, Dornier 228

The Royal Air Force of Oman (Arabic: سلاح الجو السلطاني عمان, romanized: Silāḥ al-Jaww as-Sulṭāniy ‘Umān or RAFO) is the air arm of the Armed Forces of Oman.

History

Sultan of Oman's Air Force era

The Sultan of Oman's Air Force (SOAF) was formed with British personnel and aircraft in March 1959. The first aircraft were two Scottish Aviation Pioneers transferred from the Royal Air Force. The first armed aircraft was the Percival Provost T52.

In 1968 the SOAF received the first of 24 BAC Strikemaster jet trainer and light strike aircraft for operation against insurgents in the Dhofar region. In 1974 the SOAF was expanded with orders for the Britten Norman Defender, BAC One-Eleven, BAC VC10 and 32 Hawker Hunter ground attack aircraft. In 1977 Jaguar International joined the SOAF, followed in the 1980s by the BAE Hawk.

Royal Air Force of Oman era

In 1990 the SOAF was renamed the Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO). In 1993 and 1994 the RAFO replaced its Hawker Hunters with four BAE Hawk Mk 103 fighter-trainers and 12 single-seat Hawk Mk 203s, equipped with Westinghouse APG-66H radar, as light ground attack aircraft/interceptors. In September 1997, after the evaluation of new combat aircraft, the RAFO decided to upgrade and extend the service lives of its remaining 17 SEPECAT Jaguar ground attack aircraft until the second decade of the 21st century. A contract was placed with the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence to upgrade the avionics of the Jaguar aircraft for $40 million. In 2005, deliveries of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 50 aircraft began, equipped with improved GPS/INS. The aircraft can carry a further batch of advanced missiles; the AGM-88 HARM missile, JDAM, JSOW and WCMD.

On 3 August 2010, the USA Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified the Congress of a possible sale of 18 F-16 Block 50/52 to Oman in a contract worth US$3.5 Billion. In addition to the new fighters, the contract included upgrading existing 12 F-16 C/D in the RAFO inventory. On 14 December 2011, it was announced that Oman had agreed to buy an additional 12 F-16C/D Block 50s to join the 12 F-16C/Ds already in service.

Oman was considering the purchase of either the Eurofighter Typhoon or the JAS 39 Gripen, but on 21 December 2012 a £2.5 billion deal was signed in Muscat to supply RAFO with 12 Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets and eight BAE Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer aircraft. The deliveries were completed in 2018.

Bases

Aircraft

Current inventory

Retired

Previous aircraft flown by the Air Force included the SEPECAT Jaguar S/B, Hawker Hunter, BAC Strikemaster, Douglas DC-8, Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander, Skyvan 3M, BAe BAC-1-11, Scheibe Super-Falke, and the Bell 214B helicopter

Commanders

The first Omani to command the Air Force was Air Vice-Marshal Talib bin Meran bin Zaman Al-Raeesi who was appointed in June 1990.

Ranks

Commissioned officer ranks

The rank insignia of commissioned officers.

Rank group	General / flag officers										Senior officers						Junior officers
Royal Air Force of Oman v t e
	مشیر Mushir		فريق أول‎‎ Fariq 'awal		فريق Fariq		لواء Liwa		عميد Amid		عقيد Aqid		مقدم Muqaddam		رائد Ra'id		نقيب Naqib		ملازم أول Mulazim awwal			ملازم Mulazim

Other ranks

The rank insignia of non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel.

Rank group	Senior NCOs																						Junior NCOs						Enlisted
Royal Air Force of Oman v t e																													No insignia
	وکیل کتیبة Wakil katiba						وکیل Wakil		رقیب اول Raqib 'awal		رقیب Raqib												عریف Earif				نائب عریف Nayib earif		جندي Jundiun‎‎

References

1. ^ "Royal Air Force of Oman". Archived from the original on 9 February 2014. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
2. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 August 2010. Retrieved 13 August 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
3. Hoyle, Craig. "Omani F-16 deal means continued wait for Eurofighter." Archived 9 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine Flight International via flightglobal.com, 14 December 2011. Retrieved: 18 December 2011.
4. Royal Air Force of Oman, JAS 39 Gripen and Eurofighter Typhoon Archived 6 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Tactical Report (2010-06-03). Retrieved on 2013-08-16.
5. BBC News - BAE Systems wins £2.5bn Oman Hawk and Typhoon contract Archived 18 November 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Bbc.co.uk (2012-12-21). Retrieved on 2013-08-16.
6. ^ Hoyle, Craig (2024). "World Air Forces 2025". FlightGlobal. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
7. "Royal Air Force of Oman orders two Airbus A320 Corporate Jets". airbus.com. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
8. "Oman gets ready to induct C-130J". arabianaerospace.aero. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
9. "Oman Royal Flight". .helis.com. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
10. "Aeroflight » Oman. Air Force". aeroflight.co.uk. Archived from the original on 23 June 2015. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
11. "World Air Forces 1987 pg. 76" (PDF). flightglobal.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
12. "The Evolution of Oman's Royal Air Force". rafmuseum.org.uk. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
13. ^ "The Military Ranks and Badges". mod.gov.om. Ministry of defence. Archived from the original on 6 January 2024. Retrieved 4 February 2024.

External links

• The Sultan’s Armed Forces mentioning the Royal Air Force of Oman
• World aircraft information files Brightstar publishing File 330 Sheet 1

• Royal Air Force of Oman
• Military of Oman
• Air forces by country
• Aviation in Oman
• Military units and formations established in 1959