Kuwait Air Force
| Kuwait Air Force al-Quwwat al-Jawwiya al-Kuwaitiya | |
|---|---|
|
Kuwait Air Force roundel | |
| Active | 1953 |
| Country |
 Kuwait |
| Branch | Kuwait Armed Forces |
| Type | Air Force |
| Size | Approx. 5,000 personnel |
| Garrison/HQ | Abdullah Al-Mubarak Air Base |
| Motto(s) |
الله والوطن والامير God, Country & The Emir |
| Colors | Green & Red |
| Anniversaries | National and Liberation Day (25 and 26 February) |
| Engagements | |
| Commanders | |
| Assistant Chief Combat Commander of Kuwait Air Force | Kuwait Air Force Commander |
| Aircraft flown | |
| Attack | McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet, Boeing AH-64 Apache |
| Fighter | F/A-18 Hornet |
| Patrol | Aerospatiale SA-342 Gazelle |
| Trainer | Short Tucano, BAE Hawk, SA-342 |
| Transport |
Lockheed L-100 Hercules Aérospatiale SA 330 Puma Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma Lockheed Martin KC-130J |
The Kuwait Air Force (Arabic: القوات الجوية الكويتية Trans: al-Quwwat al-Jawwiya al-Kuwaitiya) is the air arm of the State of Kuwait. The Air Force headquarters is located at Abdullah Al-Mubarak Air Base, with the remaining forces stationed at Air Defense Brigades, Ali Al Salem Air Base and Ahmed Al Jaber Air Base. The Kuwait Air Force numbers approximately 5,000 officers and enlisted personnel.
History
The Kuwait Air Force was founded in 1953 by Field Marshal Sheikh Abdullah Mubarak Al-Sabah when the Directorate of Public Security Force split from the Kuwaiti Army; the new force was equipped with a number of Austers in different configurations and two de Havilland DH.104 Doves.|reason=Date of foundation has to be considered suspect, found a reliable source stating the first Kuwaiti pilot had his first solo flight while learning to fly, in 1954. Another source states that four Austers were delivered to the Kuwait Aero Club in March 1954, with no mention of military deliveries.
The Kuwait Air Force was expanded concurrently with the course of the British intervention during Operation Vantage that deterred Iraq from annexing Kuwait as one of its provinces. The first aircraft to enter KAF service were four Whirlwind helicopters and six BAC/Hunting Jet Provost T.51s. This support from the UK would remain in place for a long time and 1964 was known for the arrival of the first Hawker Hunters. These would later be joined by more examples in 1969. Two de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou transports arrived in 1963. The transport capacity would later be improved by the acquisition of an ex-RAF Armstrong Whitworth AW.660 Argosy in 1969 and later, in 1971, by two Lockheed L-100-20 Hercules.
In the meantime the fighter force was given a boost by the procurement of 14 English Electric Lightnings that were delivered in the late 1960s. Twelve BAC Strikemasters were delivered in 1969.
Between 1968 and 1977 two Bell 206s operated in KAF service and from November 1969, eight Augusta Bell 205s were delivered, replacing the aging Whirlwinds. Only five years after the delivery of the Lightnings, the KAF decided it needed an aircraft with better serviceability; it had been using the Hunters and the Strikemasters in the interceptor and ground strike role, rather than the Lightnings. Finally in 1974 the Mirage F1 was selected as the new air defence fighter and a total of 27 Mirage F1CKs and seven Mirage F1BKs were ordered and delivered in two separate batches until 1983. The ground strike role would be filled in by the total of 36 Douglas (T)A-4KU Skyhawks that were ordered in 1974 and delivered during 1977. In addition, 24 SNIAS SA-342K Gazelles were delivered during the mid-1970s and 4 were subsequently passed on to the Police Air Wing. Four L-100-30 Hercules transport aircraft were delivered in 1983, replacing the shorter L-100-20 version of which only one survived (the other crashed in France). Also in 1983, twelve Hawk T64s were ordered to fill the gap that the KAF had in training capacity. In 1988 the Air Force was named al-Quwwat al-Jawwiya al-Kuwaitiya (Kuwait Air Force). The lead-in-fighter-trainer that was selected, the Shorts Tucano T.52, would only be delivered in 1995. They were earmarked for delivery in 1990 but due to the outbreak of the Gulf War, deliveries were postponed.
Post Gulf War
After the Gulf War, the KAF underwent a reorganization; and the Douglas A-4 Skyhawks and Dassault Mirage F1s were soon phased out in favour of the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. Forty Hornets, consisting of 32 F/A-18Cs and 8 F/A-18Ds, are flying with the 9th Squadron and 25th Squadron from Ahmed al Jaber. The first six of sixteen AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopters were handed over to the Kuwait Air Force on 3 February 2006. The remaining ten aircraft were delivered thereafter. All the helicopters are pre-configured to carry the AN/APG-78 Longbow radar kits.
Current
Lockheed Martin has received a $245 million contract from the U.S. Government for the Foreign Military Sale of 3 KC-130J tanker aircraft to Kuwait. The program will be managed by the U.S. Navy.The Kuwait Air Force's new KC-130Js will provide aerial refueling for its F/A-18 fleet and augment its current airlift fleet of three Lockheed Martin L-100s. Kuwait's KC-130Js also will perform air mobility, disaster relief and humanitarian missions throughout the world. Kuwait's first KC-130J delivery is scheduled for late 2013, with deliveries completed in early 2014. Using only wing and external tanks.[1] In September 2010, Kuwait requested to purchase one Boeing C-17.[2] The USA is to sell 60 Patriot (PAC-3) missiles, 20 launching stations, four radar systems and control stations, personnel training and training equipment, and spare parts to Kuwait in a deal worth an estimated $4.2 billion.
On September 12, 2015, the Eurofighter consortium revealed that the Eurofighter Typhoon had been selected by Kuwait to update its fleet with 28 new fighter jets.
Structure
| Base Name | Function | Subsidiary Components | Note |
| Abdullah Al-Mubarak Air Base | 41st Transport Sqd L-100-30 Hercules | ||
| Ali Al Salem Air Base | Flying School Air Search and Rescue Combat Wing | 12th Training Sqd BAE Hawk MK.64 19th Training Sqd Shorts Tucano MK.52 88th Training Sqd SA-342K Gazelle 62nd Helicopter Sqd SA-330H Puma 32nd Helicopter Sqd AS-332M Super Puma 33rd Helicopter Sqd SA-342K Gazelle 17th Attack Sqd″Night Wolf″ AH-64D Longbow Apache 20th "The Dark Knights" Attack Sqd AH-64D Longbow Apache | |
| Ahmed Al Jaber Air Base | Air Combat Squadrons | 9th Fighter Sqd F/A-18 Hornet C/D 25th Fighter Sqd F/A-18 Hornet C/D | |
| Air Defense Brigades | Air Combat |
Aircraft
Current inventory
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| Aircraft | Origin | Type | Variant | In service | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Combat Aircraft | ||||||
| Boeing F/A-18 | United States | multirole | F/A-18C | 27[3] | ||
| Eurofighter Typhoon | European Union | multirole | Tranche 3A | 28 on order[4] | ||
| Tanker | ||||||
| KC-130 Hercules | United States | aerial refueling / transport | KC-130J | 3[3] | ||
| Transport | ||||||
| Boeing C-17A | United States | heavy transport | 2[3] | |||
| L-100 Hercules | United States | tactical transport | 3[3] | |||
| Helicopters | ||||||
| Sikorsky S-92 | United States | VIP | 2[3] | |||
| Boeing AH-64 | United States | attack | AH-64D | 16[3] | ||
| Eurocopter AS332 | France | transport / utility | 4[3] | |||
| Aérospatiale SA330 | France | transport / utility | 6[3] | |||
| Aérospatiale SA342 | France | scout / anti-armor | 14[3] | |||
| Airbus H225M | France | utility / transport | 24 on order[5] | |||
| Trainer Aircraft | ||||||
| F/A-18 | United States | conversion trainer | F/A-18D | 7[3] | ||
| BAE Hawk | United Kingdom | primary trainer | Hawk 64 | 10[3] | ||
| Short Tucano | United Kingdom | trainer | Tucano 52 | 12[3] | licence-built variant of the EMB-312. | |
Air Defence
| Name | Origin | Type | In service[6] | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air Defence Systems | ||||||
| MIM-104 Patriot | United States | SAM system | 25 | purchased 1992 - 12 upgraded to Patriot PAC-3 SAM/ABM system | ||
| MIM-23 Hawk | United States | SAM system | 24 | |||
| Skyguard | Germany | air defense system | 7 | three 4-cell missile launchers and two twin-barrel 35mm guns. Skyguard battery fires Sparrow/Aspide missiles | ||
| JLENS | United States | JLENS system | 1 | |||
| Starburst | United Kingdom | SAM system | 42 | |||
| GDF-005 | Italy | anti-aircraft gun | 12 | |||
Ranks of the Kuwait Air Force
Air Officer Corps
| Company-grade officers | Field-grade officers | General officers | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lieutenant (LT) |
First Lieutenant (1st LT) |
Captain (CAPT) |
Major (MAJ) |
Lieutenant Colonel (LT.COL) |
Colonel (COL) |
Brigadier general (B.GEN) |
Major general (MAJ.GEN) |
Lieutenant general (LT.GEN) |
General (GEN) |
| O-1 | O-2 | O-3 | O-4 | O-5 | O-6 | O-7 | O-8 | O-9 | O-10 |
| One Star (Arabic: ملازم) |
Two Stars (Arabic: ملازم أول) |
Three Stars (Arabic: نقيب) |
Crown (Arabic: رائد) |
Crown & Star (Arabic: مقدم) |
Crown & Two Stars (Arabic: عقيد) |
Crown & Three Stars (Arabic: عميد) |
Crown & Two Crossed Arabian Swords (Arabic: لواء) |
Crown, Star & Two Crossed Arabian Swords (Arabic: فريق) |
Crown, Two Stars & Two Crossed Arabian Swords (Arabic: فريق أول) |
Air Enlisted Corps
| Junior enlisted | Non-commissioned Officers (NCOs) | Warrant Officers (WOs) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private (PVT) |
Private first class (PFC) |
Corporal (CPL) |
Sergeant (SGT) |
Staff Sergeant (SSGT) |
Warrant Officer (WO) |
Chief Warrant Officer (CWO) | |||||
| E-1 | E-2 | E-3 | E-4 | E-5 | WO | CWO | |||||
| No Chevron Regular Airman |
One Chevron (Arabic: وكيل عريف ) |
Two Chevrons (Arabic: عريف) |
Three Chevrons (Arabic: رقيب) |
Three Chevrons with circle closing stripe (Arabic: رقيب أول) |
One Star centered with Coat of Arms of the Emir of Kuwait (Arabic: وكيل ضابط ) |
Two Stars centered with Coat of Arms of the Emir of Kuwait (Arabic: وكيل أول ضابط) | |||||
See also
References
- ↑ http://defpro.com/news/details/15576/
- ↑ Trimble, Stephen (28 September 2010). "Kuwait requests possible C-17 buy". Flight International. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "World Air Forces 2016 pg. 22". Flightglobal Insight. 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
- ↑ "Kuwait places order for 28 Typhoons". flightglobal.com. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
- ↑ "France, Kuwait strike $2.8bn military deals". presstv.ir. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
- ↑ "Arms Transfers Database". Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kuwait Air Force. |
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