Royal Air Force of Oman

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 seven pilots under Squadron Leader BArry Atkinson gathered at RAF Manby in Lincolnshire that month.^[4] They were initially allocated a total of five aircraft. The first aircraft were two Scottish Aviation Pioneers transferred from the Royal Air Force. The first armed aircraft was the Percival Provost T52.^[5]

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, Vickers VC10 and 32 Hawker Hunter ground attack aircraft. In 1977 SEPECAT Jaguars joined the SOAF, followed in the 1980s by the BAE Hawk.^[5]

Royal Air Force of Oman era

In 1990 the SOAF was renamed the Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO).^[5] 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 Fighting Falcon 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 US Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified 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 the existing 12 F-16C/D in the RAFO inventory.^[6] 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.^[7]

Oman was considering the purchase of either the Eurofighter Typhoon or the JAS 39 Gripen,^[8] 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.^[9]

Accidents and incidents

On May 19, 1971, a De Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou crashed on takeoff in Janook Airstrip in Dhofar, killing all 3 crew members, the cause was determined a engine failure, causing an explosion.^[10]

On September 30, 1976, Hawker Hunter was taxiing at RAFO Thumrait, until the pilot smell smoke coming from the cockpit, the fire came to the aircraft, both crew are unable to ejected and both were killed by Asphyxiation.^[11]

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^[12][13]

Retired around 2020 Hawk 103 and the Hawk 203.

Commissioned officer ranks

The rank insignia of commissioned officers.

More information Rank group, General / flag officers ...

Rank group	General / flag officers										Senior officers						Junior officers
Royal Air Force of Oman[18] 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

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Other ranks

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

More information Rank group, Senior NCOs ...

Rank group	Senior NCOs																						Junior NCOs						Enlisted
Royal Air Force of Oman[18] 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

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