The Kuwait Air Force ( ar, القوات الجوية الكويتية , al-Quwwat al-Jawwiya al-Kuwaitiya) is the air arm of the
Armed Forces
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
of
Kuwait
Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...
. The Air Force headquarters is located at
Abdullah Al-Mubarak Air Base
Kuwait International Airport ( ar, مطار الكويت الدولي, ) is an international airport located in the Farwaniya Governorate, Kuwait, south of the centre of Kuwait City, spread over an area of . It serves as the primary hub for ...
, with the remaining forces stationed at Air Defense Brigades,
Ali Al Salem Air Base
Ali Al Salem Air Base is a military air base situated in Kuwait, approximately 23 miles (37 km) from the Iraqi border, and roughly 15 km west of Al Jahra. The airfield is owned by the Government of Kuwait, and during Operation Souther ...
and
Ahmad al-Jaber Air Base. The Kuwait Air Force numbers approximately 2,500 officers and enlisted personnel.
History
The Kuwait Air Force was founded in 1953 by
Field Marshal
Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...
Sheikh Abdullah Mubarak Al-Sabah when the
Directorate of Public Security Force split from the
Kuwaiti Army
The Kuwait Army, established in 1949, is the oldest armed branch among the military of Kuwait. Its cavalry and infantry predecessors operated in desert and metropolitan areas in 1919, 1920 and 1928 to 1938, tracing their roots directly to the c ...
; the new force was equipped with a number of Austers in different configurations and two
de Havilland DH.104 Dove
The de Havilland DH.104 Dove is a British short-haul airliner developed and manufactured by de Havilland. The design, which was a monoplane successor to the pre-war Dragon Rapide biplane, came about from the Brabazon Committee report whi ...
s.
The Kuwait Air Force was expanded concurrently with the course of the British intervention during
Operation Vantage
Operation Vantage was a British military operation in 1961 to support the newly independent state of Kuwait against territorial claims by its neighbour, Iraq. The UK reacted to a call for protection from Sheikh Abdullah III Al-Salim Al-Sabah of Kuw ...
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 Hunter
The Hawker Hunter is a transonic British jet-powered fighter aircraft that was developed by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly developed Rolls-R ...
s. 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
The Armstrong Whitworth Argosy was a British post-war Military transport aircraft, transport/cargo aircraft; it was the final aircraft to be designed and produced by aviation company Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft. Although given different inter ...
in 1969 and later, in 1971, by two
Lockheed L-100-20 Hercules.
![EE Lightning F](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/EE_Lightning_F.53_418_G-AXEE_Kuw_LEB_07.06.69_edited-5.jpg)
In the meantime the fighter force was given a boost by the procurement of 14
English Electric Lightning
The English Electric Lightning is a British fighter aircraft that served as an interceptor during the 1960s, the 1970s and into the late 1980s. It was capable of a top speed of above Mach 2. The Lightning was designed, developed, and manufa ...
s that were delivered in the late 1960s. Twelve
BAC Strikemaster
The BAC 167 Strikemaster is a British jet-powered training and light attack aircraft. It was a development of the Hunting Jet Provost trainer, itself a jet engined version of the Percival Provost, which originally flew in 1950 with a radial p ...
s were delivered in 1969.
Between 1968 and 1977 two
Bell 206s operated in KAF service and from November 1969, eight Augusta
Bell 205
The Bell 204 and 205 are the civilian versions of the UH-1 Iroquois single-engine military helicopter of the Huey family of helicopters. They are type-certificated in the transport category and are used in a wide variety of applications, inc ...
s 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
The Dassault Mirage F1 is a French fighter and attack aircraft designed and manufactured by Dassault Aviation. It was developed as a successor to the popular Mirage III family.
During the 1960s, Dassault commenced development of what would ...
was selected as the new
air defence
Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...
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
A gazelle is one of many antelope species in the genus ''Gazella'' . This article also deals with the seven species included in two further genera, ''Eudorcas'' and ''Nanger'', which were formerly considered subgenera of ''Gazella''. A third ...
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
Hawks are bird of prey, birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica.
* The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. Th ...
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
The Short Tucano is a two-seat turboprop basic trainer built by Short Brothers in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a licence-built version of the Brazilian Embraer EMB 312 Tucano.
On 14 February 1986, the prototype conducted its maiden flig ...
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.
Kuwaiti Inventory in 1991
The delay in Iraqi air attacks allowed the Kuwaiti planes to get airborne. Kuwaiti A-4 attacked Republican Guard divisions still moving toward Kuwait City.
The initial Iraqi attack on al-Jaber closed the runways due to presence of air scattered mines. The returning Mirage F-1 and A-4 landed and were serviced on the perimeter fence road. Only when Iraqi troops were right next to the base did attack sorties stop.
Coalition forces heavily bombed the two Kuwait air bases, reducing most of the facilities to rubble and destroying nearly all of the 50 hardened aircraft shelters. Coalition cluster bombs cratered the taxiways and the Iraqis had run a ripper across the runways every 200 feet to make them unusable.
Post Gulf War
In the immediate post-war air force staff was 1,000, with 34 combat aircraft and 12 armed helicopters. In two years staff numbered about 2,500, with 74 combat aircraft, including A-4 Skyhawks, McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornets, and 20 armed helicopters. Four batteries of I-Hawk medium-range SAMs and most of the fleet of transport aircraft had been impounded by Iraq
After the Gulf War, the KAF underwent a reorganization, growing in quantity and quality:
* Douglas A-4 Skyhawks and Dassault Mirage F1s were soon phased out in favour of the
McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet
The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather, twin-engine, supersonic, carrier-capable, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a fighter and attack aircraft (hence the F/A designation). Designed by McDonnell Douglas (now p ...
. Forty Hornets, 32 F/A-18Cs and 8 F/A-18Ds, ordered before the Iraqi invasion, joined 9th Squadron and 25th Squadron from Ahmad al-Jaber.
* The first six of sixteen
AH-64D Apache
The Boeing AH-64 Apache () is an American twin- turboshaft attack helicopter with a tailwheel-type landing gear arrangement and a tandem cockpit for a crew of two. It features a nose-mounted sensor suite for target acquisition and night v ...
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.
* Six Patriot antiballistic missile SAM firing units and six batteries of Hawk SAMs were purchased.
* Air force engaged in extensive joint training with allies.
Tanker and cargo plane programs
![A Kuwaiti A-4KU Skyhawk](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/A_Kuwaiti_A-4KU_Skyhawk.JPEG)
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 with an option for 3 more. 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. In September 2010, Kuwait requested to purchase one
Boeing C-17
The McDonnell Douglas/Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is a large military transport aircraft that was developed for the United States Air Force (USAF) from the 1980s to the early 1990s by McDonnell Douglas. The C-17 carries forward the name of two ...
followed shortly with an order for one more.
Air Defense program
The U.S. approved the foreign sale of (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, The U.S. Department of Defense awarded Raytheon a $655.4 million, took the form of a firm-fixed-price, sole-source, foreign military sales contract to supply to the Kuwaiti military two PATRIOT fire units, plus associated spare parts. Delivery of the units is expected to take place by April 30, 2018, on June 23, 2016 Raytheon was awarded a $523 million fixed-price-incentive contract to modernize six Patriot fire units in Kuwait, the Defense Department spokesman said.
Transport and Attack helicopter program
Kuwait purchased 16 AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopters and 30 EC725 Caracal transport helicopters, 24 for the Air Force and 6 for the National Guard. The purchase is motivated by concerns about potential terrorist or foreign attacks. EC725 Caracal fleet will be used for combat search-and-rescue, naval operations, medical evacuation and military transportation and will be operated by the Kuwait Air Force and National Guard.
New combat fighters
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. In September 2016, it was also announced that the sale of up to 40
Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet
The Boeing F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornet are twin-engine, carrier-capable, multirole fighter aircraft variants based on the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. The F/A-18E single-seat and F/A-18F tandem-seat variants are larger and more adv ...
had been submitted to the US Congress for approval.
A deal for 40 planes valued at $10.1 billion (USD) was signed off in November 2016.
It seems there is closed order for 28 Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornets to Kuwait, with an option of up to 16 more.
New ISR fleet
In FEB. 21, 2018 - The US State department has approved a possible imminent sale to Kuwait of four
King Air 350ER Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft, which is a priority for the Kuwaiti Air Force to establish its first dedicated airborne ISR fleet in its expansion and modernization efforts.
Structure
Aircraft
![Lockheed L-100-30 Hercules (L-382G), Kuwait - Air Force AN0985031](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Lockheed_L-100-30_Hercules_%28L-382G%29%2C_Kuwait_-_Air_Force_AN0985031.jpg)
Current inventory
Air Defence
Ranks of the Kuwait Air Force
;Commissioned officer ranks
;Other ranks
See also
*
Chief of the General Staff (Kuwait)
*
Ministry of Defense (Kuwait)
The Kuwait Ministry of Defence ( ar, وزارة الدفاع الكويتية) is one of the governmental bodies of Kuwait. Its minister in charge is a member of the Cabinet of Kuwait. The current caretaker Minister of Defense is Talal Khaled ...
References
External links
UNIKOM
{{Authority control
Air forces by country
Military of Kuwait
Aviation in Kuwait
Military units and formations established in 1953