The United Arab Emirates Air Force (UAEAF) () is the air force of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), part of the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces. The airforce was established in 1968 as a small air wing of the Trucial Oman Scouts. The air wing was later named Air Wing of the Abu Dhabi Defense Forces before later being incorporated into the Union Defence Force of the United Arab Emirates.
Since then, the airforce has undergone a continual reorganisation and expansion in terms of both capability and the number of aircraft. Currently, the UAEAF has around 4,000 personnel and operates approximately 592 aircraft.
History
The UAE Air Force history began in May 1968, with the formation of an Air Wing of the Abu Dhabi Defence Force (ADDF) under British rule. Its key roles were to provide both a transport service and a ground attack support capability for ADDF land forces. Major investment in the early 1970s assured an expansion in terms of capabilities, quality, and quantity of aircraft.AirForces Monthly, p. 60. It also led to the renaming of the Air Wing to the ADDF Air Force in 1972. Training and instruction were provided by the Pakistan Air Force in the early years. During the 1973 Arab-Israel War (6-25 October 1973), the ADDF Air Force's Caribous served as air ambulances in Jordan.
The Emirate of Dubai maintained its own air component, the Dubai Defence Force Air Wing, until 1999, when the two were effectively merged to become what is now the United Arab Emirates Air Force. Although the integration of the two independent forces was completed, a small degree of autonomy exists at the operational command level, with the Western Air Command being headquartered in Abu Dhabi and the Central Air Command in Dubai. Since the 1980s, a combination of regional instability and high oil prices has resulted in an ambitious modernisation of the UAEAF to attain a level of capability matching the NATO standards. In the 1991 Gulf War, the UAE helped other countries by carrying out airstrikes against Iraqi forces.
In 2014, the UAE Air Force, along with the Egyptian Air Force, carried out airstrikes in Libya against Islamist factions in Tripoli.
In September 2014, UAE Air Force aircraft joined in US-led air strikes against terrorist targets in Syria and Iraq that later became known as Operation Inherent Resolve. These operations were suspended after a Jordanian pilot was captured by Islamic State militants in late December 2014, pending improvements in US search and rescue capabilities in the region.
In 2015, the UAE Air Force dropped bombs on ISIS targets in Syria. One of them was Major Mariyam Al Mansouri, the first female UAE Air Force pilot. The UAE military was also part of the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen from 2015 to 2025 when the UAE withdrew.
Personnel and training
During the formative years of the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces, foreign officers were recruited to train Emirati personnel, with British, Jordanian and Pakistani officers among those recruited during the 1960s and 1970s.
In 2002, the UAE Air Force consisted of about 4,000 personnel.
UAEAF candidates apply to the Khalifa bin Zayed Air College. Military pilot training is conducted at the college in Al Ain International Airport in Al Ain. The college trains both male and female military pilot officers and other aviation personnel in fields including fixed-wing aviation, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles and air defence. Women have served as combat pilots in the UAE Air Force and Air Defence. Mariam Al Mansouri is the UAE's first female fighter pilot and served as an F-16 pilot.
The United States has provided training associated with the UAE's F-16E/F Block 60 fleet. UAE F-16 pilot training began at Tucson Air National Guard Base in Arizona in September 2004, and the first group of Emirati pilots completed the training program in April 2005.
In 2009, the UAE acquired Pilatus PC-21 to modernize it's pilot-training fleet. The UAE ordered 25 PC-21 aircraft in 2009 for military pilot training, and delivery of the fleet was completed in January 2012.
Overview
2007 marked the culmination of the largest procurement programmes ever undertaken by the UAE Air Force, with the final deliveries of the 80 F-16E/F Block 60 "Desert Falcons" and approximately 60 upgraded Mirage 2000-9, giving the air force a considerable multirole capability. These two investments represented a total expenditure of around $10 billion, with additional money spent on infrastructure and logistics. A $6.4 billion contract with Lockheed Martin for the supply and support of the 80 F-16s was signed in March 2000, while a $3.4 billion deal for the purchase of 30 new Mirage 2000-9 and retrofitting of the 33 older UAE Mirage 2000s was signed earlier in 1998.AirForces Monthly, p. 61. Missiles were also purchased: 160 AGM-88 HARMs, 1,000 or more AGM-65 Mavericks, about 500 AIM-120 AMRAAMs, 270 AIM-9 Sidewinders and 52 AGM-84 Harpoons. In November 2017, the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces announced their intention to sign a contract with Dassault Aviation for the upgrade of its Mirage 2000-9 aircraft. French newspaper La Tribune reported the modernization would cost roughly €300 million.
After a competition between the BAE Hawk, KAI T-50 Golden Eagle and Alenia Aermacchi M-346 Master, the UAEAF announced the acquisition of 48 trainer and light attack aircraft, with the first deliveries to take place in 2012. The other training types that are thought to be near replacement are the 30 Pilatus PC-7s and five Aermacchi MB-339s serving with the Air Academy at Al Ain.AirForces Monthly, p. 62. The MB-339 is also in use with the UAEAF flight display team, Al Fursan.
The UAEAF has operated 20 IAR 330 Puma helicopters since the late 1970s. These have been recently upgraded to the IAR-330SM standard by IAR Ghimbav in Romania in cooperation with Eurocopter. These aircraft, supplemented by a further ten ex-South African Air Force reworked SA-330s, are expected to remain in service for at least 15 years.AirForces Monthly, p. 63. Although no replacement for the Puma fleet is required in the immediate future, the force will be supplemented by 26 Sikorsky UH-60M Battlehawks, with 390 AGM-114N Hellfire II missiles. 30 AH-64A Apache helicopters were modernised as well, to the AH-64D Longbow standard, and a dozen Eurocopter Fennecs were recently acquired for special forces use.
The most important facility of the UAEAF is the Al Dhafra Air Base, with almost the entire fighter aircraft fleet located there. However, to prevent all of the air defence and strike assets being located at a single base, a $1 billion, completely new facility has been constructed deep in the Abu Dhabi desert, near the border corner with Saudi Arabia and Oman, near Al Gharbia, housing at least one Mirage 2000 unit. Al-Safran is believed to have opened around 2008. It is 3,000 m long and has aircraft parking nearly the same size as in Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar. A 4,000 m runway at Al-Safran Air Base was built around 2008.
Structure As of 2008, the structure of the United Arab Emirates Air Force is as follows:
Western Air Command - HQ at Abu Dhabi Fighter Wing - Al Dhafra Air Base 1st Shaheen Squadron - F-16E/F Block 60 Desert Falcon 2nd Shaheen Squadron - F-16E/F Desert Falcon 3rd Shaheen Squadron - F-16E/F Desert Falcon 71st Fighter Squadron - Mirage 2000-9EAD/DAD 76th Fighter Squadron - Mirage 2000-9EAD/DAD 86th Fighter Squadron - Mirage 2000-9EAD/DAD (Al Safran Air Base)
Transport Wing - Al Bateen Air Base C-130 Squadron - C-130H Hercules CASA Squadron - CN-235M-110 Puma Squadron - IAR-330SM Puma 6th Squadron - AB.412HP/SP, Bell-214B Naval Squadron - AS.332B/M Super Puma, AS.565SB Panther
Central Air Command - HQ at Dubai Al Minhad Air Base (helicopter base) 102nd CAS Squadron - BAE Hawk Mk 102 Transport Squadron - C-130H-30, L-100-30 Hercules Special electronic missions Squadron Saab 340 AEW&C Air-to-air refueling Squadron Airbus A330 MRTT Dubai International Airport (transport aircraft)
Joint Aviation Command (JAC) - HQ at Abu Dhabi
Group 10 (Assault) - Al Dhafra Air Base AH-64D Apache Group 18 (Special Operations) - Sas Al Nakheel Air Base UH-60M, CH-47F Group 21 (Navy) - Sas Al Nakheel Air Base AS332B1, AS332M1, AS565MB, AS565SB Group 22 (COIN and Reconnaissance) - Swaihan Air Base Cessna 208B, DHC-6-300, DHC-6-400, Thrush S2R-T660 Group 23 (Observation, Training) - Sas Al Nakheel Air Base AS550C3 Group 25 (Assault) - Sas Al Nakheel Air Base CH-47F Group 26 (Assault) - Al Minhad Air Base, Sas Al Nakheel Air Base UH-60L UH-60M Group 28 (Observation and Reconnaissance) - Al Ain/Camp Hazza Bell407GX
Commanders Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Mohamed Al Qamzi Ibrahim Nasser Mohammed Al Alawi
Equipment Aircraft
AircraftOriginTypeVariantIn serviceNotesCombat aircraftCalidus B-250United Arab Emirateslight attack24 on orderDassault Mirage 2000Francemultirole9/EAD/RAD44Dassault Mirage 2000Franceconversion trainer9/DAD15Dassault RafaleFrancemultiroleRafale F480 on orderF-16 Fighting FalconUnited StatesmultiroleE Block 6055F-16 Fighting FalconUnited Statesconversion trainerF Block 6021AEW&CSaab GlobalEyeCanada / SwedenAEW&C5Electronic warfareBombardier Global ExpressCanadaELINTGlobal 60002ReconnaissanceAyres ThrushUnited Statesreconnaissance / attackIOMAX S2R-T660 Archangel24Maritime patrolBombardier Dash 8Canadamaritime patrolMPA-D82Challenger 650Canadamaritime patrol2TankerAirbus A330 MRTTEuropetanker5TransportBoeing C-17United Statesstrategic airlift8Airbus C295Spaintransport7Daher KodiakUnited Statesutility1DHC-6 Twin OtterCanadautility1Lockheed C-130United StatestransportC-130H4Lockheed L-100United Statestransport4PAC P-750New Zealandutility1Air Tractor AT-802United Statesfire-fighter16HelicoptersPiaggio P.180 AvantiItalymedivac2AgustaWestland AW139Italyutility8Bell 407United Statesutility / trainer1Bell 412United Statesutility4Eurocopter AS550Franceutility / trainer2Eurocopter EC145Europeutility3TrainerCalidus B-250United Arab Emiratesconversion trainer40 on orderBell 407United Statesconversion trainer13Bell 505United Statestrainer12BAe HawkUnited Kingdomjet trainerHawk 61/63/10212Hongdu JL-10PRCjet trainerL-15642 on orderBeechcraft King AirUnited Statesmulti-engined trainerKing Air 903Grob G 115Germanybasic trainer12Eurocopter AS350Francetrainer1Pilatus PC-7Switzerlandadvanced trainer31Pilatus PC-21Switzerlandadvanced trainer25UAVDenel Dynamics SeekerSouth AfricasurveillanceSeeker II11Baykar Bayraktar TB2TurkeyMALE UCAVMQ-1 PredatorUnited StatesMALE UCAVPredator XPWing Loong IIPRCMALE UCAVJeniahUnited Arab EmiratesUCAVLocally produced by ADASI / EDGE Group in the United Arab Emirates.GarmooshaUnited Arab Emiratessurveillance / light unmanned aircraftLocally produced by ADASI / EDGE Group in the United Arab Emirates.Jernas-MUnited Arab EmiratesMALE multi-mission UAVLocally produced by ADASI / EDGE Group in the United Arab Emirates.Jernas-SUnited Arab Emiratescompact MALE UAVLocally produced by ADASI / EDGE Group in the United Arab Emirates.REACH-SUnited Arab Emiratesunmanned aircraftLocally produced by EDGE in the United Arab Emirates.Shadow 25United Arab Emiratesloitering UAVLocally produced by ADASI / EDGE Group in the United Arab Emirates.Shadow 50United Arab Emirateslong-endurance loitering UAVLocally produced by ADASI / EDGE Group in the United Arab Emirates.
Joint Air Command