Иордания Әуе Күштерінің тарихы мен дамуы

Air warfare branch of Jordan's military

The Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF; سلاح الجو الملكي الأردني) is the aerial warfare branch of the Jordanian Armed Forces. The current commander of the RJAF is Brigadier General Mohammad Hyasat.

Jordan gained independence in 1946, but its first air bases had been set up in 1931 by the Royal Air Force. By 1948, Jordan began to develop a small air arm which came to be known as the Arab Legion Air Force (ALAF). The Royal Air Force assisted in training this small air arm and provided equipment. The ALAF's primary fighter was the de Havilland Vampire and a Vickers VC.1 Viking was operated as a VIP aircraft for use by the King of Jordan. By 1955 King Hussein realized the need for Jordan to have a more modern air force, and on 25 September 1955 the RJAF was established. By 1958 the Royal Air Force had left Jordan and the RJAF had taken control of the airfields in the country.

By 1964, the RJAF had acquired Hawker Hunters for air defence. In December 1964, a dog fight took place over the West Bank between four Mirage fighters of the Israeli Air Force and four RJAF Hunters. Two Mirages were downed and another damaged, without loss to the Hunters. In 1967, in the Six Day War, the IAF relentlessly attacked Jordan's Air Force and air bases. The RJAF lost its entire strength of 28 aircraft.

In the 1970s the RJAF was modernised. Lockheed F 104 Starfighters were acquired from the United States following heavy losses in the Six Day War. However, the Starfighter proved superfluous and several were given to the Pakistan Air Force with the last unit withdrawn from service in 1977 leaving a fighter gap that would not be filled until the arrival of the Dassault Mirage F1 in 1981. The RJAF also acquired Northrop F 5 Tigers via Iran during the reign of the Shah who procured them from the United States. Cessna T 37 Tweets were also acquired for the training role. In 1975, the RJAF gave its fleet of 31 Hawker Hunters to the Sultan of Oman's Air Force, having failed in their efforts to sell them to Rhodesia or Honduras. The Hunters were delivered to SOAF Thumrait between May and June 1975.

Following peace between Egypt and Israel in 1979, the RJAF began to modernize its fleet once again. The first part of this program was the procurement of the Dassault Mirage F1 which became the RJAF's frontline fighter supported by generous aid from wealthy oil rich Arab states. The Mirage F1 was selected over the General Dynamics F 16/79 (an F 16A powered by the GE J79 turbojet series as opposed to the Pratt & Whitney F100, which had 25% more power in afterburn) while also acquiring the Northrop F 5 to complement the Mirage F1CJ/EJ in the process. In the 1980s, the RJAF supported Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi regime during the Iran Iraq War, committing their aircraft for combat training alongside Iraqi aircraft squadrons with one joint aircraft squadron. Modernization schemes continued with seven F 5Es sold to Singapore and some funding used to upgrade most of the remaining others with the AN/APG 67 radar (found on the aborted Northrop F 20 Tigershark, once an aircraft under evaluation by the RJAF), modern fire control systems, and within visual range (WVR) AAMs, thus putting the F 5 on par with more modern aircraft in terms of electronics. Despite this, the F 5s lacked a BVR combat capability.

The Royal Jordanian Air Force has received new aircraft, and other types of use have been withdrawn and put up for sale. On 24 July 2019, The Royal Jordanian Air Force Commander, Major General Yousef Huneiti, was appointed to a senior position as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Jordanian Armed Forces. The current Commander of the Royal Jordanian Air Force is brigadier general. Pilot Zaid Al Najrish, who aims to continue in the footsteps of his predecessor in terms of more professionalism in the Royal Jordanian Air Force. On the 3rd of March 2020, It was announced that instead of upgrading, Royal Jordanian Air Force is now looking to buy the latest F 16 Block 70/72 model to replace its current fleet of older F 16s. As early as September 2017, the Royal Jordanian Air Force was working with the U. S. Air Force Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC), based at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, to begin the Viper Block 70 operational upgrade program. This study is still under way, but it is unclear whether, and when, it will apply where necessary congressional approvals are needed to sell these possibilities to Jordan. It was announced on the 28th of July 2021, that F 16 MLU fighter levels 5 and 6.5, which is approximately equivalent to F 16C/D Block 50/52 and F 16C/D Block 50/52 + the except of the radar armed with GBU, JDAM bombs, AAM and ASM missiles, and targeting and reconnaissance pods, a video was released by the Ministry of Defense showing Jordanian pilots training in the newly upgraded F 16s. With addition to the latest upgrade of F 16 fighters to MLU level, it was announced on 14 November 2021, that the latest F 16 MLU 6.5 were upgraded with fighter aircraft painted with radar absorbent paint GLASS V PAINT. On the 3rd of February 2022, The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan of F 16 C/D Block 70 aircraft and related equipment for an estimated cost of $4.21 billion. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale that day. It is believed that Jordan aims to acquire 12 C models, and four D models, as well as 21 F100 engines (providing five spare engines) and associated weapon and system packages.

Amer Khammash, the first recognized Jordanian pilot and received his pilot training at RAF Middle Wallop in the United Kingdom in 1949, and received his wings in 1950 from the Late Founder of Jordan, King Abdullah I bin Al Hussein. Muath al Kasasbeh, Royal Jordanian Air Force pilot captured, held hostage, and burned alive by the Terrorist group ISIL in 2015.