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World Airforces 2013
World Airforces 2013
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CONTENTS
ANALYSIS Worldwide active fleet per region Worldwide active fleet share per country Worldwide top 10 active aircraft types WORLD AIR FORCES World Air Forces directory 4 5 6 8
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The US Air Forces F-16 strike aircraft should perform their last offensive sorties over Afghanistan in late 2014, as the NATO-led assistance force passes control to Kabul
COMBAT TRANSITION
Air arms from around the globe were in action during 2012, while most budgets faced mounting pressure. We list the inventories and purchase plans of 160 nations
CRAIG HOYLE LONDON DATA COMPILED BY SANDRA LEWIS-RICE, JOHN MALONEY, MARC-ANTONY PAYNE & MARTIN SMITH FLIGHTGLOBAL ASCEND ONLINE FLEETS & MILICAS LONDON
onicts in Afghanistan, Syria and between Israeli forces and Hamas militants grabbed the headlines in 2012, along with the major budget issues most militaries continue to face, and the outcomes and implications of presidential elections in the USA and China. Although the USA and its NATO and other allies plan to end their combat involvement in
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Afghanistan by the end of 2014, Kabul still has a long way to go before taking full control of the nation. Its air force and Army Air Corps which currently operate a combined total of 98 transport aircraft and combat helicopters will also require more investment to be made in equipment terms if they are to be able to cope after the drawdown phase has concluded. Time is tight, for example, if the US Air
Force is to drive through a planned light air support acquisition of 20 armed turboprops for the Afghan air force. A programme should be launched in 2013, with an earlier selection of Embraers EMB-314 Super Tucano having been abandoned. The process of leaving Afghanistan will be a difcult one for participating nations, with a great deal of valuable equipment requiring extraction by air, and land convoys needing signicant protection from above. Another aspect of the Afghan drawdown process will be the conclusion of major joint coalition air operations, after more than a decade of experience gained in the country. The removal of such an opportunity to y alongside other air forces day-to-day will require nations to participate in more regular largescale exercises in order to retain the skills learned in combat and maintain links with current partners. Despite widespread condemnation of the actions of Syrian president Bashar al-Assads regime in the face of a domestic opposition movement, the prospect of an international intervention similar to that seen over Libya in 2011 remains remote. With an inventory of 480 Russian-sourced combat aircraft, including RAC MiG-29
NORTH AMERICA A Combat aircraft Combat helicopters s Transports/Tankers Tankers nkers n nk kers k ke e
RUSSIA USSIA A & THE E CIS Combat aircraft Combat helicopters Transports/Tankers kers
US Air Force
ghters and Sukhoi Su-24 strike aircraft, the Syrian air force has been routinely called into action. Television footage has also shown Mil Mi-8/17 helicopters and armed Aero Vodochody L-39 jet trainers used to suppress the uprising. The Syrian military would represent a different challenge to coalition air forces than during the UN-mandated and NATO-led mission to protect Libyan civilians, because of
its possession of so-called double-digit surface-to-air missile systems, also acquired from Russia. Assads forces demonstrated their willingness to use such equipment in June, when a Turkish air force McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom was shot down after violating Syrian airspace. Novembers eight-day conict between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip underscored the importance of an air force
being able to maintain persistent surveillance cover over a potential conict area, including with unmanned air vehicles.
Rex Features
Israeli pilots were called into action over the Gaza Strip
HAMAS TARGETS Israeli air force combat aircraft and helicopters, along with ground artillery and naval vessels, attacked more than 1,500 targets during the Pillar of Defense operation. These included not only launchers for the rockets which were being red into Israeli territory, but also previously identied sites, such as weapons stores, resupply tunnels and even Hamas leaders. Despite its military might and the impressive performance of its Iron Dome antirocket shield, Israels vulnerability to nontraditional attack had already been highlighted in early October, when a UAV launched in Lebanon entered its airspace, before being destroyed by a Lockheed Martin F-16I. For the rst time, this years World Air Forces directory uses information sourced from Flightglobals Ascend Online Fleets and MiliCAS databases. Completed in 2011, the merger of Flightglobal and Ascend has resulted in an enhanced product, including improved information on the equipment in use in nations such as China and Russia.
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