Posted on 08/12/2014 3:51:23 PM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Oman has retired its last four operational Sepecat Jaguars, with the strike aircraft carrying out a disbandment flypast with 8 Sqn at its Thumrait air base on 6 August.
The Royal Air Force of Oman received its first Jaguars in 1977, under what was originally a 12-aircraft acquisition from the UK. A second batch of the type was ordered in 1982, and introduced from the following year.
Peter Foster
Muscat's retirement of the Jaguar leaves the Indian air force as sole operator of the Anglo-French type. Flightglobal's MiliCAS database records the service as having 161 Sepecat- and Hindustan Aeronautics-supplied examples in use.
The Oman air force, which had previously expected to halt operations with its remaining Jaguars in 2012, earlier this year took delivery of its first aircraft in the USA from a follow-on order for 12 Lockheed Martin F-16C/Ds. The service already has 10 of the single-seat fighters and a pair of two-seat trainers in use from a previous contract.
Oman also has also ordered 12 Eurofighter Typhoons to meet its future requirements, with these to be supplied by BAE Systems from later this decade.
interesting!
I wonder why the split the order between F16’s and Typhoons. I suspect it was to keep both parties from having too much power over suspending spare parts and to keep each supplier reasonable in price. But carrying spares and logistics for two types of planes when you could cut it to one must be awfully expensive. Also, you’d think, doubling the order would substantially cut the price. This is clearly politics over money, though.
If you have 2 types you might be able to survive parts for one being cut off.
It’s a policy practiced across the Persian Gulf: of keeping the Yanks happy to ensure regional stability and currying favour with former colonial powers (UK and France) given the pretty brittle nature of most monarchies there.
Those old fighters look pretty wicked in that photo.
Precisely. If Kuwait hadn't bought from everyone, would there have been a Western coalition? If a coalition hadn't materialized, would the US have pushed Saddam out of Kuwait? The point isn't actually the dollars involved, but the opportunity to wine and dine senior military officials of the various countries selling the hardware - men who might make room in their feasibility assessments for personal sentiment, to spare a thought for their generous and very hospitable pals in the Gulf monarchies, if the crap hits the fan.
Because they were just thinking of political favors to friends. The Oman air force won’t ever do anything serious. Its another of those’national pride’ air forces.
Or maybe the Typhoon and the Viper are suited for different missions.
I spent 9 months deployed to Thumrait during the First Gulf War. Not exactly a garden spot.
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