Supermarine Spitfire. African Users. Part One. Egypt.

 

In February 1945 Egypt acquired a total of 26 Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Vc Trop to update their fighter squadrons. Deliveries began that same month and all of them were scond-hand aircraft, some of them being worn out or even damaged, having to be repaired.  Some of them received some ad-hoc field modifications like having six exhausts, instead of the standard three the Mk.V was equipped with. All of them belonged to the 'Trop' sub-variant which was equipped with a Vokes dust filter, giving them that characteristic appearance.
During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the Mk.Vs were employed to patrol quieter coastal areas far from the frontlines.
One year later, in 1946 the Royal Egyptian Air Force (REAF) bought 38 Spitfire Mk.IX which operated both in Nos. 1 and 2 squadrons and were employed during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War in a wide variety of combat related roles, where they clashed with their Israeli foes in more than one occasion.
It is reported that the REAF also got at least one T.Mk.IX (a  two-seater trainer conversion of the Mk.IX) in 1950. This order was supplemented by a batch of 20 Spitfire F.Mk.22 on 1st May 1950, however, it is believed that only 19 were delivered and the last one was replaced by the aforementioned T.Mk.IX. 
Although little information is known about Egyptian usage of the Spitfire Mk.22, it is believed that at least one was used during the 1956 Suez Crisis to perform reconnaissance flights over the Sinai Peninsula. 
In any case, by that time, October 1956 they were already retired from service and, most probably, scrapped.

Sources:
1st Hellion & Company - Middle East at War 54 - Air Power and the Arab World 1909-1955 Volume 8 The Revival in Egypt and Iraq 1943-1945
2nd https://www.destinationsjourney.com/historical-military-photographs/supermarine-spitfire-in-egyptian-service/
3rd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Spitfire_operational_history
4th https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/egyptian-spitfires.38588/

de Havilland Vampire. Part Two. Some African users

 

The de Havilland Vampire is a British jet fighter developed and manufactured by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was operated by many users all around the world, among them, the following ones:

• Egypt: The Royal Egyptian Air Force (REAF) planned to acquire 66 Vampire FB.52 (the export variant of the FB.6 which were also manufactured in Italy by Macchi). The first machines arrived to Egypt in December 1950. Eventually they received 50 from de Havilland's production. Additional twelve NF.10 (the night fighter variant) were also ordered but it was cancelled due to the arms embargo, so the aircraft were acquired by the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was also planned to manufacture the Vampire locally under license at Helwan but, political disputes between Egypt and the United Kingdom over the presence of British troops in Egyptian soil led to the project being delayed and its eventual abandonment following the Egyptian revolution of 1952. Egypt turned to Italy instead and bought 58 Vampire FB.52 that had previously belonged to the Italian Air Force, using Syria as intermediary with deliveries expected between 1955 and 1956.
  By 1954 the Egyptian Air Force was already operating a force of 49 Vampires, acquired both from the United Kingdom and Italy, in the fighter-bomber role. In 1955 further 12 machines were ordered and were delivered in July that same year. 
  On 1st September 1955 as a response to an Israeli commando raid on an Egyptian fort at Khan Yunis, four Egyptian Vampires crossed into Israeli airspace but were intercepted by Israeli Gloster Meteor jet fighters and two Vampires were shot down. One year later, the Egyptian Vampires were being replaced by the much capable Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 and MiG-17 swept-wing fighters, so many Vampires were given to Saudi Arabia and Jordan. During the Suez Crisis Egyptian Vampires were used as ground attack aircraft against Israeli troops at Mitla Pass and four Vampires are recorded to have been lost in combat against Israeli aircraft. Many more were destroyed on ground by Anglo-French aerial raids.
• Katanga: The nimble Katangese Air Force bought two Vampire T.55 (the export trainer variant) from the Portuguese Air Force in September 1961. The machines were in such bad shape that couldn't fly again and, therefore, never received Katangese markings. They were destroyed in a strafing attack of an Indian English Electric Canberra B.(I).58 at Kolwezi airfield. 

Sources:

1st https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Vampire

2nd Hall Park Books - Warpaint 27 - De Havilland Vampire

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17F, part ten, Egyptian users

The MiG-17F was used in a big number of wars, among them the middle-east ones. They saw action for the first time in Egyptian hands in October 1956 at the Suez Crisis facing the French fighters Dassault Ouragan and Dassault Mystére IV.
However, during that conflict, the Egyptian Air Force had just 12 MiG-17F, so the bulk of the fighting was undertook by the MiG-15bis, as the MiG-17F played a small role. According to Egyptian sources, during the aerial battle that took part over Kabrit Air Base, close to the Suez Canal, in Egypt, three Egyptian MiG-17Fs shot down another Dassault Mystére IV without suffering any casualties at all in the Egyptian side.
It was also used during the next Arab-Israeli War, the Six-Days War in 1967 and again during the Yom-Kippur War in 1973 but already in 1967, as the MiG-17F lacked radar, and Egyptians had better fighter aircraft, the MiG-17F was used in the ground support role, for which some of them were ad-hoc modified by the Egyptian General Aero Organisation with two bomb racks under the fuselage and rocket launchers at the tip of the wings.
From the late 1950s, when the first MiG-17Fs arrived until the 1980s, the MiG-17F served with the Egyptian Air Force when it was replaced by more modern types and put into reserve (status that keeps nowadays).
After the big losses that the Egyptian Air Force took in the Six-Days War, they decided to camouflage their MiG-17Fs with a variety of colours applied directly to the bare metal fuselages. In emergency, and lacking suitable colours, the Egyptians decided to use paint stock from a car factory at Helwan. This particular colour scheme was popularly known as the "Nile Scheme" due to their flashy and gaudy combination of green, sand and black-green.

Sources:
1. https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/mig-17-action.htm
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_Air_Force
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-17
4. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

Aero L-29 part six, African and Middle-east users

As we've said previously, the Aero L-29 was exported to an enormous amount of countries. Here are some of them:

• Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA): Apparently, when the USSR invaded Afghanistan and created the DRA, they received a small amount of Aero L-29s together with some L-39s. As we couldn't find any graphical evidence of this, the drawing should be considered as speculative.
• United Arab Republic/Egypt: The United Arab Republic's Air Force received the Aero L-29 in 1959. It was the main trainer of the Egyptian Air Force during the 1960s and it was used in active combat role during the Yom Kippur War of 1973 when some of them were armed with missile launchers and sent to attack Israeli ground forces. It served as their main trainer until the late 1970s when it was replaced by the more advanced Aero L-39.
• Iraq: It seems that some Aero L-29s were delivered to Iraq after the 1958 coup d'etat that overthrew the King of Iraq. The L-29s served with the 2nd Training Squadron at the Tikrit Air Force Base during the 1960s until they were phased out by the more advanced Aero L-39.
• Libya: Some sources claim that the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (Gaddafi's Libya) received some Aero L-29s to equip the air force. As we couldn't find graphical evidences or even text references, the drawing should be considered as speculative as most probably only the L-39 served in Libya and not the L-29.
• Mali: Just like in the Libyan case, it seems that the Malian Air Force bought some L-29s in the mid-1960s to equip their air force. Apparently they served during the 1960s, however as we couldn't find neither graphical nor text evidence, the drawing should be taken as speculative.
• Syria: It seems that the Syrian Air Force was supplied with some Aero L-29s in the very late 1950s and served through the 1960s. Most of them were either destroyed in the Six-Days war and those that survived, served until the 1970s when they were replaced by some other more modern type like the Aero L-39.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aero_L-29_Delfín

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_Afghanistan#Air_Force

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_Air_Force

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqi_Air_Force

5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armed_Forces_of_the_Libyan_Arab_Jamahiriya

6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mali_Airforce

7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_Air_Force

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15UTI, part three, North African users

As we said before the MiG-15UTI was widely used all accross the world not just by those countries in the Soviet sphere of influence, but also by some neutral ones.
In this post we're going to cover the North African users of the MiG-15UTI.

• Algeria: Inmediately after achieving their independence, the newly founded Algerian Air Force received MiG-15UTIs from Egypt to make them the backbone of their training units. They served in the trainer role well until the 80s when they were replaced with the Aero L-39 Albatross.
• Egypt: The Egyptian Air Force bought some MiG-15s back in 1951 together with a number of MiG-15UTI trainers. They were assigned to their training squadrons and, many of them were destroyed in the aerial raids during the Suez Crisis and some others were gifted to Algeria in the early 60s. The UTIs served in the trainer role at least until the 1970s.
• Libya: The Air Force of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya received some old-fashioned yet efficient MiG-15UTIs in the late 70s. They served in the trainer role until they were replaced with the Aero L-39 in the late 80s.
• Morocco: In 1961 the Royal Moroccan Air Force underwent deep reforms and obtained some MiG-15UTIs which were used until the 1970s when they were replaced by the Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet E in the 90s.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-15

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_Air_Force

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyan_Air_Force

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Moroccan_Air_Force

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15bis, Egyptian users

Egypt adquired two MiG-15, MiG-15bis and MiG-17 Squadrons from Czechoslovakia in 1955 with the consent and approval of the USSR. They arrived just in time to take part in the 1956 Suez Channel crisis. When the crisis began, the Egyptian Air Force had four squadrons equipped with MiG-15 and MiG-15bis but their pilots were poorly trained to flight them.
In the morning of 30th October, they saw their first aerial action in the middle-east when they intercepted a formation of four English Electric Canberras belonging to the RAF which were on a reconnaissance mission over the Suez Canal Zone. They managed to damage one of the Canberras. Later that same day, Egyptian MiG-15bis attacked Israeli troops at Mitla pass and El Tamed, located both of them in the Sinai peninsula and destroying half a dozen vehicles. Therefore, the Israeli Air Force doubled their combat patrols over the canal zone and two MiGs were taken down by Israeli Dassault Mysteres, although the MiGs managed to attack land troops.
The next day, on 31st October, the Egyptian Air Force managed to shot down two Israeli Dassault Ouragan fighters, forcing one of them to crash-land in the desert. That same day, Franco-British forces began to systematically bomb Egyptian air bases destroying at least eight MiG-15s on the ground, many other types of aircraft and forcing the remaining forces to disperse. The remaining aircraft managed to perform ground attack missions, but the Egyptians had already lost the air superiority.
Back to the 30th October, Egyptian MiGs managed to shot down two Israeli aircraft, a Piper Cub, a Gloster Meteor F.8 and later, on 1st November, they managed to shot down a Dassault Ouragan which was scored by the Egyptian pilot Faruq El-Gazzavi. Another MiG-15 was damaged and the pilot ditched in lake Bardawil, where the aircraft was salavaged by Israeli forces.
After the crisis, the remaining MiG-15bis were repainted with the colours of the United Arab Republic and were the backbone of their fighter force until they were soon replaced by the MiG-17.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-15#Suez_Canal_Crisis_(1956)
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15, Algerian and Egyptian users

Preliminary note: We are considering the MiG-15 as a separate aircraft from the MiG-15bis. 
The first version of the MiG-15 was exported to many countries, among them Algeria and Egypt.

• Algeria: When Algeria became independent in 1962 and the Algerian Air Force was formed, they received ex-Egyptian MiG-15, MiG-15bis and MiG-15UTI as a gift. Given their obsolescence, the MiG-15 was used as an advanced trainer.
• Egypt: In 1955, after four years of negotiations, the Egyptian government closed a trade agreement with Czechoslovakia as they were determined to move away from reliance of British armaments. Initially they were an unknown number of regular MiG-15, which served in the No.20 Squadron of the Royal Egyptian Air Force and, apparently some of them were employed during the Suez Crisis in 1956.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_Air_Force

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algerian_Air_Force

3. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

Avro Lancaster - Argentinean & Egyptian users

Today we post two users of this excellent British bomber, Argentina and Egypt.
Just after the World War II the Argentinean Air Force began a modernization process mixing some interesting native designs like the FMA IAe 33 Pulqui II, designed by Kurt Tank or some foreign aircrafts like the Gloster Meteor, making it the first South American country to operate jet fighters. Aditionally a number of Avro Lancaster and Avro Lincoln bombers were adquired, making that way a powerful strategical bomber force in the region. Initially the Lancasters were bought as a placeholder for the Avro Lincoln.
They were all delivered in 1948 and unconfirmed sources claim that they were used in the Revolución Libertadora (The Liberating Revolution) of 1955. Apparently some of them were used as a freight transport and they were all either written off or scrapped during the late 1950s or early 1960s. Apparently they served until 1966 with the Argentinean Air Force in the Grupo 4 (Group 4) based at El Plumerillo Air Base, in Mendoza serving together with the Avro Lincoln.
Regarding Egypt, some Lancasters were delivered to Egypt between November 1949 and the first half of 1950 at the Royal Egyptian Air Force at Almaza. However, the shortage of spare parts and the corrosion inflicted by the sand and the inexperience of the Egyptian pilots, made the flights of these bombers very infrequent. By the time of Suez Crisis of 1956 it's believed that Egyptian Lancasters weren't operational. When the crisis scalated, and the Operation Musketeer was launched, they were considered a big threat to ignore them so they were targeted by fighter-bombers of No. 804 and No. 810 Fleet Air Arm Squadron operating from HMS Bulwark. Two Egyptian Lancasters were destroyed and a third one was damaged in that strike. It's unknown what happened to the rest of REAF's Lancasters but apparently six more of them were destroyed during a raid of Fleet Air Arm's Sea Hawks.

Sources:
1. http://www.lancaster-archive.com/lanc_postwar-argentina.htm
2. http://www.lancaster-archive.com/lanc_postwar-egypt.htm
3. Signal Squadron - Aircraft In action  52 - Lancaster in Action

Armstrong Whitworth Meteor NF.13 - Foreign Users

Today it's the turn for the foreign users of the Meteor NF.13 which weren't few of them.

• Egypt: In 1955 the Egyptian government received three Meteor T Mk.7, six Meteor NF.13 and eight Meteor F.8 as a consequence of an order placed by it's government back in December 1952. As Egypt was under an arms embargo, the United Kingdom allowed the sale with the hope of improving relations with Egypt, however the tensions over the Suez Canal would lead to another arms embargo. They equipped the Egyptian No.10 Squadron and took part in the 1956 Suez crisis. One Egyptian NF.13 claimed to have damaged a British Vickers Valiant bomber during the conflict. However, as the aerial bombing campaign carried-out by the Anglo-French forces in the Operation Musketeer destroyed many Egyptian airplanes stationed in the ground, the Egyptian Air Force decided to withdraw their operation from the Sinai peninsula.
• France: The French CEV (Centre d'Essais en Vol - Centre of in-flight experiments) adquired at least one Meteor NF.13 which was used for experiments. Further details are unknown and the colours displayed in the drawing should be considered as speculative.
• Israel: In early 1956 Israel placed an order to buy six Meteor NF.13, with three being delivered that year, before the month of October (when the Suez crisis sparked) and the other were delayed by an arms embargo, and were handed over in 1958. Those three airplanes played a key role in the crisis as an Israeli NF.13 shot down an Egyptian Ilyushin Il-14 carrying many Egyptian high-ranking military officers in the context of Operation Tarnegol. The Israeli NF.13 remained in active service with the 119 Tajeset (119th Squadron) until 1962.
• Syria: The fledgling Syrian Air Force had only one active squadron back in the 1950s, the 1st one and it was equipped both with Meteor F.8 and one or two NF.13. However they lacked any radar and combat training wasn't provided, so the Syrian pilots had to train with their Egyptian counterparts. It's claimed that, in the context the Suez crisis an unknown Meteor shot down a British Canberra that was performing reconnaissance missions over Syria, more precisely over the city of Homs. Anyway, almost any Meteor was replaced in 1957 by the Soviet MiG-17 as that airplane was cheaper and the USSR offered also combat training. 

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloster_Meteor

2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

3. Hall Park Books - Warpaint Serie No.22 - Gloster Meteor