Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19, Egyptian users

In 1956 the Egyptian Air Force took a serious blow when Anglo-French forces destroyed the Egyptian Air Force on the ground. That's why when it was being rebuilt, in the summer of 1961 the USSR began delivering 80 MiG-19S. Some other sources, however, claim that deliveries began in 1958 and, by June 1962 there were already 100 MiG-19S serving. However those reports seem erroneous for various reasons.
Egypt was still nominally part of the United Arab Republic, however the united air arm did not manage to take any profit from this and, in September 1961 the United Arab Republic ceased to exist, even if the name was still being officially used by Egypt.
A number of MiG-19S (40 according to some sources, some of them being Czechoslovak made S.105) were sent to the Syrian Air Force before 1967.
The first action in the Middle-East of the MiG-19S took place in 1962 when Egyptian MiGs attacked Yemeni Royalist positions. The first aerial combat in the region took place 4 years later, on 29th November 1966 when an Israeli Dassault Mirage III shot down two Egyptian MiG-19Ss which were trying to intercept an Israeli Piper J-3 Cub reconnaissance airplane in Israeli airspace. The first MiG was destroyed by a R.530 missile fired from less than a mille away, making the first aerial kill for the French made missile, while the second one was shot down with the cannon, in the traditional way.
During the Six-Day War in June 1967 the MiG-19 Egyptian force was decimated as 17 aircraft were destroyed on the ground by Israeli Air Force and another 12 were shot down by Israeli Dassault Mirage IIICJs. Those number include the ones supplied to Syria. During this conflict, the Israeli pilots considered the MiG-19 as a potential dangerous adversary due to its performance, manoeuvrability and heavy armament.
After the war, the surviving MiG-19s were assigned to air defence tasks in Egypt's interior regions and, according to some sources, the Egyptian Air Force received 50 or 60 more MiG-19s from the USSR after the war as attrition replacements, however, according to some other sources, those aircraft were received from Syria and Iraq and by late 1968 there were more than 80 MiG-19s in service with the Egyptian Air Force.
During the period known as War of Attrition (1967-1970), on 19th May 1969, a single Egyptian MiG-19S engaged two Israeli Mirages shooting one down with cannon fire and making the other one flee. By the time the Yom Kippur War was waged in 1973 there were around 60 MiG-19S active with the Egyptian Air Force and they were used in the close air support role.
Some of the original Russian MiGs were used until as late as 1985.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-19#Middle_East
2. Midland Publishing - Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19. The Soviet Union's First Production Supersonic Fighter

WSK-Mielec Lim-5

In 1955, Poland bought a license for manufacturing the Soviet MiG-17F, which was the backbone of the Warsaw Pact's fighter force. The licensed aircraft was given the denomination of "Licencyjny mysliwiec" which translates to "Licensed fighter". The first Lim-5 rolled out of the factories on 28th November 1956, replacing this way the production of the WSK-Mielec Lim-2 (a licensed production of the MiG-15bis).
The Lim-5 was virtually identical to the regular MiG-17F. It was powered by a Polish copy of the Klimov VK-1F engine with 5046 lbf of maximum thrust and 7423 lbf with afterburner. It was armed with one 37 mm N-37 cannon and two 23 mm NR-23 cannons placed under the nose. It also had provisions for underwing bombs.
Production ranged from 1956 until 1960 and, when production ceased, with 448 Lim-5 manufactured, it had become Poland's basic fighter. In fact it was the backbone of Polish Air Force's fighter force during the 1950s and the 1960s until it was replaced by more modern types such as the MiG-21 in the 1970s.
The type was exported also to various countries:

• East Germany: One-hundred and twenty Lim-5 were sold to the East German Air Force during the late 1950s. Apparently some of them had the mast at the opposite side. Just like the MiG-17F some of them were either converted to light bombers or sold to African countries. Anyway, they were replaced during the 1970s by more modern types and put into storage. When Germany was reunified, as the type was considered old and outdated for the modern Luftwaffe, they were sold to Guinea-Bissau.
• Egypt: Many of the Egyptian MiG-17F that fought in the Six-days war were Polish-built Lim-5. It's known that the Polish government sold an undefined number of Lim-5 fighters to the Egyptian Air Force. As we couldn't find a pic of a genuine Lim-5 under Egyptian command, the colours and the registration should be considered as speculative.
• Guinea-Bissau: The Guinea-Bissau Air Force bought some second-hand Lim-5 from Germany after the German reunification, as they were outdated for the modern Luftwaffe's standards. Nowadays they are put into storage. 
• Indonesia: The Indonesian Air Force had 20 Lim-5 in active service during the 1960s. Not much more is known, but most probably they were written off during the 1970s.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PZL-Mielec_Lim-6

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Forces_of_the_National_People%27s_Army

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

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinea-Bissau_Air_Force

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

6. https://www.valka.cz/WSK-Mielec-Lim-5-t196637

7. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

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