Misplaced Pages

#974025

17-762: The Lebanese Air Force were established in 1949 under the command of then- Lieutenant Colonel Emile Boustany, who later became commander of the army. Soon after its establishment, a number of aircraft were donated by the British, French, and Italian governments. Britain donated 4 Percival Prentices and 2 World War II-era Percival Proctors , while Italy donated 4 Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 bombers which were mainly used for transportation. In 1953, jet fighters were introduced when 16 de Havilland Vampire jets were received. The first Hawker Hunters arrived in 1959 and were followed by additional fighters through 1977. In 1968, 12 Mirage IIIELs were delivered from France but were grounded in

34-600: A delivery order of six MD 530F+ for Lebanese air force with estimated delivery scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2020. The Lebanese Air Forces have a long history operating Hawker Hunter jets since 1958. During the Six-Day War Two Hawker Hunter strafed Israeli positions in Galilee. One Lebanese Hawker Hunter was shot down by an Israeli Air Force Mirage IIICJ . The Hawker Hunters have not flown any combat sorties since September 17, 1983. This

51-589: A way. The Lebanese Army also made extensive use of Aérospatiale Gazelles armed with Euromissile HOT anti-tank guided missiles and machine gun pods. The Lebanese air force played a decisive role throughout the Syrian Civil War spillover in Lebanon , conducting surveillance operations and precision attacks against terrorist groups Al-Nusra Front and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant who had invaded

68-482: Is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies , most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel . Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel . The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence. Sometimes, the term 'half-colonel' is used in casual conversation in

85-838: The Lebanese Armed Forces , using their laser designators to pinpoint high-value targets for M712 Copperhead shells being used by the First Artillery Regiment deployed along the front. The Lebanese Air Force has operated a variety of aircraft over the years, ranging from training aircraft to fighter jets and helicopters. Some of the notable aircraft formerly operated by the Lebanese Air Force include: Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( UK : / l ɛ f ˈ t ɛ n ən t ˈ k ɜːr n əl / lef- TEN -ənt KUR -nəl , US : / l uː ˈ t ɛ n -/ loo- TEN - )

102-572: The British Army. Additionally, in the U.S. Army 'light colonel' has been used informally in the past. In the British military, it is customary to refer to either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel by their first names when mentioning them, e.g "Colonel Tim will be at the parade". In the United States Air Force, the term 'light bird' or 'light bird colonel' (as opposed to a 'full bird colonel') is an acceptable casual reference to

119-501: The Lebanese Army were attached to each Huey on the sides and belly to carry the bombs. The air force, in collaboration with the engineering regiment, developed and used two dumb bomb variants, the 250 kg LAF-GS-ER2 and the 400 kg LAF-GS-ER3. Usually, helicopters cannot bomb using this method, in comparison to ground attack aircraft, so this became one of the rare moments in history during which helicopters were used in such

136-575: The al-Madfoun crossing. During operations in the Nahr el-Bared camp in North Lebanon, lacking any airworthy, fixed-wing strike aircraft, the Lebanese Army modified several UH-1H Huey helicopters to permit the carrying of 500 pound Mark 82 and 1000 pound Mark 83 bombs (all unguided iron bombs, also known as dumb bombs ) as well as Matra SNEB 68 mm rocket pods (taken from stored Hawker Hunters). Special mounting pads engineered by

153-545: The border town of Arsal in 2014 and subsequently kept positions along the outskirts of Arsal and al-Qaa , keeping them at bay and severely hindering their movement. Most notably, the air force put their AC-208 Combat Caravans to effective use during the Dawn of the Outskirts operation in 2017, striking terrorist targets with AGM-114 Hellfire missiles and, in a rare display of joint warfare tactics by different branches of

170-480: The late 1970s due to lack of funds. In 2000, the grounded Mirages were sold to Pakistan. In 2018, the United States government delivered six Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano to the Lebanese Air Force. In the absence of advanced fighter aircraft , the air force currently relies on a helicopter force, a squadron of Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano, and three Cessna AC 208s for the reconnaissance and ground attack roles. In October 2018, MD Helicopters confirmed receipt of

187-600: The militants the previous day, as the town came under heavy shell fire from multiple directions. In the evening, the Army also managed to capture Ras al-Serj hill. On 5 August, the military was attempting to capture two government buildings, while three soldiers and three policemen were released by the militants. During the day's fighting, the ISIL commander for the Arsal area was reportedly killed, while al-Nusra forces retreated from

SECTION 10

#1732776910975

204-410: The missing soldiers were rescued the same day. On 4 August, the death toll had risen to 17 soldiers, 50 civilians and 50 militants. 86 soldiers had been wounded and the number of missing had reached 22, while 135 civilians and 15 militants were wounded. Two of the dead civilians were infant Syrian refugees. The military had advanced and captured the technical institute building, which was seized by

221-400: The northeastern town's police station, where they took at least 16 policemen hostage. The militants then proceeded to take control of the town, and captured two soldiers who were freed by the military later in the day. The fighting continued into the next day and left 30 militants, 10 soldiers and two civilians dead. 25 soldiers were wounded and 13 were missing and presumed captured. Two of

238-695: The rank but is never used directly towards the rank holder. A lieutenant colonel is typically in charge of a battalion or regiment in the army. The following articles deal with the rank of lieutenant colonel: Battle of Arsal (2014) Lebanese Army and Hezbollah victory [REDACTED] Al-Nusra Front [REDACTED] Lebanon [REDACTED] Syrian Arab Republic Lebanese Army On 2 August 2014, after Lebanese security forces arrested an al-Nusra Front commander, fighters from al-Nusra Front and ISIL surrounded Lebanese Army checkpoints in Arsal before attacking them and storming

255-592: The remaining 8 were stored in Rayak. The last loss took place in 1989 near Batroun during routine training, when the undercarriage failed to lower, causing the jet to crash. The pilot ejected safely from the doomed aircraft and landed in the Mediterranean sea, where he was promptly rescued by the Syrian Army , which then handed him over to Suleiman Frangieh , who in turn handed him over to the Lebanese Army at

272-563: The town. In the evening, a 24-hour cease-fire started. On 6 August, another three soldiers were released, while 10 soldiers and 17 policemen remained as captives. By 7 August, a fragile truce was established as ISIL forces also retreated from the town and redeployed along the border with Syria. Their hideouts there were subsequently bombed by the Syrian Air Force, resulting in dozens of wounded militants. On 22 July 2017 Hezbollah controlled 90% of Jroud arssal. Two days later,

289-570: Was at a time when the French and Americans were rebuilding the Lebanese Army. Three F.Mk.70s were made airworthy, and resumed combat operations on September 15. Because the main airfield, Rayak Air Base, had been shelled by Syrian forces, the Hunters had to operate from an airfield in Byblos . The Hunters were finally grounded in 1994 after a minor accident with one of the T.66 trainers during landing and

#974025