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al-Quwwāt al-Jawiyah wa al-Defa' al-Jawiy al-ʾImārāty
| Abu Dhabi/Al Dhafra |
| Abu Dhabi/Bateen |
| Abu Dhabi/Intl |
| Al Ain |
| Dubai/Minhad |
| Al Safran AB |
| Sas al Nakhil |
| Sweihan AB |
The UAE Air Force operates a Fighter Wing with three squadrons (Shaheen 1, 2 and 3 Sqn) from Al Dhafra, equipped with F-16E/F Desert Falcons.
Ad Jan Altevogt
Two squadrons (71 and 76 Sqn) operate the Mirage 2000-9DAE/9DAD multirole fighters under a Fighter Wing from Al Dhafra. Another squadron (86 Sqn) operates the Mirage 2000-9DAE/9DAD from Al Safran airbase.
Fabian Luehrs
| Abu Dhabi/Al Dhafra (OMAM) | ||||||
RWY 13/31 POS 24°14'54"N 054°32'52"E ELEV 76 ft | ||||||
| Wing | Squadron | Aircraft Type(s) | Badge | |||
2nd Fighter Group |
Shaheen 1 Squadron | F-16E F-16F |
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| Shaheen 2 Squadron | F-16E F-16F |
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| Shaheen 3 Squadron | F-16E F-16F |
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| Shaheen 4 Squadron | F-16E F-16F |
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(1) Fighter Group |
71st Squadron | Mirage 2000-9EAD Mirage 2000-9DAD Rafale F4 (o/o, 2027) |
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| 76th Squadron | Mirage 2000-9EAD Mirage 2000-9DAD Rafale F4 (o/o, 2027) |
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8th Aviation Wing |
11th Squadron | Bombardier 6000 |  |
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| The Mirage 2000 fleet will be replaced by 80 Rafale F4s from 2027 on. | ||||||
For VIP transport, the UAE Air Force acquired two P180s to transport VIPs from Bateen airbase.
Erik Jan Engelen
Eight AW139 helicopters are built for VIP transport missions from Al Bateen airbase.
Patrick Weiss
| Abu Dhabi/Bateen (OMAD) | ||||||
RWY 13/31 POS 24°25'42"N 054°27'29"E ELEV 16 ft | ||||||
| Wing | Squadron | Aircraft Type(s) | Badge | |||
| (Bateen) Aviation Wing |
6 Squadron (VIP) | AW139 P180 |
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| SAR Flight | AW139 | |
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A Heavy Transport Squadron was established to operate eight C-17 Globemaster III aircraft from Abu Dhabi International Airport.
Goncalo Guimaraes
The Transport Wing at Abu Dhabi International Airport operates different types of the C-130 Hercules in 4 (C-130) Squadron. Seen here is a C-130H for a supply mission in Europe.
Patrick Schwarzschulz
| Abu Dhabi/Intl (OMAA) | ||||||
RWY 13/31 POS 24°25'59"N 054°39'04"E ELEV 88 ft | ||||||
| Wing | Squadron | Aircraft Type(s) | Badge | |||
7th Aviation Wing |
4th Tactical Airlift Squadron | C-130H C-130H-30 C-130J (12 o/o) L-100-30 |
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| ? Tactical Airlift Squadron | C295W | |
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4th Aviation Wing |
15th Strategic Airlift Squadron | C-17A |  |
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The UAE Air Force operates three A330 MRTT tanker aircraft in MRTT Squadron from Al Ain airport for refueling missions.
Keith Pisani (Malta, 8 March 2024)
The Casa Squadron is the third transport unit from the Transport Wing at Abu Dhabi International Airport flying with nine CN235M-100. Five C295 are on order to supplement the Casa Squadron.
Santos
| Al Ain (OMAL) | ||||||
RWY 01/19 POS 24°15'42"N 055°36'33"E ELEV 869 ft | ||||||
| Wing | Squadron | Aircraft Type(s) | Badge | |||
| Flying Training School/Khalif bin Zayed Air College |
1st Squadron (Air College Sqn) | Grob G120TP |  |
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| 2nd Squadron (Basic Flying Sqn) | PC-7 Calidus B-250T/LA (o/o, 2026) |
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| 3rd Squadron (Advanced Training) | PC-21 | |
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| (Al Ain) Aviation Wing |
? Air Refueling Squadron | A330-243MRTT | |
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| Horizon IFA | Bell 407 | |
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| The Hawk T63A, T63B and T63C have been replaced by the PC-21s. We think they belong to 3 squadron (the former Hawk unit) but that remains to reconfirmed. | ||||||
The Khalif bin Zayed Air College starts the elemenary training on the G120TP trainers of 1 (Air College) Squadron.
Simon Reichert
The Khalif bin Zayed Air College operates 31 PC-7 trainers in 2 (Basic Flying) Squadron for basic training.
Steve Brimley
| Al Safran AB (OMSM) | ||||||
RWY 13/31 POS 23°39'00"N 053°49'25"E ELEV 376ft | ||||||
| Wing | Squadron | Aircraft Type(s) | Badge | |||
| (3) Fighter Group |
86th Squadron | Mirage 2000-9EAD Mirage 2000-9DAD Rafale (o/o, 2027) |
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For advanced pilot training, the Khalif bin Zayed Air College operates 25 PC-21 armed trainers in 3 (Air College) Squadron from Al Ain airbase.
Steve Brimley
The Advanced training unit, but also the UAE Demonstration Team 'Al Fursan' operates the MB339NAT from Al Ain airbase.
Goncalo Guimaraes
| Dubai/Minhad (OMDM) | ||||||
RWY 09/27 POS 25°01'37"N 055°22'15"E ELEV 165 ft | ||||||
| Wing | Squadron | Aircraft Type(s) | Badge | |||
| (Minhad) Aviation Wing |
Fursan El-Emarat Squadron | MB339NAT L-15 (o/o) |
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| 12th Squadron | Hawk 102 |  |
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| SAR Flight | AW139 | |
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On behalf of the UAE Navy, some 13 AS565B Panther helicopters are operating in Group 21, a naval unit, from Sas Al-Nakhil airbase.
BizavMen
In the AEW&C role, the UAE Air Force also is flying with five Bombardier Global 6000 aircraft from Minhad Airport.
Harri Koskinen
| Sas al Nakhil (OMNK) Umm an Nar | ||||||
RWY 16/34 POS 24°26'12"N 054°31'07"E ELEV 2 ft | ||||||
| Wing | Squadron | Aircraft Type(s) | Badge | |||
| (Sas Al Nakhil) Aviation Wing |
VIP Flight | AS365N3 AB139 AW139 |
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In 2021 UAE Air Force took over the fixed wing aircraft from the Joint Aviation Command. All aircraft operate from Sweihan AB in 7th Group. Seen here is a Cessna 208B EX from 223 Squadron.
Hans Rolink (Al Ain, 28 Jan 2007)
The UAE Air Force is operating 22 Ayres Thrush aircraft in the counter-insurgency role from Sweihan AB. All aircraft have been transferred from the Joint Aviation Command in 2021.
Goncalo Guimaraes
| Sweihan AB (OMAW) Abu Dhabi/Northeast | ||||||
RWY 13/31, HEL POS 24°31'33"N 054°58'18"E ELEV 217 ft | ||||||
| Wing | Squadron | Aircraft Type(s) | Badge | |||
| 7th Aviation Wing |
223rd Armed ISR Squadron | Ce208B EX |
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| ?? Squadron | DHC-6-300 DHC-6-400 |
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| 7th Group |
?? Squadron | Thrush S2R-T660 | |
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| In 2021 the fixed wing aircraft transferred back from the Joint Aviation Command to the UAE Air Force. The fixed wing aircraft serve in 7th Group from Sweihan AB. | ||||||
The UAE Air Force will take delivery of 40 Calidus B-250 armed trainers for the replacement of the PC-7 from the Khalif bin Zayed Air College.
Goncalo Guimaraes
For SAR duties, the United Arab Emirates operas the AW139 in the SAR role under the UAE Navy flag in from Al Ain Airport.
HAMFive
The UAE AF is operating the AW139 in the Search and Rescue role from Abu Dhabi/Bateen airbase.
Frits van Hout (Bateen, 29Nov2023)
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