Lao People's Liberation Army Air Force

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Lao People's Liberation Army Air Force
Founded	1976
Country	Laos
Branch	Lao People's Army
Type	Air Force
Size	43 aircraft
HQ	Vientiane

The Lao People's Liberation Army Air Force (LPLAAF) is the air force of the Laos.

Contents 1 History 2 Bases 3 Aircraft 4 References

[edit] History

The present-day LPLAAF is decended from the Aviation Laotienne, which was established by the French and later became the Royal Lao Air Force. Pathet Lao guerrilla forces began to operate a few aircraft from 1960, as did another rebel group led by Kong Le. Kong Le forces were later re-incorporated into the Royal Lao Air Force. When the communist take-over in, 1975, resulted in the adoption of the present title.

[edit] Bases

The LPLAAF operates from two main bases - Vientiane and Phonsavanh - with another three bases supported by detachments from the main units. Apart from the main military air bases, there are also a number of smaller airports and airfields around the country which are frequently used by the Air Force and the semi-military airline Lao Airlines. In 1961 Laos had 25 airstrips capable of taking a C-47.^[1]

[edit] Aircraft

Aircraft	Origin	Type	Versions	In service[2]	Notes
Antonov An-24	Soviet Union	transport	An-24	3
Antonov An-2	Soviet Union	utility	An-2	10
Yakovlev Yak-40	Soviet Union	trainer	Yak-40	2
Kamov Ka-32	Soviet Union	multirole helicopter	Ka-32T	6
Mil Mi-6	Soviet Union	utility helicopter	Mi-6	1
Mil Mi-8	Soviet Union	transport helicopter	Mi-8	9
Mil Mi-17	Soviet Union	transport helicopter	Mi-17	12

Google Earth Imagry has shown seventeen Mig 21 "Fishbed" at Xieng Khouang airbase and three at Vientiane, although their condition is unknown.

[edit] References