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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Laos
Index
In 1975 the LPA took possession from the Royal Lao Air
Force of
an inventory of 150 United States-made aircraft ranging
from T-28
ground attack to UH-34 helicopters. Without an air force
of its
own, the LPA had to rebuild the United States-backed and
United
States-trained RLAF. In order to do so, Laos turned to
Vietnam and
the Soviet Union.
By the end of 1976, Vietnamese advisers had laid the
foundation
for the Lao People's Air Force. Vietnamese technicians
developed
and implemented the training of Laotian cadres for command
and
operational positions. With the exception of new aircraft,
Vietnam
also provided the majority of equipment needed by the air
force for
day-to-day functioning. Laotian air force officers of
promise were
sent to schools in Vietnam for specialized training.
Vietnamese and
Soviet technical advisers had withdrawn from Laos by 1990.
In 1977, in order to modernize and make the transition
from a
United States-supplied counterinsurgency air force into
one capable
of providing air-to-air intercepts, a high-level Laotian
military
delegation visited the Soviet Union. Later that year, Laos
received
ten MiG-21 fighter aircraft, six An-24 transport aircraft,
and four
Mi-8 helicopters from the Soviet Union, along with
in-country
technical expertise. In addition, the Soviets funded
construction
of air bases and radar sites. Together, the Soviets and
Vietnamese
constructed a large air force base at Muang Phônsavan on
the Plain
of Jars, 240 kilometers north of Vientiane, and rebuilt
the former
French air base at Xénô, near Savannakhét. In the late
1970s and
early 1980s, the Soviets built early warning radar systems
in
northern and western Laos to monitor Vietnamese, Chinese,
and Thai
aircraft movements.
Over time, the air force inventory measurably
decreased. In
1975 there were 150 aircraft. By the mid-1980s, however,
the
inventory had been reduced to seventy aircraft of
predominantly
Soviet design. In the 1988-94 period, budgetary problems
further
reduced the air force inventory to approximately fifty
aircraft.
Few of the former Royal Lao Air Force's United States-made
aircraft
were still in use. As of mid-1994, there were
approximately twentynine MiG-21s armed with AA-2 Anab air-to-air missiles that
provided
Laos with a credible air defense against its neighbors and
principal adversaries, Cambodia and Thailand. However, the
MiG-21
force, assessed as moderately capable in the mid-1980s,
has
deteriorated from age and poor maintenance and was
marginal at
best. Funds for replacing aircraft are not available.
There were
approximately 3,500 persons in the air force as of
mid-1994.
Data as of July 1994
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