Royal Bahraini Air Force

Common card · No. 283905

The Royal Bahraini Air Force (Arabic: سلاح الجو الملكي البحريني, abbreviated as RBAF, formerly known as Bahrain Amiri Air Force) is the aerial warfare branch of the Bahrain Defence Force (BDF). Originally formed as the BDF Air Wing in 1976, it became an independent service branch in 1987. The RBAF was involved in combat operations during the Gulf War, the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen, and the 2026 Iran war. Bahrain has developed a well-equipped air force and was the second country in the Gulf Cooperation Council after Saudi Arabia to acquire advanced fighters, namely the F-16C/D in 1989, which have been the RBAF's main combat aircraft since then. Bahrain was the first country in the Gulf to use the F-16. In the early 2010s Bahrain decided to replace its older F-5E and F-5F fighters with more modern planes, as well as to modernize its existing F-16 fleet. It ordered 16 new planes of the F-16 Block 70 variant, which it acquired in 2024. The F-16 Block 70 achieved its first aerial kill...

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