South Vietnam Air Force

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The South Vietnam Air Force or the Republic of Vietnam Air Force (Vietnamese: Không lực Việt Nam Cộng hòa, KLVNCH; French: Force aérienne vietnamienne, FAVN) (in English almost always called the Vietnamese Air Force or VNAF), was the aerial branch of the Republic of Vietnam Military Forces, the official military of the Republic of Vietnam from 1955 to 1975. The VNAF began with a few hand-picked men chosen to fly alongside French pilots during the State of Vietnam era (1951–1955). Initially operating throughout Vietnam, after 1954 it was limited to defensive functions south of the 17th parallel. At its peak in 1973 the VNAF is sometimes said to have been the world's fourth largest air force (behind the Soviet Union, the U.S., and the People's Republic of China, sometimes said to have been the sixth largest (behind those countries plus France and West Germany). It is an often neglected chapter of the history of the Vietnam War as it operated in the shadow of the United States Air Force (USAF...

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