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 descended 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.

Military co-operation agreement with Russia in 1997 resulted in 12 Mil Mi-17 helicopters that entered service in mid 1999 to follow on from previous deliveries of Mi-8's. SAM systems also entered service such as the SA-3 'Goa' and SA-7B 'Grail'.

[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]

• Wattay International Airport
• Long Tieng
• Pakse International Airport
• Xieng Khouang Airport

[edit] Aircraft

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

Google Earth imagery has shown seventeen MiG-21 Fishbed at Xieng Khouang airbase and three at Vientiane, although their condition is unknown.

[edit] References