The Libyan air force dates back to 1951. It started with US made aircraft, T-33A jets and C-47 transports. This continued into the sixties with F-5 fighters and Bell 47 helicopters, and C-130 Hercules being obtained. In the seventies, despite the fact that the regime in Libya was frowned upon, French material started to enter the ranks with SA321 Frelons, SA316 Alouette IIIs and modern Mirage F1 fighter aircraft. But the mainstay of Khadaffi's air force came from the Soviet Union. It was one of the few countries that recieved the mighty MiG-25, but many more MiG-21 and MiG-23, both in the air defence and fighter-bomber variants were used. Also the legacy Su-22 and more modern Su-22M-3K were used. For training, the L-39 but also Italian built SF260 and Yugoslav G-2A Galebs were obtained. Another eyecatching aircraft is the Tu-22A bomber, a handful of which miracously survived all the turmoil to this day and are stored at Al Jufra. The same story applies to helicopters, after the French material was bought, Libya sought and found the CH-47C in Italy were Meridionali had a license to build them. But first and foremost, the whole Mi-8-based helo family was obtained. Not only the Mi-8/17 itself, but also Mi-2, Mi-14, M-24 and Mi-35s. You name it, Libya got their hands on it.
The tide started to turn ain the eighties. After some air-to-air skirmishes, and terrorist attacks that could be led back to either Libyan financial support or even training, the US decided to strike Tripoli and Benghazi in 1986. Two years later, a Pan Am B747 was blown up by a Libyan terrorist and that meant more boycots and isolation for Khadaffi. In spite of all those forces against him, he succeeded to keep the country together. After lengthy negotiations, Libya co-operated in catching and delivering the Lockerbie bomber and in 1999 the trade embargo was lifted and in 2004 the arms embargo too. So, in the first decade of this century, the country opened up a bit. This gave foreigners the unique opportunity to see some Libyan air power during the Libyan Aviation Conference and Exhibition, the LAVEX. Four instalments could be held, in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2009 before the revolution, Arab Spring, started in February 2011. Khadaffi started bombing its own people, and a new embargo was imposed in March 2011. After the dust settled, Khadaffi was killed and the revolutionairies had the difficult task to unite the various factions into one country. It became clear the the force that held the country together was gone and a new equillibrium was hard to find. Effectively, this was the end of an Era for Libya.
