Every war the Egyptian Air Force has fought
The losses of 1956 and 1967 come largely from the attacking side: the 338 Egyptian aircraft destroyed in the Six-Day War is an Israeli-derived figure, and no Egyptian official total was found. The Mansoura battle of 14 October 1973 is claimed as a victory by both Egypt and Israel, and each figure is given with the side that makes it. Egypt denied the reports of poison-gas attacks in Yemen, rejected reports of civilian deaths in Derna in 2015, and denies the RSF’s accusation of air strikes in Sudan; Sinai strike figures are Egyptian government claims from an area closed to independent access. Where a consolidated sortie or loss figure exists in the official record it is given here; where accounts disagree, the range is shown and the disagreement named. Blank cells are blank because no figure could be verified, not because the fighting was small.
From Spitfires over Tel Aviv in 1948 to Sinai, Libya, Sudan and the Gaza airdrops of 2024.
| Conflict | Years | Against | Main aircraft | Sorties | Aircraft lost | |
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| The 1948 Arab–Israeli Warthe Palestine warRoyal Egyptian Air Force | 1948–1949 | Israel | Spitfire, Short Stirling, C-47 Dakota | |||
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Bombed Israeli towns and supported the Egyptian army advance; attacked RAF Ramat David in error. On 15 May 1948 four REAF Spitfires attacked Tel Aviv, killing five people according to Wikipedia; on 18 May Egyptian aircraft hit the Tel Aviv central bus station, killing 42 and wounding over 100. On 22 May Egyptian Spitfires raided RAF Ramat David three times, believing the base was already in Israeli hands: four British airmen were killed and the RAF shot down five of the attackers. Israeli sources claim the first air victories over Egyptian aircraft on 3 June (two C-47/DC-3s) and 8 June (a Spitfire). Outcome Armistice with Israel in 1949; the air force entered the 1950s determined to re-equip with jets. Air-combat victories over Egyptian aircraft are Israeli claims; Egyptian records were not checked.
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| The Suez Crisisthe Tripartite AggressionEgyptian Air Force | 1956 | Israel, United Kingdom and France | MiG-15, Il-28, Vampireand 1 more | |||
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Fought Israeli aircraft over Sinai, then was largely destroyed on the ground by British and French bombing. Israel attacked in Sinai on 29 October 1956. British and French air attacks on Egyptian airfields began on 31 October; night bombing was ineffective, but carrier aircraft struck in daylight from 1 November. That day Nasser ordered his pilots to stop fighting and fly their aircraft to bases in southern Egypt. Egypt calls the war the Tripartite Aggression. Outcome The aircraft were lost but Egypt kept the canal; the Soviet Union replaced the fleet. Loss figures come largely from the attacking side and are not broken down by cause.
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| The North Yemen civil warEgypt’s intervention in YemenEgyptian Air Force | 1962–1967 | Yemeni royalists and Saudi Arabia (indirectly) | MiG-17, Il-28, Yak-11 | |||
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Close support and bombing for Egyptian and republican forces against the royalists; strikes on Saudi border towns. An Egyptian special forces battalion arrived on 29 September 1962 and the deployment grew to about 70,000 troops by 1965. Egyptian aircraft bombed and strafed the Saudi town of Najran in January 1963; Nasser defended the cross-border strikes in a speech in May 1966. Wikipedia records reports of poison-gas attacks on Yemeni villages from June 1963 onwards, the largest on Kitaf on 5 January 1967 with 270 casualties including 140 dead, and the Red Cross expressed concern. Egypt denied using gas, called the reports British and American psychological warfare and said it would welcome a UN investigation. Outcome Egypt agreed to withdraw at Khartoum in August 1967 after its defeat by Israel. The chemical-weapons figures are those reported by Wikipedia from the accusing side and the Red Cross; Egypt denied them.
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| The Six-Day Warthe NaksaEgyptian Air Force | 1967 | Israel | MiG-21, MiG-19, MiG-17and 3 more | 150 | 338 | |
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Caught on the ground by Operation Focus; the surviving aircraft flew a small number of sorties. At 07:45 on 5 June 1967 Israeli aircraft flying low under the radar hit 11 bases in the first wave and 14 Egyptian bases in the second. Egypt’s air defences had been ordered not to fire because Field Marshal Abdel Hakim Amer was flying from Almaza to Bir Tamada that morning. Runways were cratered and aircraft destroyed in the open. Outcome The air force was destroyed as a fighting force within hours and Sinai was lost. Destruction figures are Israeli claims; no full independent count exists.
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| The War of AttritionEgyptian Air Force | 1967–1970 | Israel | MiG-21, Su-7, MiG-17 | |||
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Rebuilt and fought along the canal while Soviet units took over much of the air defence from 1970. Israel’s deep-penetration raids (Operation Priha) flew 118 sorties between 7 January and 13 April 1970, reaching up to 100 miles from the canal; they ended after the bombing of the Bahr el-Baqar school on 8 April, in which Wikipedia says 46 children were killed. Soviet personnel in Egypt rose to 10,600–12,150 plus 100–150 pilots by June 1970. On 30 July 1970 Israel shot down five Soviet-flown MiG-21s (Operation Rimon 20). Outcome Ceasefire on 7 August 1970, with a 50-kilometre standstill zone either side of the canal. Kill and loss claims of all three parties differ widely.
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| The October Warthe Yom Kippur WarEgyptian Air Force | 1973 | Israel | MiG-21, Su-7, MiG-17and 2 more | 200 | ||
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Opened the war with a massed strike on Israeli positions in Sinai, then defended Egyptian airfields under the SAM umbrella. At 14:00 on 6 October 1973 more than 200 Egyptian aircraft struck three airbases, Hawk missile batteries, three command centres, artillery and radar sites in Sinai. In April 1973 Egyptian pilots had brought 19 Mirage 5Ds and two 5Rs lent by Libya to Tanta as the 69th Squadron. On 14 October an Israeli raid on the airfields of Tanta and Mansoura was met by Egyptian MiG-21s in a battle the Egyptian account says lasted 53 minutes; Wikipedia’s English article says the raid was repulsed. The commander of the air force was Hosni Mubarak. Outcome The canal crossing succeeded; the war ended with Israeli forces west of the canal and led to the 1979 peace treaty. Every kill figure for 1973 is one side’s claim. Israeli and Egyptian accounts of the Mansoura battle contradict each other.
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| The Egyptian–Libyan Warthe four-day warEgyptian Air Force | 1977 | Libya | Mirage 5, Su-7, Su-20and 1 more | 4 | ||
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Struck Gamal Abdel Nasser Air Base (al-Adem) and border positions. On 21 July 1977 four Mirages and eight Su-7s, covered by four MiG-21s, flew from Marsa Matruh against Nasser Air Base; Western sources cited by Wikipedia say the raid did little damage, while Libyan pilots called it highly effective. MiGs and Su-20s returned on 22 July. On 24 July aircraft and heliborne commandos destroyed early-warning radars, damaged missile sites, cratered the runway and destroyed 6–12 Mirages according to Pollack. Outcome Sadat declared a ceasefire on 24 July after mediation by Algeria and the PLO. Figures come from two Western authors who differ; Egyptian and Libyan official totals were not found.
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| The Sinai insurgencycounter-insurgency in North SinaiEgyptian Air Force | 2011–2023 | Sinai Province (Islamic State) and other militant groups | AH-64 Apache, F-16, Mi-17 | 1 | ||
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Apache, F-16 and other strikes against militants, including Islamic State’s Sinai Province. Helicopters and jets struck militants from Operation Eagle in August 2011 onward. On 1 July 2015, during a 16-hour battle at Sheikh Zuweid, Ahram reported F-16s and Apaches in action and the armed forces gave at least 17 soldiers and 100 militants dead. Comprehensive Operation Sinai 2018 began on 9 February 2018. In September 2015 helicopters and aircraft attacked a tourist convoy near the Bahariya oasis in the Western Desert, killing 12 people including eight Mexicans; the Interior Ministry said the joint force mistook them for militants, and Mexico demanded a full investigation. The New York Times reported in February 2018 that Israel had flown over 100 strikes in Sinai with Cairo’s approval; Egypt’s military spokesman denied it. Outcome President al-Sisi declared the end of terrorism in North Sinai on 25 January 2023. Strike and casualty figures are Egyptian government claims; independent access to North Sinai was restricted.
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| Air strikes in LibyaDerna 2015 and 2017Egyptian Air Force | 2015–2017 | Islamic State in Libya and Derna Shura Council | F-16C/D, Rafale | 6 | 0 | |
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Punitive strikes against Islamic State and other groups after the killing of Egyptian Copts. On 15 February 2015 Islamic State in Libya released a video of the beheading of 21 Coptic Christians, most of them Egyptian. At dawn the next day six Egyptian F-16s struck training sites and weapons stores in Derna in coordination with the Libyan air force; the military said the aircraft hit their targets precisely and returned safely. The Tripoli-based government of Omar al-Hassi called the raids an aggression. After gunmen killed Copts in Minya on 26 May 2017, Egypt struck Derna on 26 and 27 May and told the UN Security Council it was acting in self-defence under Article 51. Wikipedia also describes wider Egyptian and Emirati air support for the eastern camp; specific strikes beyond these were not confirmed in the sources checked. Outcome Strikes ended; Egypt continued to back the eastern Libyan authorities politically. Casualty figures are attributed to the party that gave them; they could not be reconciled.
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| The Saudi-led intervention in YemenOperation Decisive StormEgyptian Air Force and Navy | 2015 | Houthi movement (Ansar Allah) | ||||
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Listed by Wikipedia among the states that contributed aircraft; the navy supported the blockade. Wikipedia lists Egypt among the states that contributed aircraft to the coalition air campaign from March 2015, along with four warships for the naval blockade; the Egyptian military said on 27 March that Egyptian and Saudi warships had taken up positions at the Bab al-Mandab, and President al-Sisi called the strait a top priority for national security on 4 April. Outcome The extent and duration of Egyptian air participation was not confirmed. No Egyptian official statement on air strikes in Yemen was found.
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| Sudan’s warMerowe and the RSF allegationsEgyptian Air Force | 2023– | MiG-29M (at Merowe) | ||||
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Egyptian aircraft and personnel were at Merowe when the war began; the RSF has accused Egypt of air strikes, which Egypt denies. When fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF began on 15 April 2023, the RSF captured about 200 Egyptian soldiers at Merowe airport; Egypt said they were there for exercises with the Sudanese military. 177 were flown home on 19 April and 27 sheltered at the Egyptian embassy in Khartoum. On 9 October 2024 RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo (Hemedti) said Egyptian aircraft had bombed his forces in central Sudan and Omdurman and that Egypt supplied the army with aircraft and missiles; Egypt’s foreign ministry rejected the claims and invited the international community to examine the evidence. Hemedti repeated accusations of Egyptian help to the army in June 2025. Outcome Continuing war; Egypt denies any combat role. The air-strike allegations are the RSF’s; Egypt denies them, and no UN finding on them was found in the sources checked.
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| Airdrops into Gazahumanitarian airdropsEgyptian Air Force | 2024 | C-130H Hercules | 0 | |||
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Humanitarian airdrops of food and relief supplies, with Jordan and the UAE. From March 2024 the air force dropped food and relief supplies, mainly over northern Gaza. On 12 May 2024 military spokesman Gharib Abdel-Hafez said Egypt, Jordan and the UAE had together airdropped thousands of tons. Egyptian and Jordanian aircraft were still dropping aid in July 2024. The aircraft type was not stated in the source; the C-130H is Egypt’s transport for such drops. Outcome Drops continued into July 2024 alongside land deliveries through Egypt. The aircraft type is inferred from the fleet, not stated in the source.
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Nothing matches that search.
Every figure, checked
- Ahram Online: The longest battle in North Sinai (2 July 2015)F-16s and Apaches used at Sheikh Zuweid on 1 July 2015; armed forces casualty statement; IS claim of 15 attacks.
- Egypt Independent: Egyptian forces kill 12, mistaking Mexican tourists for militants (14 September 2015)Helicopters and aircraft attacked a tourist convoy near Bahariya; Interior Ministry explanation; Mexico’s demand for an investigation.
- Egypt Independent: Egyptian military source: Six F-16s used in Libya airstrikes (16 February 2015)Six F-16s at dawn on 16 February 2015; coordinated with the Libyan air force; Libyan air force chief’s estimate of 40–50 dead.
- Al Jazeera: Civilians killed as Egypt launches air strikes in Libya (17 February 2015)Egyptian military statement; at least seven civilians killed in Derna per Al Jazeera; Tripoli-based government’s condemnation.
- Egypt Independent: Egypt to UN: Airstrikes in Derna were self-defense (28 May 2017)Letter to the UN Security Council invoking Article 51; strikes of 26–27 May 2017.
- Egypt Independent: Army denies Egyptian officers died in Decisive Storm (14 April 2015)Army spokesman Mohamed Samir denied social-media reports of Egyptian deaths.
- Sudan Tribune: Egypt rejects RSF leader’s claim of military support for Sudanese army (9 October 2024)Hemedti’s claim that Egyptian aircraft bombed RSF forces; Egyptian foreign ministry rejection.
- Egypt Independent: Egypt denies involving its aircraft in ongoing battles in Sudan (10 October 2024)Foreign ministry denial; call for international verification of the evidence.
- Egypt Independent: Egypt, UAE, and Jordan airdrop thousands of tons of aid to Gaza (12 May 2024)Military spokesman Gharib Abdel-Hafez on joint airdrops over northern Gaza.
Figures verified 2026-10-01. Back to the Egyptian Air Force.