Every war the Royal Cambodian Air Force has fought
Cambodia’s air arm has fought under several regimes, and its record runs through the Khmer Air Force of the civil war, the Khmer Rouge air arm and the Vietnamese-backed air force of the 1980s. In the 2025 border conflict with Thailand each government says the other fired first, casualty figures are given as each side reported them, and no Cambodian air combat mission or aircraft loss is recorded in the sources reached. 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 the border incidents of the 1960s to the 2025 border conflict with Thailand.
| صراع | سنين | ضد | الطائرة الرئيسية | طلعات جوية | طائرة مفقودة | |
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| Border incidents with South Vietnamthe neutral years of the Vietnam WarAviation Royale Khmère | 1964–1970 | South Vietnam | T-28D | — | — | |
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Patrolled the eastern border of a neutral Cambodia during the Vietnam War. Sihanouk’s policy of neutrality did not keep the war out of Cambodia’s eastern provinces. On 21 March 1964, according to Wikipedia’s account of the Khmer Air Force, a patrol of two AVRK T-28D fighter-bombers penetrated about 3.2 km into South Vietnam and shot down an L-19 light aircraft, killing its Vietnamese pilot and an American observer. It is the only air-to-air victory credited to a Cambodian aircraft in the sources reached. حصيلة Cambodia remained officially neutral until the coup of March 1970. Single-source account (Wikipedia, drawing on Conboy); the South Vietnamese and US positions on the incident were not found. |
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| Cambodian Civil Warthe Khmer Republic’s warKhmer National Aviation, then Khmer Air Force | 1970–1975 | Khmer Rouge and North Vietnam | T-28D, AC-47D, AU-24Aوأربعة آخرون | — | 100 | |
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Close air support, gunship, transport and resupply for the Khmer Republic’s army against the Khmer Rouge and North Vietnamese forces. The coup of March 1970 brought the air arm into the war on the side of Lon Nol’s Khmer Republic. North Vietnamese sappers struck Pochentong on the night of 21–22 January 1971 and wrecked most of the inherited fleet. American aid rebuilt it: by January 1975 the Khmer Air Force had 211 aircraft and about 10,000 people. It supported Chenla II in 1971, stopped a raid on Phnom Penh with AC-47 gunships in October 1972, flew record T-28 sortie rates in 1973 and, in March 1974, destroyed at least 125 trucks at Dambe in one strike. It also had a loyalty problem: dissident pilots bombed the presidential palace on 17 March 1973 (43 killed, according to Wikipedia’s sources) and again in November 1973, and a T-28 bombed the general staff headquarters on 14 April 1975. The last combat sortie was flown on 16 April; the next day 97 aircraft fled to Thailand. حصيلة Defeat: Phnom Penh fell on 17 April 1975; 97 aircraft escaped to Thailand. Figures come from Wikipedia’s article, which relies mainly on Conboy (2011); Khmer Rouge and Vietnamese accounts of air losses were not found.
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| Mayaguez incidentthe US strike on ReamKhmer Rouge air arm (AFKRA) | 1975 | الولايات المتحدة | T-28D, C-47, C-46F | — | — | |
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Was on the receiving end: its salvaged aircraft at Ream were bombed on the ground. After the Khmer Rouge seized the US container ship Mayaguez, US Navy A-6A and A-7E aircraft, escorted by F-4Ns, attacked Kompong Som and Ream airfield on 15 May 1975, hitting cargo aircraft and T-28 Trojans. According to Wikipedia’s account of the Khmer Air Force, at least five of the 12 T-28Ds operated by the Khmer Rouge at Ream were destroyed, with two C-47s and a C-46F. Only a handful of the aircraft the Khmer Rouge had salvaged were still airworthy when Vietnamese forces overran the country in 1979. حصيلة The ship’s crew was released; the Khmer Rouge air arm was reduced to a handful of airworthy aircraft. Loss counts are from Western accounts; no Khmer Rouge figure exists in the sources reached.
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| Cambodian–Vietnamese Warthe Vietnamese invasion and the 1980s insurgencyKhmer Rouge air arm, then Kampuchean People’s Revolutionary Air Force | 1978–1989 | Democratic Kampuchea (Khmer Rouge) | ميغ-21 بيس،, Mi-8, Mi-17واثنان آخران | — | — | |
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The Khmer Rouge’s small air arm was overrun in 1979; the Vietnamese-backed successor was rebuilt during the war against the Khmer Rouge insurgency. China supplied Democratic Kampuchea with fighter aircraft, and the regime used forced labour to build a jet airfield at Kampong Chhnang, but Wikipedia’s account says only a handful of aircraft were airworthy when the Vietnamese army neutralised the Khmer Rouge air arm in early 1979. Phnom Penh fell on 7 January 1979. The People’s Republic of Kampuchea then built an "embryonic" air arm with Soviet equipment — 19 MiG-21bis, Mi-8, Mi-17 and Mi-24 helicopters — and about 1,000 officers trained in Vietnam and 500 in the USSR. The fighting was carried mainly by the Vietnamese army and air force. حصيلة Vietnam withdrew between 21 and 26 September 1989; the Paris Peace Accords followed on 23 October 1991. The role of the Cambodian air arm in the 1980s counter-insurgency is not documented in the sources reached; it is listed here for completeness, not because combat sorties are recorded.
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| Cambodian–Thai border conflict2025 border crisisRoyal Cambodian Air Force | 2025 | Thailand | — | — | — | |
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No combat air role is recorded; Cambodian positions were the target of Thai air strikes. Fighting began on 24 July 2025 near Prasat Ta Muen Thom. Thailand said Cambodian troops opened fire; Cambodia said Thai forces launched an unprovoked assault. The Royal Thai Air Force bombed Cambodian positions that morning and on 26 and 27 July, while Cambodia fired artillery and BM-21 rockets. Cambodia’s defence ministry accused Thailand of using cluster munitions and white phosphorus; a Cambodian chemical-weapons claim was later traced to an unrelated wildfire photograph. On 4 August the government news agency AKP reported that the Cambodian Mine Action Centre had found an Mk 84 bomb and Mk 82 bombs with Paveway II guidance kits in Oddar Meanchey, which its director general Heng Ratana called evidence of Thai F-16 strikes inside Cambodia; Thailand said its aircraft struck military targets. After a landmine incident in November, fighting resumed on 7–8 December: Thai army spokesman Winthai Suvaree said aircraft were striking military targets after a Thai soldier was killed, while Cambodian defence spokeswoman Maly Socheata said Thailand attacked first and Cambodia had not retaliated. The two defence ministers signed an immediate ceasefire on 27 December. حصيلة Ceasefire on 28 July; Kuala Lumpur Peace Accord on 26 October; renewed fighting in December; ceasefire from noon on 27 December 2025, still holding but tense in 2026. Casualty and damage figures are each government’s own and not independently verified. No source reached documents any Cambodian military aircraft in action, but absence of reporting is not proof that none flew.
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تم التحقق من كل رقم
- The Defense Post (AFP): Thailand Says Over 100,000 Civilians Flee Clashes With Cambodia (25 July 2025)Thai F-16s scrambled to hit military targets; both sides blame the other; Thai toll 15 dead; Cambodia had not released casualty figures.
- The Defense Post: Thailand Launches Air Strikes Against Cambodian Military (8 December 2025)Thai army spokesman Winthai Suvaree on aircraft strikes; Cambodian defence spokeswoman Maly Socheata says Thailand attacked first and Cambodia did not retaliate.
- The Defense Post: Cambodia-Thailand Clashes Spread on Border (9 December 2025)Cambodian interior ministry: seven civilians killed; defence ministry on attacks near Preah Vihear temple; Thai army casualty figures.
- The Defense Post: Thailand and Cambodia Agree to Immediate Ceasefire (27 December 2025)Ceasefire from 12:00 on 27 December 2025 signed by the defence ministers; at least 47 killed in December.
- Agence Kampuchea Presse: New Evidence Confirms Thailand’s Bombing of Cambodian Territory (4 August 2025)Cambodian government news agency. CMAC director general Heng Ratana on an Mk 84 and two Mk 82 bombs with GBU-12 kits found in Oddar Meanchey, attributed by Cambodia to Thai F-16s. Attributed claim.
Figures verified 2026-09-30. Back to the Royal Cambodian Air Force.