Every war the Royal Jordanian Air Force has fought
The claims of the clashes with Israel in 1964 and 1966 differ by side, and the destruction of Jordan’s Hunters on 5 June 1967 is given by the Israeli account; each figure is given with the side that makes it. The United States and Jordan said Muath al-Kasasbeh’s F-16 was lost to mechanical failure in December 2014, while the Islamic State claimed to have shot it down. The strikes on smugglers in southern Syria in 2023 and 2024 are attributed to Jordan by Reuters and the BBC, not by Jordan, and the 20 per cent of Iranian drones downed in April 2024 is Haaretz’s figure. 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 Hunters over the West Bank in 1964 to drones over Jordan in 2025.
| Conflict | Jaren | Tegen | Hoofdvliegtuig | Uitvallen | Vliegtuig verloren | |
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| Hunters against Mirages over the West Bankthe 21 December 1964 dogfightRoyal Jordanian Air Force | 1964 | Israel | Straatverkoper Jager | — | 0 | |
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Air-to-air engagement between Jordanian Hunters and Israeli Mirage IIICJs. On 21 December 1964 Jordanian Hunters met Israeli Mirage IIICJs over the West Bank. The accounts diverge sharply. English Wikipedia’s RJAF article says one Mirage was damaged and the Jordanians lost nothing. Its Hunter article says two Mirages were downed and another damaged, without damage to the Hunters. Its article on the Jordanian pilot Ihsan Shurdom, citing the Air Combat Information Group, says one Mirage was lost after an engagement with Shurdom’s Hunter and two more were damaged, while Israeli sources attributed that loss to fuel exhaustion rather than combat. Shurdom later commanded the air force, from 1983. Resultaat Each side gave a different result; no lasting consequence. The Jordanian claim of Mirages destroyed is not confirmed by Israeli sources, which attribute any loss to fuel exhaustion.
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| The Samu raidOperation ShredderRoyal Jordanian Air Force | 1966 | Israel | Straatverkoper Jager | 8 | 1 | |
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Hunters from Mafraq engaged Israeli aircraft covering a large Israeli ground raid on the village of Samu. On 13 November 1966 Israel sent between 3,000 and 4,000 troops with tanks and aircraft into the West Bank village of Samu, then under Jordanian control, destroying between 40 and 125 houses. Israel said it was retaliating for a mine that had killed three Israeli soldiers on 11 November; a Dutch UN observer, Colonel Jan Mühren, said the village had been calm. Eight Jordanian Hunters from Mafraq met four Israeli Mirage IIIs. English Wikipedia’s account records one Jordanian aircraft shot down and one Israeli aircraft damaged. The pilot killed, Lieutenant Muwaffaq Salti, gave his name to the air base opened at Azraq in 1981. On 25 November the UN Security Council unanimously condemned Israel for a ‘large-scale military action in violation of the United Nations Charter’. Resultaat UN Security Council Resolution 228 of 25 November 1966 condemned Israel for the raid. The damage to the Israeli aircraft is from a single account; the number of houses destroyed varies between sources.
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| The Six-Day War5 June 1967Royal Jordanian Air Force | 1967 | Israel | Straatverkoper Jager | — | 21 | |
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Attacked Israeli targets on the first morning and was destroyed on the ground within hours; Jordanian pilots then flew from Iraq. Around midday on 5 June 1967, after Israel had struck Egypt, four Jordanian Hunters hit a factory hall in Netanya, killing one civilian and wounding seven, according to English Wikipedia; Iraqi Hunters attacked Kfar Sirkin. Shortly before 12:30 the Israeli Air Force attacked Jordan’s two air bases at Mafraq and Amman in two waves, first cratering the runways and knocking out the control towers, then, by its own account, destroying all 21 Hawker Hunters, six transport aircraft and two helicopters. Jordanian pilots who survived flew on from Iraq: the Pakistani adviser Saiful Azam, flying a Jordanian Hunter, is credited by Pakistani sources with shooting down an Israeli Mystère, and Ihsan Shurdom flew with Azam and Iraqi pilots over the H-3 airfield on 7 June. The war cost Jordan the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Resultaat The air force ceased to exist as a fighting force on the first day; it was rebuilt with Hunters from Britain and Saudi Arabia. Destroyed-aircraft figures come from the Israeli side; Saiful Azam’s kills are credited by Pakistani sources and are not confirmed by Israeli ones.
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| Black Septemberthe Syrian incursionRoyal Jordanian Air Force | 1970 | Syria and Palestinian armed groups | Straatverkoper Jager | — | — | |
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Ground attack against the Syrian armoured force that crossed into northern Jordan. The main fighting between the Jordanian army and Palestinian armed groups lasted from 16 to 27 September 1970. When a Syrian armoured force crossed the border to support the Palestinians, King Hussein on 22 September ordered the air force to attack it. English Wikipedia describes the joint air-ground offensive as successful, and says the Syrian 5th Division began to retreat that afternoon. Its Hunter article says the Hunters were used ‘with considerable success’ against Syrian tanks. The Syrian air force stayed out, a fact English Wikipedia ties to the struggle between Salah Jadid, who sent the tanks, and the air force commander Hafez al-Assad, who seized power soon after. Israeli jets flew over the Syrian columns as a show of support for Hussein. Resultaat The Syrian 5th Division began to withdraw in the late afternoon of 22 September; the Syrian air force did not intervene. Casualty figures for the whole conflict range from Arafat’s claim of 25,000 Palestinian dead to estimates of 2,000–3,400; about 537 Jordanian soldiers were killed. Air-strike results are not separately recorded.
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| The 1973 warYom Kippur WarRoyal Jordanian Air Force | 1973 | Israel | — | — | — | |
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No documented air combat role; Jordan’s contribution was an expeditionary ground force in Syria. English Wikipedia lists the Yom Kippur War among the air force’s engagements, but the sources checked do not record any Jordanian air operations. King Hussein, who had secretly warned Golda Meir on 25 September 1973 of a coming Syrian attack, refused to open a front from Jordan and sent an expeditionary ground force to Syria instead. Jordan’s 23 dead and 77 wounded were all on the ground. Resultaat Jordan kept its own front with Israel quiet. The air force’s role, if any, is not documented in the sources checked. |
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| The Libya interventionhumanitarian escortRoyal Jordanian Air Force | 2011 | — | Fighter jets (type not stated), Transport aircraft | — | 0 | |
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Six fighters escorted Jordanian transport aircraft carrying aid to eastern Libya. On 4 April 2011 six Royal Jordanian Air Force fighters landed at a coalition base in Europe. Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said they were there for logistical support and to escort Jordanian transport aircraft flying aid into opposition-held Cyrenaica through a humanitarian corridor, and were ‘not intended for combat’. He did not name the type or the base. Resultaat Jordan’s aircraft flew logistics and escort, not strike, missions. The aircraft type is not given in the source; F-16s are likely but not confirmed.
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| The air war against the Islamic StateOperation Inherent Resolve and Operation Martyr MuathRoyal Jordanian Air Force | 2014–2017 | Islamitische Staat | F-16AM/BM | — | 1 | |
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Strike missions with F-16s as part of the US-led coalition. Jordanian jets struck vehicles trying to cross from Syria on 16 April 2014, and on 22 September 2014 Jordan joined the US-led coalition strikes; Minister Mohammad Momani said they were part of the effort to defeat terrorism. On 24 December an ex-Belgian F-16 came down near Raqqa and First Lieutenant Muath al-Kasasbeh, born in 1988, was captured. Jordan later determined that he had been killed on or about 3 January 2015; the Islamic State released a video of him being burned alive on 3 February. On 4 February Jordan hanged Sajida al-Rishawi and Ziad al-Karbouli, and over the next three days it struck what it said were 56 Islamic State targets, with 20 F-16s near Raqqa on 5 February. English Wikipedia reports that the air force commander claimed to have destroyed 20 per cent of the group’s capabilities, citing the Jordan Times of 8 February 2015. Al-Kasasbeh was promoted captain posthumously. Resultaat Strikes were heavy in 2015 and reduced after December 2015, according to English Wikipedia; strikes on southern Syria continued into 2017. Targets hit and enemy killed are Jordan’s own claims; they have not been independently verified. Civilian casualties from Jordanian strikes are not separately reported in the sources checked.
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| The Saudi-led intervention in YemenOperation Decisive StormRoyal Jordanian Air Force | 2015– | Houthis (Ansar Allah) | F-16AM/BM | — | — | |
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Contributed aircraft to the coalition air campaign. English Wikipedia’s article on the intervention lists Jordan’s contribution as ten warplanes and 1,000 troops. The sources checked give no detail of Jordanian sorties or targets. The UN Panel of Experts on Yemen and human rights groups have documented civilian casualties from coalition strikes in general; none of the sources checked attributes a particular strike to Jordanian aircraft. Resultaat The end of Jordan’s air participation was not documented in the sources checked. The number of aircraft is from a single summary table; Jordan’s government did not publish sortie numbers. |
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| Strikes on smugglers in southern Syriathe Captagon warRoyal Jordanian Air Force | 2023–2024 | Drug-smuggling networks | — | — | — | |
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Air strikes on drug-smuggling targets, attributed to Jordan by international media. English Wikipedia, citing Reuters, reports that on 8 May 2023 air strikes in southern Syria killed the Captagon trafficker Marie al-Ramthan and destroyed a drug factory; further strikes followed on 18 December 2023 in Salkhad District. On 18 January 2024, according to the BBC as cited there, strikes on Malah and Urman killed ten people, including two children. These strikes were attributed to Jordan by the media; the sources checked do not contain a Jordanian statement confirming or denying each one. Resultaat Jordan describes its border campaign as a fight against armed smugglers. Attribution to Jordan comes from Reuters and the BBC; casualties are as reported by them, not by Jordan.
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| Interceptions over JordanApril 2024 and June 2025Royal Jordanian Air Force | 2024–2025 | — | F-16AM/BM, Ground-based air defence | — | 0 | |
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Intercepted drones and other objects crossing Jordan during the Iranian attacks on Israel. On the night of 13–14 April 2024 Iran launched drones and missiles at Israel, many of them across Jordan. Jordan readied its air defences and intercepted objects that entered its airspace; the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the Royal Jordanian Air Force had shot down about 20 per cent of the drones. Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi summoned Iran’s ambassador over Iranian statements that called Jordan a potential target, and said Jordan would respond the same way to a threat from any country; Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh called for de-escalation. Some critics said Jordan was protecting Israel. In June 2025, during the war between Israel and Iran, Jordan closed its airspace and the air force again intercepted drones over the kingdom. Resultaat Jordan said it acted in self-defence and would treat a threat from any country the same way. The 20 per cent figure is Haaretz’s, not an official Jordanian figure; Jordan did not publish its interception totals in the sources checked.
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| Airdrops into Gazahumanitarian airdropsRoyal Jordanian Air Force | 2023–2025 | — | C-130H Hercules | — | 0 | |
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Humanitarian airdrops by C-130s, alone and with partners. France and Jordan flew their first joint airdrop into Gaza on 5 January 2024. On 26 February 2024 the Jordanian air force flew its largest drop, to 11 sites along the Gaza coast, with King Abdullah II aboard one of the aircraft according to English Wikipedia. The World Food Programme called airdrops an option of last resort and Oxfam called them ineffective. US airdrops from March 2024 included Jordanian meals. Resultaat Aid agencies called airdrops a last resort compared with land convoys. Totals of drops and tonnage are Jordan’s own and were not confirmed here; the deadly drop was not attributed to Jordan in the sources checked.
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Figures verified 2026-10-01. Back to the Royal Jordanian Air Force.