Every war the Libyan Air Force has fought
The record covers the air force of the monarchy and of Gaddafi and, since 2014, both rival air arms. Loss claims are given with the side that makes them: Egypt’s for 1977 and Chad’s for Ouadi Doum and Maaten al-Sarra are not independently confirmed, the account of who fired first over the Gulf of Sidra in 1981 is the US one, and the two sides’ accounts of the 1989 clash off Tobruk differ. In the war of 2014–2020 most strike and loss claims come from the side that made them, and the death toll of the Tajoura strike differs by source; the Russian-supplied aircraft reported by US Africa Command are not counted as Libyan. The targets of the 2023 Zawiya drone strikes are given as the Tripoli government described them. 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 Mirages lent to Egypt in 1973 to the drone war over Tripoli and the Zawiya strikes of 2023.
| Conflict | Jaren | Tegen | Hoofdvliegtuig | Uitvallen | Vliegtuig verloren | |
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| De OktoberoorlogLibyan Mirages with the Egyptian Air ForceLibyan Arab Air Force (aircraft lent to Egypt) | 1973 | Israël | Mirage 5D, Mirage 5DR | |||
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Lent Mirage 5s to Egypt; they were flown by Egyptian pilots of the 69th Squadron at Tanta. Libya’s first Mirages went to war before Libyan pilots were ready to fly them in combat. According to Wikipedia’s Mirage 5 article, Egyptian pilots and 19 Libyan Mirage 5Ds plus two reconnaissance aircraft formed the 69th Squadron at Tanta during the October 1973 war. Libyan officers travelled to Tanta during the war and tried to negotiate the aircraft’s return, but the Egyptian command refused, and the Mirages only went back to Libya in 1974. The episode is a reminder of how quickly the Libyan air force was equipped after 1969 — and how far its aircraft ran ahead of its trained crews. Resultaat Egypt returned the aircraft in 1974. Whether any Libyan pilots also flew in the war, and how many of the Mirages were lost, was not confirmed.
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| The Egyptian–Libyan warthe 1977 border warLibyan Arab Air Force | 1977 | Egypte | Mirage 5 | |||
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Flew Mirage 5s in close air support of Libyan ground forces. Four years after lending its Mirages to Egypt, Libya fought it. In the brief border war of 1977, according to Wikipedia’s Mirage 5 article, Libya used its Mirages for close air support, and Egypt claimed to have shot down three or four of them in air combat. The sources checked give no Libyan account of the air fighting, and no independently confirmed loss figure. Resultaat A short war; the sources checked give no air force outcome beyond the claims. Loss figures are Egyptian claims only.
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| The Uganda–Tanzania warthe Mwanza raidLibyan Arab Air Force | 1979 | Tanzania | Tu-22 | 1 | ||
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Sent a Tu-22 to bomb Mwanza in Tanzania in support of its Ugandan allies. Gaddafi sent troops and aircraft to prop up Idi Amin. The air force’s contribution, according to Wikipedia’s Tu-22 article, was a single Tu-22 raid on the Tanzanian town of Mwanza on 29 March 1979, which achieved nothing. It was the first known combat use of Libya’s new supersonic bombers, which would be used much more heavily in Chad. Resultaat The raid failed. Only the Tu-22 raid is recorded in the sources checked; other air force activity in Uganda was not confirmed. |
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| The Chadian–Libyan warAouzou, Ouadi Doum and Maaten al-SarraLibyan Arab Air Force | 1978–1987 | Chad and France | Tu-22, Su-22, MiG-21en nog 6 | |||
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Bombed Chadian and Sudanese targets, supported Libyan garrisons from Ouadi Doum and Faya-Largeau, and flew Tu-22 raids on N’Djamena. Chad was the Libyan air force’s real war. Tu-22s flew their first Chad mission on 9 October 1980, and in September 1981 a raid on Omdurman in Sudan killed three civilians, according to Wikipedia’s Tu-22 article. After France launched Operation Épervier, a single Tu-22 flew low across the desert on 17 February 1986 and bombed N’Djamena airport, hitting the runway; it probably crashed on the way home. The air bridge depended on Ouadi Doum in northern Chad, and when Chadian forces in Toyota pick-ups overran it in March 1987 the losses were heavy: Wikipedia lists 11 L-39s, two Tu-22s, three Mi-25s and two SF.260s destroyed or captured, and Libyan aircraft later bombed the abandoned equipment. On 5 September 1987 Chad raided Maaten al-Sarra inside Libya and claimed about 32 aircraft destroyed, including MiG-21s, MiG-23s, Su-22s and Mi-24s. Two days later a Tu-22 attacking N’Djamena was shot down by a French Hawk battery. Wikipedia’s account of the campaign blames divided commands and a regime that feared its own officers. Resultaat Ceasefire on 11 September 1987, after OAU mediation by Kenneth Kaunda. Chadian loss claims are not independently confirmed. Wikipedia says the Tu-22 shot down in 1987 had an East German crew; this was not confirmed elsewhere and the crew is not named here.
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| The Gulf of Sidra incidenttwo Su-22s and two F-14sLibyan Arab Air Force | 1981 | Verenigde Staten | Su-22 | 2 | 2 | |
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Intercepted US Navy aircraft over waters Libya claimed as its own. Libya had claimed the whole Gulf of Sidra as territorial waters since 1973, with a boundary at 32°30’N that Gaddafi called the Line of Death; the United States rejected the claim and sailed through it. On 19 August 1981 two Libyan Su-22s met two F-14A Tomcats of the US Navy’s VF-41. According to the US account summarised by Wikipedia, a Libyan pilot fired an AA-2 Atoll missile that missed, and the F-14s shot down both Su-22s with AIM-9L Sidewinders. Resultaat No US loss. The account of who fired first is the US account; a Libyan official version was not found in the sources checked. |
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| Operatie El Dorado Canyonthe US raid on Tripoli and BenghaziLibyan Arab Air Force and air defence | 1986 | Verenigde Staten | MiG-23, Il-76, Mi-8 | |||
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Defended against US strikes on Benina airfield and the Tripoli military airfield; aircraft were hit on the ground. On 15 April 1986 US Air Force and US Navy aircraft struck targets in Tripoli and Benghazi, including Benina airfield and the former Wheelus base. Wikipedia’s summary of US results lists numbers of MiG-23s, Il-76 transports and Mi-8 helicopters destroyed on the ground. Only one of the attacking aircraft was lost: an F-111 shot down over the Gulf of Sidra, killing Captains Fernando Ribas-Dominicci and Paul Lorence. Resultaat Libyan air defences failed to stop the raid. In Afterburner SR-71 Over Libya, 1986: Brian Shul’s Run Past Gaddafi’s Missiles Libyan aircraft losses are US claims and the published tables disagree.
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| The air battle near Tobruktwo MiG-23s and two F-14sLibyan Arab Air Force | 1989 | Verenigde Staten | MiG-23 | 2 | 2 | |
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Two MiG-23s approached US carrier aircraft. On 4 January 1989 two Libyan MiG-23s flew towards two F-14As of VF-32 from the USS John F. Kennedy about 40 miles north of Tobruk. According to the US account, the MiGs repeatedly turned towards the Tomcats under ground control, and the F-14s shot both down. The Pentagon later released imagery it said showed the MiGs carried air-to-air missiles. Libya said the aircraft were unarmed reconnaissance planes on a routine mission over international waters. Resultaat No US loss. The two sides’ accounts of the MiGs’ armament and intent differ. |
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| The 2011 Libyan civil war and NATO interventionOperatie Unified ProtectorLibyan Arab Air Force (government), defecting crews and the rebel air arm | 2011 | NATO and partner air forces and anti-Gaddafi forces | Mirage F1, Su-22, MiG-23en nog 2 | 38 | ||
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Government aircraft attacked rebel areas until the no-fly zone; crews defected; rebels flew captured aircraft from Benina. The revolt broke the air force in a week. On 21 February 2011 two colonels flew Mirage F1s 502 and 508 from Okba Ben Nafi to Malta, saying they had been ordered to bomb protesters in Benghazi. On 23 February a Su-22 crew ejected near Ajdabiya instead of attacking the city, and rebels took Benina, destroying one Mi-24 and capturing a Mi-25D and a Mi-14. From 1 to 19 March, Wikipedia records, the rebel air arm flew 38 combat sorties. UN Security Council resolution 1973 of 17 March authorised a no-fly zone; France, the US and Britain began strikes on 19 March, and NATO took command on 31 March. Its Operation Unified Protector lasted 222 days and flew more than 26,000 sorties, 42 per cent of them strike sorties. On 23 March Air Vice-Marshal Greg Bagwell told the BBC the Libyan air force no longer existed as a fighting force. Airwars, counting all belligerents in 2011, assesses 1,166 to 2,519 civilian deaths as fairly reported or confirmed; NATO said it confirmed none from its own strikes. Resultaat De regering van Gaddafi viel in 2011. Government aircraft losses in 2011 are not published as a confirmed total. Airwars’ civilian figures cover all parties, not NATO alone.
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| The second Libyan civil war and the Tripoli warOperation Dignity to the Geneva ceasefireLNA air arm; Tripoli and Misrata-aligned air units | 2014–2020 | Elkaar | MiG-21, MiG-23, Mirage F1en nog 6 | |||
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Both air arms flew strikes with ex-Gaddafi jets and helicopters; foreign-supplied drones and aircraft decided the 2019–2020 war for Tripoli. Khalifa Haftar launched Operation Dignity on 16 May 2014 and the air force divided with the country. Haftar’s air arm, led from January 2015 by Saqr Geroushi, flew old MiG-21s, MiG-23s and Mirages from Benina; the Tripoli and Misrata side kept Mitiga, Misrata and its own aircraft. Outsiders joined early: in August 2014 the United States said the UAE and Egypt had bombed Tripoli. When the LNA advanced on Tripoli on 4 April 2019 it struck Mitiga, the capital’s only working airport, repeatedly. HRW attributes the 2 July 2019 Tajoura detention centre strike, which killed at least 44 migrants, and the 4 August 2019 Murzuq strikes, which killed more than 40, to the LNA; the LNA first said it had hit a weapons depot at Tajoura and later denied involvement. HRW reported that the UAE supplied the LNA with armed drones and Turkey supplied Tripoli; on 13 April 2019 Libya Observer, citing unnamed military sources and flight trackers, reported two cargo aircraft from Abu Dhabi landing at Benina with UAE drone operators. HRW also reported that a UAE-supplied drone killed 26 cadets in Tripoli in January 2020. In May 2020 AFRICOM said at least 14 MiG-29s and several Su-24s had flown from Russia via Syria to Al Jufra, flown by contractors. A UN Panel of Experts report of March 2021, as summarised by Wikipedia, said a Turkish-made Kargu-2 drone had hunted down and attacked LNA forces in 2020. Resultaat Tripoli’s forces took Al Watiya on 18 May 2020 and pushed the LNA back to Sirte and Al Jufra; a permanent ceasefire was signed in Geneva on 23 October 2020. Most strike and loss claims come from the side that made them. Tajoura deaths: at least 44 (HRW) or at least 53 (Wikipedia). The January 2020 cadet strike: 26 killed (HRW) or 28 (Wikipedia). The LNA’s air chief Saqr al-Jaroushi promised "the largest aerial campaign in Libyan history" on 21 May 2020; Russia’s position on the AFRICOM statement was not found in the sources checked.
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| Drone strikes around ZawiyaTripoli government operation on the west coastTripoli government (GNU) forces | 2023 | Armed groups in Zawiya, per the GNU | Gewapende drones | |||
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Drone strikes on targets the government described as smuggling and trafficking gangs. In late May 2023 the Government of National Unity began drone strikes in and around Zawiya, west of Tripoli. Its spokesman Mohamed Hammouda said the operation was launched on the direct orders of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah to purge the west coast of trafficking criminals and gangs; targets reported by Libya Review included militia headquarters and fuel smugglers. On 28 May the Presidential Council’s deputy head, Abdullah al-Lafi, said that "our Turkish friends have a prominent role" in helping start the operations. The eastern-based House of Representatives condemned the strikes. Resultaat The House of Representatives condemned the strikes. Casualty figures and the drone type were not confirmed. Turkey’s role is as described by the Presidential Council official; no Turkish statement was found.
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- NATO: NATO and Libya (2011) – Operation Unified Protector31 March – 31 October 2011; over 26,000 sorties, 42 per cent strike sorties, about 6,000 targets; 250-plus aircraft.
- Airwars: All belligerents in Libya (2012–present)551 alleged incidents; 512–747 civilian deaths assessed fair or confirmed.
- Airwars: All belligerents in Libya, 2011216 incidents in 2011; 1,166–2,519 civilian deaths assessed fair or confirmed, all belligerents.
- Human Rights Watch: World Report 2015, LibyaHifter’s May 2014 operation; US statement that the UAE and Egypt struck Tripoli on 18 and 23 August 2014.
- Human Rights Watch: World Report 2020, LibyaTajoura strike of July 2019 (at least 44 killed), Murzuq strikes of 4 August 2019, Mitiga strikes, drone supply by the UAE and Turkey.
- Human Rights Watch: World Report 2021, Libya2020: UN civilian casualty count, January 2020 cadet strike, US accusation over Russian jets and Wagner, Geneva ceasefire.
- The Aviationist: Two Libyan Mirages defect to Malta (22 February 2011)Two Mirage F1s, serials 502 and 508, landed in Malta on 21 February 2011; pilots said they had been ordered to bomb protesters.
- The Aviationist: AFRICOM confirms Russia deployed military fighter aircraft to Libya (26 May 2020)AFRICOM statement and General Stephen Townsend’s quote.
- The Aviationist: AFRICOM releases new evidence of Russian aircraft active in Libyan airspace (18 June 2020)At least 14 MiG-29s and several Su-24s at Al Jufra, per AFRICOM.
- The Aviationist: The claim that Russia moved six MiG-29s and two Su-24s to Libya (21 May 2020)GNA interior minister Fathi Bashagha’s claim; LNA air chief Saqr al-Jaroushi’s statement of 21 May 2020.
- Libya Observer: Aircraft carrying UAE officers, military equipment lands at Benina Airport (13 April 2019)Two cargo aircraft from Abu Dhabi, per unnamed military sources and flight trackers.
- Libya Review: Presidential Council says Turkey participated in Al-Zawiya drone strike (28 May 2023)Statement by Presidential Council deputy head Abdullah al-Lafi.
- Libya Review: New drone strikes reported in west Libya (27 May 2023)GNU spokesman: strikes ordered by Dbeibah against smugglers and gangs on the west coast.
Cijfers geverifieerd op 1 oktober 2026. Back to the Libyan Air Force.