QEAF shows its gold star quality

The Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford in the UK, on July 19-21, regarded as the biggest in the world, was the first. This was followed by the Egyptian International Airshow, the newest fixture on the airshow calendar, at El Alamein on the southern Mediterranean coast from September 3-5.

Personnel from the QEAF, much to their credit, stood alongside their nine aircraft in the RIAT static display, interacting with the general public.

The biggest was a C-17A Globemaster III wearing Qatari Airways markings, which brought in a NH 90 helicopter that was displayed alongside. The remainder of the static show included a RAF-QEAF 11 squadron joint training unit Hawk T2 based at RAF Leeming.

Joint RAF-QEAF unit, 12 squadron from RAF Coningsby brought a Typhoon FGR4. While another Typhoon (not yet delivered) by BAE Systems, ZR521/QA420 was also present. A pair of 12 squadron Hawks flown by QEAF pilots remained parked away from the static display.

Undoubtedly, though the most impressive QEAF assets on show, were two F-15QA Ababils, which showed off their maneuverability and sheer power in the flying display – one fully armed and the other clean of any weapons. There was a sizable presence at El Alamein too, with two Typhoon FGR4s, an AH-64E Apache Guardian, NH 90 helicopter, C-17A Globemaster III and a Pilatus PC-24. No Boeing F-15QAs though!

A little background

The willingness to show their aircraft off illustrates how the QEAF has progressed from an air force created in 1974, with cast-off Hunters from the Royal Netherlands Air Force – three single-seat F78s and a dual-seat T79.

They were replaced in 1983 by six new Dassault-Breguet Alphajet Es, followed by three single-seat Dassault Mirage F1DDAs and F1EDA as Qatar continued to look to the French to supply them with new aircraft, which also included up to 14 SA342L Gazelles and Westland Lynx Mk 28s.

The Mirage F1s made way for nine cutting edge Mirage 2000-5EDAs and two single-seat Mirage 2000-5DDAs. These remained in service alongside the Alphajets up until the early 2020s. Five of them were donated to Morocco in 2021. The future of the Dassault Mirage 2000-5s is not so clear-cut. Plans by the Indonesian Air Force to acquire them in 2021 have now been shelved. Instead, it is looking increasingly likely that the delta-winged fighters will be transferred to the Indian Air Force, once the necessary formalities have been completed.

Here come the fighters

The Doha government used its wealth from being the world's biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas, to boost its military in a massive way in recent years. Concerned with the strategic ambitions of some Middle East players when ostracised by the Gulf Cooperation Council between 2017 and 2021, the QEAF ordered an incredible 96 new fighters between 2015 and 2017. At the time it was operating just nine Mirage 2000-5s and six Alphajets.

Initially the QEAF ordered 18 Dassault Rafale EQs and six dual-seat DQs in a $7 billion deal during April 2017, with the first delivered in June 2019 and was subsequently boosted in December 2017 by an additional nine EQs and three DQs previously on option. Qatari Rafales are equipped with the Sniper targeting pod, the first time a foreign system has been adopted for the French jet.

In November 2016, the US green lighted a deal for 72 extremely capable Boeing F-15QAs, although only 36 were actually sold and entered service in October 2021. The deal valued at $12 billion was signed off in June 2017 for 36 aircraft and 36 on option.

The first 36 were delivered by August 2023, and In June this year, it became obvious that an extra batch had been ordered, when four more of 12 were ready for delivery.

They were flown to RAF Lakenheath on the eve of RIAT, and two were re-positioned to RIAT and then Farnborough International Airshow where they gave quite a dynamic performance in the flying displays – one fully armed and the other clean.

The QEAF F-15QA pilots are now believed to be trained in country by Boeing, which is also providing logistical and technical support of the aircraft. An ex-Kuwait Air Force US instructor pilot employed by Boeing transferred to the QEAF F-15QA fleet in June, presumably to support the training need. Boeing was contracted in 2020 to establish and operate a QEAF aircrew and maintenance training center at Al Udeid Air Base, in 2024.

On December 10, 2017, BAE Systems announced a £5 billion contract to supply 24 Typhoon aircraft to the QEAF. The first deliveries took place in August 2022, ahead of the Qatar World Cup when the joint RAF-QEAF Typhoon squadron, 12 squadron, deployed to Qatar for six months. During the deployment, the unit supported the formation of the first operational QEAF Typhoon unit, 7 squadron and by mid-September 2024, 20 had been delivered, with the 21^st going through flight testing.

Training

The Al Zaeem Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Attiyah Air Academy is tasked with turning cadets into pilots. The MFI-17 Super Mushshak is used as a screener aircraft, while the H125 Ecureil is used for training helicopter pilots and the PC-21 those destined for fixed-wing flying.

The pilot destined for transport aircraft, will head to one of the two Pilatus PC-24s purchased in November 2021, and delivered in 2022/23. After that they are posted to an operational unit flying the DHC-6 Twin Otter or Lockheed Martin C-130J, and then the bigger Boeing C-17A Globemaster III.

If you are destined for Typhoons then you are off to the UK. Where you will join the Joint Hawk Training Squadron, 11 squadron. Formally unveiled at RAF Leeming in North Yorkshire on November 24, 2021 the unit delivers advanced jet training to both QEAF and RAF pilots in nine new Hawk Mk 167s, that wear Qatari national insignia, but UK military serial numbers. Under the initial contract signed in July 2021 the Hawks would remain at Leeming for six years, though this is likely to be extended, as training in the UK prevents airspace congestion in Qatar.

Once completed, pilots will move to No 29 (Reserve) squadron the RAF’s Typhoon Operational Conversion Unit based at RAF Coningsby, Lincs and if that goes well, on to No 12 squadron where Qatari pilots will learn to fly the Typhoon tactically. The unit was officially re-established on 24th July 2018 to become a joint RAF-QEAF squadron, integrating personnel from both nations. In March 2023, the contract to operate this bilateral squadron was extended by another two years.

The QEAF also has instructors and students based at Italy’s International Flight Training School (IFTS), initially at 61^st wing at Lecce-Galatina and then at Deci, Sardinia in the near future. They fly the Leonardo T-346, with the QEAF owning six of the IFTS aircraft. The first six QEAF students concluded phase IV of the advanced/lead-in to fighter training programme in July 2022. The successful students progress to either the Rafales or F-15QAs.

If the would-be pilot is destined for helicopters, then after leaving the academy the student will usually be posted to the US Army Aviation Training Centre at Fort Novosel (formerly Fort Rucker). One helicopter pilot the author met at El Alamein, flew 130 hours on the UH-72A at Cairns Army Air Field, and then 60-80 hours on an Apache D/E at Hanchey AAF inside a year, in 2019, to become a qualified AH-64E pilot. That’s some going.

The QEAF also regularly visits Turkey for tactical exercises at Konya Air Base, where they participate in Anatolian Eagle or Anatolian Phoenix.