A few An-2 biplanes currently serve with the EAF in the utility role, this example having been photographed at Almaza. The sturdy Antonov has been found particularly useful for operation from short desert strips.
The Mil Mi-6 heavy lift helicopter was photographed at Kom Awshim and is one of those retained in the EAF inventory despite some problems with spares.
While comparatively few Mi-6 helicopters remain in the active EAF inventory, those still in service fulfil a useful function in transporting outsize items to remote sites.
The 12,7-mm nose-mounted machine gun intended to provide suppressive fire is retained, with the access doors open for re-arming.
The Mi-8, seen here with rocket pods attached to the outriggers, remains a major item in the EAF inventory and is not expected to be entirely supplanted by western helicopters for several years.
Советский экипаж на Ил-38 с египетскими опознавательными знаками выполняет боевую задачу над средиземным морем
Another type operated from Egypt in Egyptian insignia by the Soviet Naval Air Force for Mediterranean surveillance was the Ilyushin Il-38.
Египетские "Метеоры" над зоной Суэцкого канала
The first Meteor F Mk 4 and T Mk 7 delivered to the REAF in October 1949. The Service was to receive 36 Meteors of all types.
The Antonov An-12 was, for many years, the heavy logistic support backbone of the EAF, 30 having originally been procured from the Soviet Union. This Soviet type has now virtually disappeared from the inventory, having been succeeded by the C-130H Hercules which now equips the heavy lift force based at Cairo East.
The Antonov An-12 was, for many years, the heavy logistic support backbone of the EAF, 30 having originally been procured from the Soviet Union. This Soviet type has now virtually disappeared from the inventory, having been succeeded by the C-130H Hercules which now equips the heavy lift force based at Cairo East. Procurement of an additional 20 or so Hercules is foreseen over the next few years.
Westland Commando helicopters were originally procured for the EAF by Saudi Arabia after the last Middle Exist conflict, and made good some of the attrition suffered by the Mi-8 fleet in that war. The Sea King version of this helicopter serves with the small Egyptian naval aviation component.
The CH-47C Chinook, is one of the most recent additions to the EAF inventory, one of the 15 helicopters of this type procured by the EAF being seen here at Kom Awshim. About half the cost of these helicopters was provided by Foreign Military Sales credits, the Chinooks having been delivered to Egypt by Elicotteri Meridionali last year.
The CH-47C Chinook medium lift helicopters delivered to the EAF last year now provide a substantial proportion of the Service's helicopter logistic support capability, and, apart from the handful of Mi-6s, are the largest rotorcraft in the EAF inventory.
Maj Gen Muhammad Lotfi Shabana (indicated by cross) and the EAF mission with the first Egyptian Alpha Jet MS1 at Dassault-Breguet’s Toulouse Colomiers facility in April. The initial Alpha Jet MS1s assembled by the parent company will be delivered to the EAF later this year.
One of the Yak-11s delivered to Bilbeis from August 1956 to supplement the Harvards employed by the EAF for basic training.
The miscellaneous types included in the EAF inventory in small numbers include this Zlin Z.526. the camouflage suggesting that this aircraft serves in the liaison and communications roles.
One of six ex-RAF Meteor NF Mk 13 night fighters delivered to the EAF in June 1955.
The standard EAF primary trainer is the Gomhouria seen in its Mk 8 version with the new windscreen and single-piece cockpit hood now being adopted. The Gomhouria is an Egyptian-built derivative of the pre-WWIl Bucker Bu 181 and a large number remain in the EAF inventory.
Most of the Gomhouria trainers retained by the EAF are expected to be fitted with the new clear-vision windscreen and blown canopy, but the majority of those currently in service retain the original windscreen and canopy as seen above, this example of the Continental O-300-powered Gomhouria having been photographed recently at Katamia.
The first two of 12 Vampire T Mk 55s delivered to Egypt in the early 'fifties. More than 90 Vampires were to be acquired by the REAF/EAF of which 30 were ex-Aeronautica Militare Italiana FB Mk 52As.
