Bahraini Air Force
The Bahraini air force began operations in 1977 with a gradually expanding fleet of helicopters. from the mid-80s it had been slowly building up its defense assets with the delivery of one squadron of F-5E/Fs. The backbone of the fighter force is formed by two squadrons of F-16C/Ds delivered in two batches between 1990 and 2001. The jet-fleet issupplemented by a number of BAE Systems Hawk 100s that were ordered in July 2002. The helicopter fleet consists of 24 Bell AH-1E Cobra attack helicopters. The operational status of the Bell 212s and MBB Bo105s remains uncertain. To supplement the Cobra fleet, the Bahraini government has shown interest in the procurement of 17 additional surplus US AH-1Fs from which 14 would eventually enter service. I-Hawk SAMs are on order as the principal air defense weapon. After initially being denied shoulder-fired Stinger SAMs by congressional objections, Bahrain was allowed to purchase the weapons on a provisional basis and later to retain them permanently. The main air force base is adjacent to Bahrain International Airport on Al Muharraq. Another base developed for use in the Persian Gulf War is available near the southern tip of Bahrain; as of 1992, it was being used for servicing carrier-based United States aircraft.
