Belgian Air Component - The Cold War

The Cold War

On 15 October 1946, the Belgian military aviation was turned into an autonomous force, independent of the Belgian Army.

From September 1953 to 1960, the Ecole de Pilotage Avancé (Advanced Pilots' School) operated Harvards from the Kamina military base in the Belgian Congo. Seemingly about 60 Harvards were at the base.

During the Cold War, the Belgian Air Force operated the following aircraft:

Aircraft Origin Description Variants Operated Notes
Aero Commander 560F United States Twin-engined light transport 560F 1 1961 to 1973 as royal transport
Airspeed Consul United Kingdom Twin-engined light transport 4 Used from 1948 in Belgian Congo.
Airspeed Oxford United Kingdom Twin-engined light transport 20 Operated between 1947 and 1954.
Auster AOP6 United Kingdom Single-engine light observation aircraft, 22 Operated between 1947 and 1955.
Avro Anson United Kingdom Twin-engined light transport 15 Operated between 1946 and 1954.
Avro-Canada CF-100 Canuck Canada Twin-jet interceptor Mk 5 53 Operated from 1957 into the mid 1960s.
Boeing 727-200 United States Three-engined jet airliner 727-29C 2 Operated from 1975.
Dassault Mirage 5 France Belgium Jet fighter-bomber and reconnaissance 5BA

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