Lao People's Liberation Army Air Force

The Lao People's Liberation Army Air Force (LPLAAF) is the air force of Laos.

History
The present-day LPLAAF is descended from the Aviation Laotienne, which was established by the French and later became the Royal Lao Air Force. Pathet Lao guerrilla forces began to operate a few aircraft from 1960, as did another rebel group led by Kong Le. Kong Le forces were later re-incorporated into the Royal Lao Air Force. When the communist take-over in, 1975, resulted in the adoption of the present title.

Military co-operation agreement with Russia in 1997 resulted in 12 Mil Mi-17 helicopters that entered service in mid-1999 to follow on from previous deliveries of Mi-8s. SAM systems also entered service such as the SA-3 'Goa' and SA-7B 'Grail'.

Bases
The LPLAAF operates from two main bases - Vientiane and Phonsavanh - with another three bases supported by detachments from the main units. Apart from the main military air bases, there are also a number of smaller airports and airfields around the country which are frequently used by the Air Force and the semi-military airline Lao Airlines. In 1961 Laos had 25 airstrips capable of taking a C-47.


 * Wattay International Airport
 * Long Tieng
 * Pakse International Airport
 * Xieng Khouang Airport

Aircraft inventory
, the backbone of the PAF inventory consists of:

Google Earth imagery has shown seventeen MiG-21 Fishbed at Xieng Khouang airbase and three at Vientiane, although their condition is unknown.