NEWTOWN, Conn. - The Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO) held a ceremony on October 16 to mark the retirement of its fleet of SEPECAT Jaguar attack aircraft at the Al-Shafaq Club in Seeb.
The SEPECAT Jaguars delivered in 1980 have been badly aging and, as a result, the RAFO launched a replacement program in 2008. The goal at the time was to remove the aircraft from service around 2012 and bring in a superior alternative to fulfill its strike mission.
In July 2008, reports mentioned the possibility of an Omani purchase of 24 Typhoons. The value of the potential deal was estimated at GBP1.5 billion ($2.4 billion). The aircraft would be upgraded with precision-guided weapons before delivery to enable them to take on both the air-to-air and air-to-ground roles. By January 2011, the size of the potential Typhoon deal had shrunk to 12-15 aircraft. On January 23, 2012, the U.K. Trade and Investment Press office confirmed that the government of Oman had issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to BAE Systems for the supply and support of Typhoon aircraft, thus confirming previous reports of Omani interest in the fighter. BAE anticipated that negotiations would be wrapped up by year-end 2012, with initial deliveries commencing 36 months later, toward the end of 2015. The Typhoons would be taken from British Royal Air Force Tranche 3 production, but customized for the Royal Omani Air Force.
However, another development emerged on August 3, 2010, when the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) alerted the United States Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale (FMS) of 18 F-16 Block 50/52 aircraft to Oman. A final order was confirmed on December 14, 2011, when Lockheed Martin was awarded a $600 million FMS contract through the U.S. Air Force. The original request for new F-16s shrank from 18 to 12 units (10 in the single-seat C configuration, two of the two-seat D variants). Completion of the contract is planned for November 30, 2016.
This announcement initiated speculation that Oman was dropping its intention of ordering the Typhoon in favor of the F-16. Instead, it appears that was not the case; Oman was interested in procuring both types, with the additional new F-16s providing a supplement to strengthen the RAFO F-16 fleet.
In December 2012, a GBP2.5 billion ($3.8 billion) contract was signed for 12 Typhoon fighter jets as well as eight Hawk 128 advanced jet trainers. Manufacturing began in June 2014, and delivery is expected in 2017.
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