Extremely rare video shows Gaddafi’s Air Force aerial refueling trials (and failures) in the mid 1990s

The following footage shows Mirage F1ADs and Mig-23s refueling from Il-76T and C-130s during trials reportedly conducted between the end of the 1980s and 1994.

Noteworthy, at min 04:19 you can see a Gaddafi’s Mirage’s IFR (In Flight Refueling) probe disintegrating after a successful plug into an aerial refueling basket.

The footage is quite rare because, as a consequence of the UN embargo in 1992, the Libyan Air Force was forced to abandon some quite ambitious projects including the one to turn two C-130s and two Il-76s into aerial refuelers and give all its Mig-23 an IFR probe.

Nevertheless, this previously unseen video proves testing was conducted over a long period of time involving both refulers types and Mirage and Mig receivers.

 

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About David Cenciotti
David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.