Hobby Master Archive

In 1976 Kuwait purchased 30 A-4KU and 6 TA-4KU aircraft and operated them until 1997. The Skyhawks entered service with Nos. 9 and 25 Squadrons. When Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait some of the A-4KUs were able to get airborne and actually attacked the advancing forces but weren’t able to halt the aggression. Once the Kuwait airfields were taken over the A-4KUs were flown to Saudi Arabia where the crews and equipment were integrated into the Royal Saudi Air Force operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. During the time the Kuwait aircraft were in Saudi Arabia they became known as the Free Kuwait Air Force and carried out 1,361 sorties with a loss of only 1 aircraft. After Desert Storm the A-4KUs were eventually replaced by F/A-18C/D Hornets. After Desert Storm 20 A-4KU and 3 TA-4KUs were sold to the Brazilian Navy for use on their aircraft carrier Minas Gerais. One of the A-4KUs was aircraft 809 had BuNo.160188 c/n 14556 and it went to the Brazilian Navy as AF-1 serial N-1005.