Lithuanian Air Force

Lithuanian Air Force Lietuvos karinės oro pajėgos
Lithuanian Air Force emblem
Active	1919 - 1940, 1992 - present
Country	Lithuania
Branch	Air force
Type	Military aviation
Role	To survey, guard and defend the airspace of Lithuania, to support the Lithuanian Land and Naval Forces, to carry out SAR and special operations, to airlift cargo and personnel.
Size	About 1,000 professional military servicemen and non-military personnel; 11 aircraft in its inventory.
Part of	Lithuanian Armed Forces
Garrison/HQ	Kaunas
Anniversaries	12 March 1919 2 January 1991
Commanders
Commander	Colonel Audronis Navickas
Notable commanders	Brigadier General Antanas Gustaitis
Insignia
Roundel
Ensign
Aircraft flown
Attack	L-39ZA
Multirole helicopter	Mi-8MTV-1, Mi-8T, Mi-8PS, AS365
Transport	C-27J, L-410,

The Lithuanian Air Force or LAF (Lithuanian: Lietuvos karinės oro pajėgos (LK KOP)) is the military aviation branch of the Lithuanian armed forces. It is formed from professional military servicemen and non-military personnel. Units are located at Šiauliai military airfield near the city Šiauliai, at Radviliškis and Kaunas.

After the declaration of Lithuania to be an independent state on February 16, 1918, the most urgent task of the new government was to organize a military force that could repel enemy armies that were coming from all sides. The first order for the creation of a Lithuanian army came on November 23, 1918.

In January 1919, an Engineering Company was formed within the military, which contained an Aviation Squad. On March 12, 1919, the group was reorganized into an Aviation Company and became an independent military unit. Its leader was appointed to be marine engineer officer Petras Petronis. This date is considered to be the birthday of the Lithuanian Air Force.

Between March and December 1919 and between 1932 and 1940, the Kaunas Military Aviation School operated in that city. The school trained officers in many aviation disciplines: pilots, observers, gunners and mechanics.

The first aircraft (Sopwith 1½ Strutter) was taken by the Lithuanian military from the Red Army, on February 5, 1919, at the city of Jieznas. On February 27, 1919, eight new reconnaissance aircraft, LVG C.VI, were received. They had been purchased in Germany. In June, five more aircraft were purchased. In the following years some aircraft were taken as war booty and repaired in Lithuanian Aviation workshops, many were purchased from various countries and a number were built by native designers Jurgis Dobkevičius and Antanas Gustaitis.

The Lithuanian Military Aviation was active in battles with the Red Army and Polish military units. The pilot performing the most military sorties was Jurgis Dobkevičius, who later became the first Lithuanian aircraft designer and builder. On May 12, 1920, Vytautas Rauba was the first Lithuanian aviator to lose his life in an aircraft crash. On October 4 of the same year, in a fight with the Polish military, the first aircraft with a Lithuanian crew was shot down. The pilot of the aircraft, Juozas Kumpis, leader of Lithuania's First Air Squadron, was severely injured and died as prisoner of the Polish military.