[7] By the time of Belgium's entry into the First World War on 4 August 1914, the military aviation branch, now called the Aviation Militaire Belge (Belgische militaire luchtvaart), consisted of four squadrons, each consisting of four 80-horsepower Farman aircraft, although Escadrilles III and IV were still forming.

As the war began, a fifth squadron was created, staffed with civilian pilots called to the colors and equipped with Bleriots.

[8] Sous Lieutenant Henri Crombez flew one of the first war patrols, in a Deperdussin racer on 4 August 1914 above Liège.

On 26 September, the Belgian air crew of Sous Lieutenant de Petrowski and Sergeant Benselin mortally wounded a German pilot with a rifle bullet and forced his Taube to land at Sint-Agatha-Berchem; if they had submitted a claim for this victory, its approval would have marked history's first air-to-air combat victory.

[10] On 3 January 1915, two machine guns supplied by British were fitted to two Belgian aircraft, making a dual effort against the foe possible; these were Belgium's first dedicated fighter planes.

[11] In April, Lieutenant Fernand Jacquet mounted a machine gun on his pusher aircraft and sought out the enemy.

On the 17th, he and his observer (Lieutenant Henri Vindevoghel) scored Belgium's first confirmed aerial victory, sending an Albatros reconnaissance aircraft down in flames over Roeselare.

Apparently at about the same time, Adjutant José Orta and Sous Lieutenant Louis de Burlet were the first to attack an enemy observation balloon when they dropped three small bombs on a gasbag over Houthulst, however they either did not hit, or failed to explode.

[12] In the summer of 1917, the AMB was allotted an active role in Allied aviation operations at the beginning of the Third Battle of Ypres.

At this time, the role of the Escadrilles de Chasse was finally focused on their operation strictly as fighter units.

In its short span of service, the Groupe fought over 700 aerial combats and was credited with 71 confirmed and 50 probable victories.

[13] In June 1916 the nascent air force had received newer aircraft from the French in both single and double-seat versions of the Nieuport 10.

The Belgians would continue to upgrade their aircraft throughout the war, though through their dependence on French manufacturers they became the stepchildren of the Allied effort from 1916 onwards.

Spad VIIs had entered French service on 2 September 1916; the Belgians first received them almost an entire year later, with the first one on board on 22 August 1917.

However the Ponnier M1 was not good enough for production, and the ten or so manufactured ended up with clipped wings as powered "Penguin" rollers for training rookie pilots.

Four other pilots from the tiny force also became aces with it: Andre de Meulemeester,[17] Edmond Thieffry,[18] Jan Olieslagers,[19] and Fernand Jacquet.

[20] The fledgling air force was entrusted with flying both King Albert and Queen Elisabeth over the battle front at times.

Before the outbreak of the war Belgium also sought to equip the Aviation Militaire with foreign designs, ordering production licences in Poland and France and aircraft in the USA.

From September 1953 to 1960, the Advanced Pilots' School (Ecole de Pilotage Avancé) operated Harvards from the Kamina military base in the Belgian Congo.

The Sea King SAR helicopters were phased out in March 2019 after more than 40 years of service and replaced by NH90s (4 NFH + 4 TTH).

In February 2008, Defense Minister Pieter De Crem announced that due to increasing problems and poor serviceability, the two A310s were to be replaced as soon as possible by two aircraft in the same class.

On 24 May 2011, it was reported that the two retired Airbus A310 aircraft have been sold to the Brussels-based company MAD Africa for the amount of 700,000 euros.

[citation needed] In January 1991, 18 Mirage 5 aircraft of the 3rd Tactical Wing were deployed to Turkey's Diyarbakır air base.

F-16s of the 2nd and 10th Tactical Wings, operating from the Italian bases of Villafranca and Amendola, were assigned to missions insuring the control of a No-Fly Zone over Yugoslavia, and providing the air support necessary for UN and NATO troops.

[27][28] In 2006, Belgian Hunter UAVs deployed to the Democratic Republic of the Congo as part of the EU EUFOR peacekeeping mission.

At the same time, the Helicopter Wing (WHeli – HeliW) deployed three A-109 (including 1 Medevac) in Mostar, Bosnia, in Operation Blue Bee.

On 12 September 2011 a Wikileaks document showed a diplomatic cable from the American ambassador and the Minister of Defence Pieter De Crem that Belgium is interested in buying off-the-shelf Lockheed F-35 Lightnings by 2020.

[44] On 4 March 2015, the Belgian and Dutch ministers of defence, along with the ambassador of Luxembourg to the Netherlands, signed an agreement on joint air policing.

[72] In addition, the three Alouette III helicopters flown for the Belgian Navy were phased out in 2021 after 50 years of operational service.

[76] In August 2022 the Belgian Parliament approved the new law on military programming, the STAR-plus plan; the Air Component will have a new helicopter fleet.