| National Air Force of Angola Força Aérea Nacional Angolana | |
|---|---|
| Active | 21 January 1976 – |
| Country | Angola |
| Size | 285–348 aircraft |
| Garrison/HQ | Luanda(?) |
| Commanders | |
| General | Francisco Lopes Gonçalves Afonso |
| Insignia | |
| Roundel |
 |
| Aircraft flown | |
| Attack | Su-25, Su-22, Mi-24/35 |
| Fighter | Su-27, MiG-23, MiG-21 |
| Patrol | Fokker F27, EMB-110 |
| Trainer | Yak-11, PC-7, Tucano |
| Transport | L-100, An-12, An-26, C.212, Mi-8 |
The National Air Force of Angola (Portuguese: Força Aérea Nacional Angolana, FANA) is the air branch of the Armed Forces of Angola. Angola became independent from Portugal on 11 November 1975. However, the foundations for the establishment of the air force were laid before independence when members of the then Flying Club of Angola were assembled at Luanda in October 1975.[1] These people and aircraft left behind by the Portuguese Air Force formed the basis for the air transport branch of the force.
The force was formally established on 21 January 1976 as the People's Air and Air Defence Force of Angola (Força Aérea Popular de Angola/Defesa Aérea e Antiaérea (FAPA/DAA)). Its first batch of Soviet MiG fighter aircraft was delivered in mid-December 1975.[1] The FAPA/DAA fought several battles with South African Air Force aircraft in November 1981, October 1982, and twice in September 1987.[2]
The FAN has bases at Luanda, Belas, Luena, Kuito, Lubango and Mocamedesdisambiguation needed. The World Factbook, produced by the CIA, reported that by 2007 the name of the force had changed to "National Air Force".[3]
Most of the inventory is out of service, and refers to historical equipment delivered along the years. FAN has many bases – most of them, former Portuguese Air Force bases and other courtesy of the cold war – but few airplanes that actually fly. The main body of the active air force is made of transport/cargo planes, used for moving supplies, equipment and personnel between parts of the country.
Aircraft Inventory[]
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21bis April 29, 1993
EMB-312 Tucano flight
| Aircraft | Type | Versions | In service[4] | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fighter Aircraft | ||||||
| Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 Fishbed | Fighter Trainer |
MiG-21MF MiG-21U |
20 5 |
|||
| Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 Flogger | Fighter | MiG-23ML | 26 | |||
| Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker | Air superiority fighter Trainer |
Su-27S Su-27UB |
5 1 |
from Belarus[5] | ||
| Sukhoi Su-30 | Air superiority fighter | Su-30K | 0 | 18 on order[6] | ||
| Ground Attack | ||||||
| Sukhoi Su-22 Fitter | Ground attack | Su-22M4 | 8 | |||
| Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot | Ground attack | Su-25K | 8 | |||
| EMB-314 Super Tucano | Light attack | A-29 | 3 | 3 more on order[7] | ||
| Trainer Aircraft | ||||||
| Pilatus PC-7 Turbo Trainer | Trainer | PC-7 | 12 | |||
| Yakovlev Yak-11 Moose | Trainer | Yak-11 | 11 | |||
| Embraer EMB-312 Tucano | Trainer | EMB-312 | 5 | |||
| Maritime patrol | ||||||
| Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante | Maritime patrol | EMB-111 | 2 | |||
| Fokker F27 Friendship | Maritime patrol | F27MPA | 1 | |||
| Transports | ||||||
| Ilyushin Il-76 Candid | Transport | Il-76 | 1 | Crashed on 27 August 2009 | ||
| Antonov An-32 Cline | Transport | An-32 | 3 | |||
| Antonov An-26 Curl | Transport | An-26 | 12 | |||
| CASA C.212 Aviocar | Transport | Total C.212-200 C.212M |
11 6 5 |
|||
| IAR BN-2 Islander | Transport | IAR BN-2A | 8 | |||
| Antonov An-12 Cub | Transport | An-12 | 10 | |||
| Pilatus PC-6 Porter | Transport | PC-6/B | 4 | |||
| Lockheed L-100 Hercules | Transport | L-100-30 | 1 | |||
| Dornier Do 228 | Transport | Do 228 | 1 | |||
| Cessna 172 Skyhawk | Utility | Cessna 172 | 3 | |||
| Dornier Do 28 | Utility | Do 28 | 1 | |||
| Embraer ERJ-135 | VIP Transport | ERJ-135BJ Legacy 600 | 1[8] | |||
| Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia | VIP Transport | EMB-120 | 1[8][9] | Crashed on 14 September 2011 | ||
| Helicopters | ||||||
| Mil Mi-24 Hind | Attack helicopter | Total Mi-25 Mi-35 |
15 5 10 |
|||
| Mil Mi-8 Hip | transport helicopter | Mi-8 | 48 | |||
| Aérospatiale SA 315 Alouette II | Utility helicopter | SA 315B | 2 | |||
| IAR 316 Alouette III | Utility helicopter | IAR 316B | 15 | |||
| Aérospatiale SA 365 Dauphin | Utility helicopter | SA 365C | 10 | |||
| Aérospatiale SA 342 Gazelle | Utility helicopter | SA 342M | 7 | |||
| Bell 212 Twin Huey | Utility helicopter | Bell 212 | 8 | |||
Accidents and incidents[]
On 14 September 2011, an Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia, operated by the Angolan Air Force, crashed just after takeoff from Nova Lisboa Airport,[10] killing 11 army officers (including three generals, among them Kalias Pedro) and six civilians.[11][12] The accident occurred at 11:30 am at the airport, with a military delegation on board the flight at Albano Machado Airport.[13] It had first been flown in 2002. At the time of the accident, the plane had a tail number of T-500 and a C/n/msn of 120359.[10]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Cooper, Tom & Weinert, Peter (2010). African MiGs: Volume I: Angola to Ivory Coast. Harpia Publishing LLC. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-9825539-5-4.
- ↑ Cooper and Weinert 2010, 52, 54, 60.
- ↑ "Non official site with history of FAN". fanangola.webnode.pt. http://fanangola.webnode.pt/news/for%C3%A7a%20aerea%20nacional,%2035%20anos%20%2821-01-1976%20a%2021-01-2011%29/. Retrieved 21 August 2011. (Portuguese)
- ↑ "Aviation Week & Space Technology 2009". 26 January 2009. http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/sourcebook/content.jsp?channelName=pro&story=xml/sourcebook_xml/2009/01/26/AW_01_26_2009_p0240-112924-04.xml&headline=World%20Military%20Aircraft%20Inventory%20-%20Angola. Retrieved 25 July 25, 2009.
- ↑ milavia.net
- ↑ Angola Inks $1Bln Arms Deals With Russia - Rian.ru, 16 October 2013
- ↑ First Three A-29 Super Tucano to the National Air Force of Angola - Deagel.com, January 31, 2013
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Dominic Perry (14 September 2011). "Angolan air force Embraer transport crashes". http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2011/09/14/362052/angolan-air-force-embraer-transport-crashes.html. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
- ↑ Embraer Reports Third-Quarter 2007 Deliveries and Updates Order Book
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Accident Description". Aviation Safety Network. 14 September 2011. http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20110914-0. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
- ↑ "Angola: Huambo air force plane crash kills generals". 15 September 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14920966. Retrieved 15 March 2012
- ↑ "Angola army says 17 killed in air crash". Dawn.com. 14 September 2011. http://www.dawn.com/2011/09/15/angola-army-says-17-killed-in-air-crash.html. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
- ↑ "17 Killed in Wednesay Air Force plane crash". Angola Press Agency. 15 September 2011. http://www.portalangop.co.ao/motix/en_us/noticias/politica/2011/8/37/Killed-Wednesay-Air-Force-plane-crash,d2a26ba7-a8ee-496a-a10c-1c706e9309f8.html. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
Further reading[]
- Cooper, Tom & Weinert, Peter (2010). African MiGs: Volume I: Angola to Ivory Coast. Harpia Publishing LLC. ISBN 978-0-9825539-5-4.
The original article can be found at National Air Force of Angola and the edit history here.