National Air Force of Angola
National Air Force of Angola | |
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Força Aérea Nacional de Angola | |
![]() Emblem | |
Founded | 21 January 1976 |
Country | ![]() |
Type | Air force |
Role | Aerial warfare |
Size | 6,000 personnel[1] 286 aircraft |
Part of | Angolan Armed Forces |
Headquarters | Luanda |
Engagements | |
Commanders | |
Commander-in-Chief | President João Lourenço |
Air Force Chief of Staff | General Altino Dos Santos |
Insignia | |
Roundel | ![]() |
Aircraft flown | |
Attack | Su-25, Su-22 |
Fighter | Sukhoi Su-30, Su-27, MiG-23, MiG-21 |
Helicopter | Mi-8 |
Attack helicopter | Mi-24/35 |
Patrol | Fokker F27, EMB-110, C.212 |
Trainer | Yak-11, PC-7, Embraer EMB 312 Tucano |
Transport | C-130 Hercules, An-12, An-26 |
The National Air Force of Angola or FANA (Portuguese: Força Aérea Nacional de Angola) is the air branch of the Armed Forces of Angola.
With an inventory of more than 300 aircraft, FANA is (on paper) one of the largest and strongest air forces of Africa.[2]
History
[edit]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 (Aeroclube de Angola) were assembled at Luanda in October 1975.[3] 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 Force of Angola / Air and Antiaircraft Defense or FAPA/DAA (Força Aérea Popular de Angola / Defesa Aérea e Antiaérea). Its first batch of Soviet MiG fighter aircraft was delivered in mid-December 1975.[3] The FAPA/DAA fought several battles with South African Air Force aircraft in November 1981, October 1982, and twice in September 1987.[4]
Circa 1983–85, in order to enhance MPLA's combat capacity, Romania sent 150 flight instructors and other aviation personnel, who contributed to the establishment of an Angolan Military Aviation School.
The FANA has bases at Luanda, Catumbela, Belas, Luena, Kuito, Lubango and Moçâmedes. The World Factbook, produced by the CIA, reported that by 2007 the name of the force had changed to "National Air Force".[5]
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.
Structure
[edit]The National Air Force of Angola is headed by the Chief of Staff of the FANA (Chefe do Estado-Maior da FANA). The Chief of Staff of the FANA is a General directly subordinate to the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Angola.
FANA follows a Russian/ex-Soviet organizational model, with its air units being aviation regiments (regimentos de aviação), each one including several squadrons (esquadrões). To each of the six aviation regiments corresponds an air base. Besides the aviation regiments, there is also a Pilot Training School.
Its order of battle is:[citation needed]
- 25th Fighter Aviation Regiment (Kuito Airport)
- 13th Fighter Squadron (Su-27 and Su-27UB)
- 12th Fighter Squadron (MiG-23ML and MiG-23UB)
- 11th Fighter Squadron (MiG-21bis, MiG-21M, MiG- 21F-13 and MiG-21U)
- 26th Fighter Aviation Regiment (Moçâmedes Air Base)
- 14th Fighter Squadron (Su-24MK)
- 16th Fighter Squadron (Su-25K and Su-25UBK)
- 15th Fighter Squadron (Su-22M-4K and Su-22UM-3K)
- 24th Training Regiment (Menongue Airport)
- 8th Training Squadron (L-39ZA, EMB-312, PC-9 and PC-7)
- 9th Training Squadron (L-29 Delfin, MiG-15UTI, Yak-11 and PC-6B)
- 10th Training Squadron (Cessna 172 and Z-142C)
- 23rd Air Transportation Regiment (Luanda Air Base)
- 5th Light Transportation Squadron (An-2, An-12, An-24, An-26, An-28, An-32, An-72, An-74, F-27, C-212-300, C-212-200, BN- 2A-21 Commander Turbo, Do-27, Do-28C and Do-228)
- 6th Transportation Squadron (Il-76T, C-130K, Lockheed L-100-20 and Boeing 707)
- 7th Transportation Squadron (Boeing 707 and EMB-120)
Mil Mi-24s of Angola | |
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- 21st Transportation Helicopter Regiment (Luena Airport)
- 1st Helicopter Squadron (SA-315, IAR-316, SA-342m, AB-212 and SA-365m)
- 2nd Helicopter Squadron (Mi-8, Mi-17 and AS-532)
- 22nd Combat Helicopter Regiment (Huambo Air Base)
- 3rd Helicopter Squadron (Mi-25, Mi-35, AS-565AA, AS-565UA and SA-342m)
- 4th Helicopter Squadron (Mi-24, Mi-25 and Mi-35)
- Pilot Basic Training School (Lobito)
Inventory
[edit]Aircraft
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5d/Angolan_Air_Force_Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-21bis_Lofting-1.jpg/220px-Angolan_Air_Force_Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-21bis_Lofting-1.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/45/Embraer_ERJ-135BJ_Legacy%2C_Angola_-_Air_Force_JP6135174.jpg/220px-Embraer_ERJ-135BJ_Legacy%2C_Angola_-_Air_Force_JP6135174.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f3/N54FT_LLMG_2017-01-06.jpg/220px-N54FT_LLMG_2017-01-06.jpg)
Air Defense
[edit]Name | Origin | Type | In service | Notes | ||
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SAM | ||||||
S-75M Volkhov | Soviet Union | Medium-range surface-to-air missile | 40[11] | |||
2K12 Kub | Soviet Union | Short-range surface-to-air missile | 16[11] | Upgraded to 2K12-ML standard[12][13] | ||
S-125 Pechora | Soviet Union | Short-range surface-to-air missile | 12[11] | |||
9K35 Strela-10 | Soviet Union | Short-range surface-to-air missile | 10[11] | |||
9K33 Osa | Soviet Union | Short-range surface-to-air missile | 15[11] | |||
9K31 Strela-1 | Soviet Union | Short-range surface-to-air missile | 20[11] |
Armaments
[edit]Accidents and incidents
[edit]On 14 September 2011, an Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia, operated by the Air Force, crashed just after takeoff from Nova Lisboa Airport,[15] killing 11 army officers (including three generals, among them Kalias Pedro) and six civilians.[16][17] The accident occurred at 11:30 am at the airport, with a military delegation on board the flight at Albano Machado Airport.[18]
Ranks
[edit]Commissioned officer ranks
[edit]The rank insignia of commissioned officers.
Rank group | General / flag officers | Senior officers | Junior officers | |||||||||||||||||||||
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General-de-Aviação | General | Tenente-general | Brigadeiro | Coronel | Tenente-coronel | Major | Capitão | Tenente | Sub-tenente |
Other ranks
[edit]The rank insignia of non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel.
Rank group | Senior NCOs | Junior NCOs | Enlisted | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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No insignia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sargento-mor | Sargento-chefe | Sargento-ajudante | Primeiro-sargento | Segundo-sargento | Sub-sargento | Primeiro-cabo | Segundo-cabo | Soldado |
References
[edit]- ^ International Institute for Strategic Studies (25 February 2021). The Military Balance 2021. London: Routledge. p. 448. ISBN 9781032012278.
- ^ "Africa's Five Most Powerful Air Forces: Protecting the Skies From From Algiers to Addis Ababa". Military Watch Magazine. 8 July 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
- ^ a b 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" (in Portuguese). fanangola.webnode.pt. Archived from the original on 31 March 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af Hoyle, Craig (2023). "World Air Forces 2024". FlightGlobal. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
- ^ a b "World Air Forces 2001 pg. 35". flightglobal.com. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
- ^ "World Air Forces 2002 pg. 35". flightglobal.com. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
- ^ International Institute for Strategic Studies; Hackett, James (ed.). The Military Balance 2016. London: Routledge. ISBN 1857435575.
- ^ Torlak, Hakan (17 March 2023). "Üretim kapasitesi arttı: AKSUNGUR İHA Kırgızistan ve Angola yolcusu". DefenceTurk (in Turkish). Retrieved 17 March 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g International Institute for Strategic Studies (2021). The Military Balance. p. 449. ISBN 9781032012278.
- ^ "Angola has received upgraded SA-6 surface-to-air missiles". defenceWeb. 9 July 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
- ^ "Angola received upgraded SA-6 systems". Shephard Media. 11 June 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f "Trade Registers". armstrade.sipri.org.
- ^ "Accident Description". Aviation Safety Network. 14 September 2011. Archived from the original on 24 September 2011. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
- ^ "Angola: Huambo air force plane crash kills generals". BBC News. 15 September 2011. Archived from the original on 15 September 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
- ^ "Angola army says 17 killed in air crash". Dawn.com. 14 September 2011. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
- ^ "17 Killed in Wednesday Air Force plane crash". Angola Press Agency. 15 September 2011. Archived from the original on 27 March 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
- ^ a b "Postos da Força Aérea Nacional". faa.ao (in Portuguese). Angolan Air Force. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
Further reading
[edit]- Cooper, Tom & Weinert, Peter (2010). African MiGs: Volume I: Angola to Ivory Coast. Harpia Publishing LLC. ISBN 978-0-9825539-5-4.