| National Air Force of Angola Força Aérea Nacional Angolana |
|
|---|---|
| Active | 1976 – |
| Country | Angola |
| Size | 285–348 aircraft |
| 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.
FAN was established, after the independence of Angola from Portugal, 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)) and initially made use of the aircraft left behind by the Portuguese Air Force. The FAPA/DAA fought several battles with South African Air Force aircraft.
FAN has bases are at Luanda, Belas, Luena, Kuito, Lubango and Mocamedes. The World Factbook, produced by the CIA, reported that by 2007 the name of the force had changed to "National Air Force".[1]
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.
|
Contents
|
| Aircraft | Type | Versions | In service[2] | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fighter Aircraft | ||||||
| Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 Fishbed | Fighter Trainer |
Total
MiG-21MF MiG-21U |
18
20 5 |
|||
| Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 Flogger | Fighter | MiG-23ML | 26 | |||
| Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker | Air superiority fighter Trainer |
Total
Su-27S Su-27UB |
18
5 1 |
from Belarus[3] | ||
| Ground Attack | ||||||
| Sukhoi Su-22 Fitter | Ground attack | Su-22M-4 | 8 | |||
| Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot | Ground attack | Su-25K | 8 | |||
| EMB-314 Super Tucano | Light attack | A-29 | 6 | |||
| 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[4] | |||
| Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia | VIP Transport | EMB-120 | 1[4][5] | 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 | |||
On 14 September 2011, an Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia, operated by the Angolan Air Force, crashed just after takeoff from Nova Lisboa Airport,[6] killing 11 army officers (including three generals, among them Kalias Pedro) and six civilians.[7][8] The accident occurred at 11:30 am at the airport, with a military delegation on board the flight at Albano Machado Airport.[9] The aircraft was an Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia, operated by the Angolan Air Force. 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.[6]
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)