The Sudanese Air Force ( ar, القوّات الجوّيّة السودانيّة, Al-Quwwat al-Jawwiya As-Sudaniya) is the

air force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

operated by the

Republic of the Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic ...

. As such it is part of the

Sudanese Armed Forces The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF; ar, القوات المسلحة السودانية, Al-Quwwat al-Musallaha as-Sudaniyah) are the military forces of the Republic of the Sudan. In 2011, IISS estimated the regular forces' numbers at personnel, whi ...

History

The Sudanese Air Force was founded immediately after Sudan gained independence from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in 1956. The British assisted in the Air Force's establishment, providing equipment and training. Four new Hunting Provost T Mk 51s were delivered for jet training in 1961. In 1958, the Sudanese Air Force's transport wing acquired its first aircraft, a single Hunting President. In 1960 the Sudanese Air Force received an additional four re-furbished

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

Provosts and two more Hunting Presidents. Also in 1960, the transport wing's capability was increased by the addition of two Pembroke C Mk 54s. The Air Force gained its first combat aircraft when 12 Jet Provosts with a close air support capability were delivered in 1962. In the 1960s, the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

and China started supplying the Sudanese Air Force with aircraft. This included supply of Shenyang F-5 fighters (F-5/FT-5 variants).

Aircraft

The air force flies a mixture of transport planes, fighter jets and

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

s sourced from places including the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, China and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. However, not all the aircraft are in a fully functioning condition and the availability of spare parts is limited. In 1991, the two main air bases were at the capital

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...

and Wadi Sayyidna near Omdurman. On 4 April 2001, a Sudanese

Antonov An-24 The Antonov An-24 (Russian/Ukrainian: Антонов Ан-24) ( NATO reporting name: Coke) is a 44-seat twin turboprop transport/passenger aircraft designed in 1957 in the Soviet Union by the Antonov Design Bureau and manufactured by Kyiv, Ir ...

aircraft crashed in Adaril (Adar Yeil, Adar Yale), Sudan. The fifteen dead included a general, seven lieutenant generals, three brigadiers, a colonel, a lieutenant colonel and a corporal.Sudan-military-leaders-killed-in-plane-crash
", '' BreakingNews'', 4 April 2001, Retrieved 12 April 2010 Sudan has also made a successful deal to buy two different batches of 12 MiG-29 Russian fighter jets each. There are 23 MiG-29s in active service as of late 2008."Directory: World Air Forces", ''

Flight International ''Flight International'' is a monthly magazine focused on aerospace. Published in the United Kingdom and founded in 1909 as "A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport", it is the world's old ...

'', 11–17 November 2008. However, the rebel

Justice and Equality Movement The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM; ar, حركة العدل والمساواة, ') is an opposition group in Sudan founded by Khalil Ibrahim. Gibril Ibrahim has led the group since January 2012 after the death of Khalil, his brother, in Dec ...

claimed to have shot down one MiG-29 with large-caliber machine-gun fire on 10 May 2008, killing the pilot of the plane, a retired Russian Air Force fighter pilot; the Sudanese government denied the allegation. South Sudan also claimed to have shot down a Sudanese MiG-29 during the 2012 border conflict. During May, June, and August 2011, members of the UN Panel of Experts on the Sudan documented the following aircraft in Darfur, potentially indicating violations of

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1556 United Nations Security Council resolution 1556, adopted on 30 July 2004, after recalling resolutions 1502 (2003) and 1547 (2004) on the situation in Sudan, the council demanded that the Sudanese government disarm the Janjaweed militia and bring ...

:'Letter dated 24 January 2011 from former members of the Panel of Experts on the Sudan established pursuant to Resolution 1591 (2005) and renewed pursuant to Resolution 1945 (2010) addressed to the Chairman of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to Resolution 1591 (2005) concerning the Sudan, page 30 *Five Sukhoi Su-25 ground attack aircraft (tail numbers 201, 204, 205, 207, 212) *Three Mi-17 transport helicopters (tail numbers 525, 540, 543) *Nine Mi-24 attack helicopters (tail numbers 928, 937, 938, 939, 942, 943, 947, 948 stationed at

El Fasher Al Fashir, Al-Fashir or El Fasher ( ar, الفاشر) is the capital city of North Darfur, Sudan. It is a large town in the Darfur region of northwestern Sudan, northeast of Nyala, Sudan. "Al-Fashir" (description) ''Encyclopædia Brit ...

and Nyala, and an additional Mi-24 which crashed near El Fasher on 18 April 2011.) Satellite imagery also indicates that a total of five other attack helicopters were present at Kutum, N Darfur, in April 2011, and at El Geneima in February 2011, but panel members have not determined whether they were introduced from outside Darfur in addition to those listed above, or moved from within Darfur. In August 2013, pictures showed Su-24's in Sudanese colors, reporting that the aircraft were among the ex Belarusian Air Force Su-24's retired in 2012. Various reports have said that the air force uses Iranian drones such as the

Ghods Ababil The HESA Ababil ( fa, ابابیل) is an Iranian family of single-engine multirole tactical unmanned aerial vehicles manufactured by Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company (HESA). The Ababil comes in two main lines, the Ababil-2 and the ...

Current inventory

Sudanese Air Force Sukhoi Su-25 Onyshchenko-1

Retired

Previous notable aircraft operated were the

BAC Jet Provost The BAC Jet Provost is a British jet trainer aircraft that was in use with the Royal Air Force (RAF) from 1955 to 1993. It was originally developed by Hunting Percival from the earlier piston engine-powered Percival Provost basic trainer, a ...

, Douglas C-47, MBB Bo 105, and the

Agusta-Bell 212 The Bell 212 (also known as the ''Twin Two-Twelve'') is a two-blade, medium helicopter that first flew in 1968. Originally manufactured by Bell Helicopter in Fort Worth, Texas, United States, production was moved to Mirabel, Quebec, Canada in ...

helicopter.

Armament

Missiles

Air Defense

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ZPU The ZPU (, meaning "anti-aircraft machine gun mount") is a family of towed anti-aircraft gun based on the Soviet 14.5×114mm KPV heavy machine gun. It entered service with the Soviet Union in 1949 and is used by over 50 countries worldwide. ...

, Anti-aircraft gun ,

, +3200 , ZPU/1/2/4/23 , - ,

AZP S-60 AZP S-60 (russian: Автоматическая зенитная пушка С-60, abbrev. АЗП (AZP); literally: ''Automatic anti-aircraft gun S-60'') is a Soviet towed, road-transportable, short- to medium-range, single-barrel anti-aircraft ...

, Autocannon , S-60 , +100 , Both S-60 and Type 59 versions , - ,

KS-19 100 mm air defence gun KS-19 (russian: 100-мм зенитная пушка КС-19) was a Soviet anti-aircraft gun. Initially deployed aboard ships as the B-34 during the Second World War, a ground-mounted version was introduced into servic ...

, Anti-aircraft gun ,

, +40 , Status unknown , - , M163 VADS ,

, Self-propelled anti-aircraft gun , M163 , +8 , , - ,

9K32 Strela-2 The 9K32 Strela-2 (russian: Cтрела, "arrow"; NATO reporting name SA-7 Grail) is a light-weight, shoulder-fired, surface-to-air missile (or MANPADS) system. It is designed to target aircraft at low altitudes with passive infrared homing guid ...

, Man portable surface-to-air missile launcher , SA-7 , +400 , , - ,

FN-6 FN-6 or Feinu-6 () is a third-generation passive infrared homing (IR) man portable air defence system (MANPADS). Development from HN-5 missile, FN-6 missile is an export-oriented product and China's most advanced surface-to-air missile offered o ...

, China , Man portable surface-to-air missile launcher ,

, +200 , , - ,

FIM-43 Redeye The General Dynamics FIM-43 Redeye is a man-portable surface-to-air missile system. It uses passive infrared homing to track its target. Production began in 1962 andin anticipation of the Redeye II, which later became the FIM-92 Stingerended in ...

, Manportable surface-to-air missile , FIM-43 , +125 , , - ,

QW-2 The QW-series () are man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS) developed by the People's Republic of China. QW-1 The QW-1 is the initial version. It is likely a copy or derivative of the Soviet 9K38 Igla-1 MANPAD.''Chinese Tactics'' (2021): ...

, China , Man portable surface-to-air missile launcher ,

, +200 , Sudan operates QW-1/2 , - , - ,

SA-2 Guideline The S-75 (Russian: С-75; NATO reporting name SA-2 Guideline) is a Soviet-designed, high-altitude air defence system, built around a surface-to-air missile with command guidance. Following its first deployment in 1957 it became one of the most w ...

, Strategic SAM system ,

SA-2 The S-75 (Russian: С-75; NATO reporting name SA-2 Guideline) is a Soviet-designed, high-altitude air defence system, built around a surface-to-air missile with command guidance. Following its first deployment in 1957 it became one of the most w ...

, +90 Launchers , Sudan has operated the S-75 and the Chinese HQ-2 since 1970. , - ,

9K33 OSA The 9K33 ''Osa'' (, literally "wasp"; NATO reporting name SA-8 ''Gecko'') is a highly mobile, low-altitude, short-range tactical surface-to-air missile system developed in the Soviet Union in the 1960s and fielded in 1972. Its export version na ...

, SAM system , SA-8 , Unknown , , - , HQ-64 , China , SAM system ,

HQ-6 The HQ-6, also known as LY-60, is a family of Chinese air defense missiles developed by the Shanghai Academy of Science and Technology, largely based on the Chinese PL-11 and Italian Selenia (now as Leonardo S.p.A.) Aspide missile. Developm ...

, Unknown , , - ,

HQ-16 The HQ-16 () is a medium-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) from the People's Republic of China. It is derived from earlier versions of the Russian Buk missile system. Development Development began in 2005, and was reportedly assisted by the A ...

, China , Surface-to-air missile ,

, Unknown

References

Bibliography

* Silvester, John. "Call to Arms: The Percival Sea Prince and Pembroke". ''Air Enthusiast'', No. 55, Autumn 1994, pp. 56–61. {{Authority control Military of Sudan Military units and formations established in 1956 1956 establishments in Sudan