The Congolese Air Force (french: Force Aérienne Congolaise) is the air branch of the Armed Forces of the Republic of the Congo, in the Republic of the Congo (Congo-Brazzaville).

Former Cold War air force

After achieving independence from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

in 1960, the Congolese air force () was started with equipment such as the

Douglas C-47 The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (Royal Air Force, RAF, Royal Australian Air Force, RAAF, Royal Canadian Air Force, RCAF, Royal New Zealand Air Force, RNZAF, and South African Air Force, SAAF designation) is a airlift, military transport ai ...

s, Broussards and

Bell 47G The Bell 47 is a single-rotor single-engine light helicopter manufactured by Bell Helicopter. It was based on the third Bell 30 prototype, which was the company's first helicopter designed by Arthur M. Young. The 47 became the first he ...

s, these were followed by

Nord Noratlas The Nord Noratlas was a dedicated military transport aircraft, developed and manufactured by French aircraft manufacturer Nord Aviation. Development commenced during the late 1940s with the aim of producing a suitable aircraft to replace the n ...

tactical transports and Sud Alouette helicopter. In the 1970s the air force switched to Soviet equipment. This included five

Ilyushin Il-14 The Ilyushin Il-14 (NATO reporting name: Crate) was a Soviet twin-engine commercial and military personnel and cargo transport aircraft that first flew in 1950 in aviation, 1950, and entered service in 1954. The Il-14 was also manufactured in Eas ...

and six turboprop

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 ...

transports and an

An-26 The Antonov An-26 (NATO reporting name: Curl) is a twin-engined turboprop civilian and military transport aircraft, designed and produced in the Soviet Union from 1969 to 1986.Gordon, Yefim. Komissarov, Dmitry & Sergey. "Antonov's Turboprop Twin ...

in return for providing bases for

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

MiG-17 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-17; NATO reporting name: Fresco) is a high-subsonic fighter aircraft produced in the Soviet Union from 1952 and was operated by air forces internationally. The MiG-17 w ...

operations over

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. These fighters and a few MiG-15UTI combat trainers were transferred to the FAC. In 1990 these fighter were replaced by 16

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

supplied MiG-21MF/bis Fishbeds plus a couple of MiG-21US trainers. Together with a Soviet training mission which stayed until late 1991, during that time there were numerous accidents that involved both Soviet and Congolese personnel. After the Soviets left there was only limited funding for MiG operations and they were withdrawn. Six

Mi-8 The Mil Mi-8 (russian: Ми-8, NATO reporting name: Hip) is a medium twin-turbine helicopter, originally designed by the Soviet Union in the 1960s and introduced into the Soviet Air Force in 1968. It is now produced by Russia. In addition t ...

helicopters were delivered from

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

in mid-1997 before the Cobra rebel takeover.

Former personnel and budget

A small, but adequate budget and personnel. Financial aid also came from the former USSR and some personnel were either Soviets or Cubans.

Political and combat role

Its role was as a Communist bastion in central

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and to counter the politically unstable, pro-Western regime in

Zaire Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...

(the then former name of the

DRC The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

). Its role is now one of countering cross-border smuggling operations, intermittent counterinsurgency actions in the northern provinces and successfully containing the crisis in the DRC along its border. Its first batch of aircraft, the MiG-15s and some of the MiG-17s, arrived in the early 1960s just after the Congo's independence from

and Zaire's independence from

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. It was organised into fighter, counterinsurgency, transport and support wings.

Arms suppliers and personnel training

, China and 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, ...

supplied arms and aircraft. The Soviets and Cubans trained the air force as a whole, but France also trained some of its officers.

Aircraft

Current inventory

Retired aircraft

Previous aircraft operated by the Air Force consisted of the

MiG-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-21; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nickn ...

, MiG-17F,

C-47 Dakota The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in ...

, SN.601 Corvette, N.2501F Noratlas,

Antonov An-26 The Antonov An-26 ( NATO reporting name: Curl) is a twin-engined turboprop civilian and military transport aircraft, designed and produced in the Soviet Union from 1969 to 1986.Gordon, Yefim. Komissarov, Dmitry & Sergey. "Antonov's Turboprop Tw ...

Alouette II Alouette or alouettes may refer to: Music and literature * "Alouette" (song), a French-language children's song * Alouette, a character in ''The King of Braves GaoGaiGar'' Aerospace * SNCASE Alouette, a utility helicopter developed in France i ...

, Alouette III, AS365 Dauphin, and the MiG-15UTI.

Arms suppliers and personnel training

, China and

supplied the arms and aircraft. France and China also trained the air force as a whole, but France has also trained most of its air force officers.

References

Sources

* Dorling Kinnersley World reference atlas for 1994 * Tri-service pocketbook- Soviet and East European Major Combat Aircraft for 1990, * * Tri-service pocketbook- NATO Major Combat Aircraft for 1990, * A news clipping on the helicopter and transport plane of about the same date. * Prentice Hall/Salamander Books book- An Illustrated Guide to Aircraft Markings (1989). * Aircraft information files Bright star publishing File 358 sheet 2

Former Cold War air force

Former personnel and budget

Political and combat role

Arms suppliers and personnel training

Aircraft

Current inventory

Retired aircraft

Arms suppliers and personnel training

See also

References

Sources

Further reading