The Guinea-Bissau Air Force ( pt, Força Aérea da Guiné-Bissau) 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 ...

arm of the

military of Guinea-Bissau The Revolutionary Armed Forces of the People ( pt, Forças Armadas Revolucionárias do Povo) or FARP are the national military of Guinea-Bissau. They consist of an Army, Navy, Air Force and paramilitary forces. The World Bank estimated that there ...

History

On leaving Bissalanca by 1973–74, the Portuguese Air Force left three

North American T-6 The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is an American single-engined advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force and other air forces ...

Gs.Cooper and Weinert 2010, 207 After achieving independence from Portugal, the air force was formed by officers returning from training in

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 ...

and the

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 ...

. The FAGB was re-equipped by the Soviet Union with a limited aid package in which its first combat aircraft were introduced. Five MIG-17s and two MiG-15UTI trainers entered service with a single Mi-8 helicopter. In 1978 France provided more aircraft aid in the form of a Reims-cessna FTB.337 for coastal patrol and a surplus Alouette III. A Dassault Falcon 20F was donated by the Angolan government but was soon sold to the USA. In the late 1980s a similar number of MiG 21s replaced the MiG 17s, also delivered an An-24, a Yak-40 and another Mi-8 helicopter. In the early 90s they received ex-polish PZL-Mielec Lim-6 Fresco fighter bombers from Poland and East Germany. The force's title was changed to Força Aérea da Guiné-Bissau (FAGB) after the outbreak of the civil war in 1998. Cooper and Weinert state 'when sighted for the last time in ..1991, most of the iGfleet was in 'storage' inside several hangars on the military side of Bissalanca IAP (

Osvaldo Vieira International Airport Osvaldo Vieira International Airport , also known as Bissau-Bissalanca Airport, is an international airport that serves the city of Bissau, the capital of Guinea-Bissau, as well as the Metropolitan Region of Bissau. It is the only international ai ...

), and in a deteriorating condition.'Cooper and Weinert 2010, 210 As of 2015 Guinea-Bissau has no aircraft in flying condition, with the last known type a SE.3105 helicopter, which ceased operating in 2011.

Aircraft condition

The status of most of the aircraft is unknown. All of the current aircraft are "in storage" at

along with retired aircraft like the An-2 and

Yakovlev Yak-40 The Yakovlev Yak-40 (russian: Яковлев Як-40; NATO reporting name: Codling) is a regional jet designed by Yakovlev. The trijet's maiden flight was in 1966, and it was in production from 1967 to 1981. Introduced in September 1968, the ...

. The MiG-21s, MiG-17s, MiG-15s and Alouette IIs can be seen in the multiple hangars.

Aircraft

Alouette III fazendo uma evacuação sanitária

Current inventory

Air Force has only a

Cessna 150 The Cessna 150 is a two-seat tricycle gear general aviation airplane that was designed for flight training, touring and personal use.Plane and Pilot: ''1978 Aircraft Directory'', pages 22-23. Werner & Werner Corp, Santa Monica CA, 1977. In 19 ...

Former inventory:,

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 ...

MiG-15 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 (russian: Микоя́н и Гуре́вич МиГ-15; USAF/DoD designation: Type 14; NATO reporting name: Fagot) is a jet fighter aircraft developed by Mikoyan-Gurevich for the Soviet Union. The MiG-15 was one of ...

, Alouette III,

Falcon 20 The Dassault Falcon 20 is a French business jet developed and manufactured by Dassault Aviation. The first business jet developed by the firm, it became the first of a family of business jets to be produced under the same name; of these, both ...

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 ...

, Dornier Do 27, PZL-Mielec Lim-6,

, Antonov An-2, Reims-Cessna FTB.337, Douglas DC-3,

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 ...

Mil Mi-4 The Mil Mi-4 (USAF/DoD reporting name "Type 36", NATO reporting name "Hound") is a Soviet transport helicopter that served in both military and civilian roles. Design and development The Mi-4 was designed in response to the American H-19 Chick ...

References

External links

globalsecurity.org
{{Authority control

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 ...

Military aviation in Africa

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ), ...

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 ...