Congolese Air Force

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The Former Congolese Air Force (1990-2000) was a military force in the Republic of the Congo-Brazzaville. Political tensions have now declined with the fall of the Cold War in Africa and most of the fighters were scraped in 2001.

Contents 1 Aircraft used between 1988 and 2000 2 Former personnel and budget 3 Role 4 Former order of battle 5 Arms suppliers 6 Roundel 7 Aircraft inventory 8 See also 9 Sources

[edit] Aircraft used between 1988 and 2000

• 20 MiG-17s (some are now out of use),
• 12 MiG-21s, (mostly out of use),
• 5 MiG-15s (now scrapped),
• 2 French Noratlas cargo aircraft,
• 1 Soviet An-24 cargo aircraft,
• 1 American C-47 cargo aircraft,
• 1 xxx Transport aircraft,
• 1 xxx Reconnaissance aircraft,
• 1 General-purpose Aerospatiale 316B Alouette 3 helicopter.

[edit] Former personnel and budget

A small, but adequate budget and personnel.

[edit] Role

Its role was as a Communist bastion in central Africa and to counter the pro-Western regime in Zaire (former name of the DRC). 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 France.

[edit] Former order of battle

It was split into a fighter, counterinsurgency, transport and support wings.

[edit] Arms suppliers

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

[edit] Roundel

[edit] Aircraft inventory

The Congo's 10 military aircraft, including 3 helicopters, are operated by the Air Force.

Aircraft	Origin	Type	Versions	In service[1]	Notes
Aérospatiale Alouette II	France	utility helicopter	SA 318C	1
Aérospatiale Alouette III	France	utility helicopter	SA 316C	1
Antonov An-24	Soviet Union /  Ukraine	transport		5
Antonov An-26	Soviet Union	transport		1
Eurocopter Dauphin	France	utility helicopter	SA 365	1
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17	Soviet Union	fighter	MiG-17	?	only a small number still in service[2]
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21	Soviet Union	fighter	MiG-21	?	only a small number still in service[3]
Nord 2501 Noratlas	France	transport		1
Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot	Soviet Union	ground attack	Su-25K	8[4]

[edit] See also

Military_of_the_Republic_of_the_Congo for other armed servaces.

[edit] Sources

• Dorling Kinnersley World reference atlas for 1994,
• Tri-service pocketbook- Soviet and E. European Major Combat Aircraft for 1990,
• This article contains material from the CIA World Factbook (2003 edition) which, as a US government publication, is in the public domain.

• 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).

1. ^ "World Military Aircraft Inventory", Aerospace Source Book 2007, Aviation Week & Space Technology, January 15, 2007.
2. ^ Congolese military aviation OrBat
3. ^ Congolese military aviation OrBat
4. ^ Congolese military aviation OrBat