Malian Air Force

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Malian Air Force
Armée de l'air du Mali
Roundel of Mali – Type 2.svg
Malian Air Force roundel
Founded1961; 61 years ago (1961)
Country Mali
TypeAir force
RoleAerial warfare
Part ofMalian Armed Forces
Engagements
  • Agacher Strip War
  • Northern Mali Conflict
Commanders
Chief of Air StaffGeneral Souleymane Doucouré
Aircraft flown
FighterMiG-21, Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano
HelicopterHarbin Z-9
TransportHarbin Y-12, An-26

The Mali Air Force is the air force of Mali.

History[]

The Mali Air Force (French: Armée de l'air du Mali) was founded in 1961 with French-supplied military aid. This included MH.1521 Broussard utility monoplane followed by two C-47 transports until replaced by Soviet aid starting in 1962 with four Antonov AN-2 Colt biplane transports and four Mi-4 light helicopters.[1]

In the mid-1960s the Soviets delivered five MiG-17F fighters and a single MiG-15UTI fighter trainer to equip a squadron based at Bamako–Sénou initially with Soviet pilots. Two Ilyushin Il-14 transports and a Mil Mi-8 helicopter were delivered in 1971 followed by two Antonov An-24 transports.

In 1974, 12 MiG-21Bis were obtained from the Soviet Union, with a pair of two-seat MiG-21UMs to follow a couple of years later. These initial Fishbeds served alongside the four remaining MiG-17Fs and saw combat on two occasions during the Agacher Strip War in 1974 against Upper Volta, and again in 1985 with the same country, now renamed Burkina Faso. In 2005, another three MiG-21MFs were delivered from the Czech Republic, reinforcing the surviving jets. By 2010, the Fishbeds were only flown on ceremonial occasions. By January 2012, only one MiG-21MF and one MiG-21UM remained operational until they were grounded for lack of spare parts, ammunition, and pilots a few months later. In January 2013, the Nigerian Air Force sent a technical team to Bamako–Sénou International, with the aim of refurbishing the MiG-21s, but the project was abandoned. Other jets withdrawn from service were six L-29 Delfins, which were used for training.[2]

In June 2015 the Malian government ordered Super Tucano light attack aircraft from the Brazilian company Embraer.[3] Four were paid for and were delivered in 2018.[4] One of these crashed in Sévaré two years later, killing both pilots.[5]

In December 2020, the Malian government ordered 4 Mi-171. They were delivered by Russia on 30 september 2021.[6]

Aircraft[]

Current inventory[]

Aircraft Origin Type Variant In service Notes
Combat Aircraft
MiG-21 Soviet Union fighter 9[7]
Reconnaissance
Cessna 208 United States reconnaissance 1[7]
Transport
Harbin Y-12 China transport 2[7]
Basler BT-67 United States transport / utility 1[7] modified DC-3 with turboprop engines
CASA C-295 Spain transport 1 1 on order[7]
Antonov An-26 Ukraine transport 1[7]
Britten-Norman BN-2 United Kingdom transport 1[7]
Helicopters
Mil Mi-24 Russia attack Mi-24/35 7 1 on order[7]
Eurocopter AS332 France transport 2[7] formerly from Bristow Helicopters[2]
Trainer Aircraft
Humbert Tétras France trainer 14[2]
Embraer EMB 314 Brazil trainer / attack 3[7]
SIAI-Marchetti SF.260 Italy basic trainer 1[7]

Retired inventory: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15, Areo L-29, Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17, Ilyushin Il-14, Antonov An-2 Colt, An-24, Mil Mi-4

References[]

  1. ^ World Aircraft Information Files. Brightstar Publishing, London. Files 337, Sheet 04.
  2. ^ a b c Sands, Glenn (February 2018). "Mali's Air Force". Air Forces Monthly (359): 84–86.
  3. ^ Hoyle, Craig (June 15, 2015). "T"PARIS: Mali to boost defences with Super Tucano"". Flightglobal. Archived from the original on June 21, 2015. Retrieved June 20, 2015.
  4. ^ Secretdefense.org, "Mali : les nouveaux avions de chasse d’IBK seraient inutilisables (Exclusif)", https://www.secret-defense.org/16/07/2018/ibk-mali-avions-scandale//
  5. ^ Aviation Safety Network, April 7, 2020, https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/234839
  6. ^ "Mali receives 4 helicopters, weapons from Russia". Devdiscourse.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "World Air Forces 2022". Flightglobal. 2022. Retrieved 22 January 2022. Cite error: The named reference "World Air Forces 2022" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
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