Kenya Air Force

Kenya Air Force
Founded	1 June 1964
Country	Kenya
Part of	Kenyan Armed Forces
Motto	Tuko Imara Angani
Commanders
Air Force commander	Major General Joff Otieno
Insignia
Roundel

The Kenya Air Force (KAF) is the national Air Force of Kenya.

The main airbase operating fighters is Laikipia Air Base in Nanyuki, while Moi Air Base in Eastleigh, Nairobi is the HQ & operations Kenya Air Force. Other bases include FOB Mombasa (Moi inter. Airport), FOB Mandera, FOB Wajir & FOB Nyeri (mainly helicopters/small planes).

Fleet

Until the recent purchase of Chinese Harbin Y-12 transports and Russian Mil Mi-17 helicopters, all of the KAF's aircraft were provided by Western countries through MFS (military foreign sales) or FMF (foreign military finance). The fleet consists of:

Aircraft	Type	Versions	In service	Notes
Aérospatiale SA 330 Puma	transport helicopter	SA 330G	21	Since 1977, 9 built by IAR in Romania
Mil Mi-17	transport helicopter	Mi 17-1	2	First seen publicly on 22 August 2010. One crashed.
Aérospatiale Gazelle	helicopter	SA 342	1	Since 1979(2 Deliverd)
de Havilland Canada DHC-5 Buffalo	tactical transport	DHC-5D	7	Since 1977. 12 Deliverd.
de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Dash 8	transport	DHC-8	3	Since 1990
Fokker 70	VIP transport	F70	1
Harbin Y-12	utility transport	Y-12	12	Since 1999
MD Helicopters MD 500	utility helicopter scout helicopter attack helicopter	MD 500M MD 500MD MD 500MD/TOW	10 15 15	Since 1979
Harbin Z-9	utility helicopter attack helicopter	Z-9 WZ-9	4 54	WZ-9 delivered Jan 2010, 50 delivered in 2011.
MBB Bo 105	Light helicopter	BO-105-S	1	Operated by the police air wing as an Air Ambulance.
CASA CN-235	transporter	CN-235M	3?
Northrop F-5 Tiger II	fighter trainer	F-5E/EM F-5F	18 4	Since 1978, it is the KAF's main air defence fighter. A total of 29 Deliverd: 12 F-5E & 2 F-5F from USA+ 13 F-5EM & 2 F-5F ex RJAF (the ex RJAF aircraft were upgraded to F-5EM standard before being delivered to the Kenya Air Force).
Scottish Aviation Bulldog	trainer	Bulldog 103 Bulldog 127	3 2	Since 1972, 5 built 13-14built
Short Tucano	trainer	Tucano	12	Since 1990. 13 Deliverd. Some for C.O.I.N ops (counter insurgency aircraft)

Anti-aircraft equipment:

• Rapier SAM batteries
• Mistral anti aircraft missiles
• Bofors 40 mm
• ZPU-4

Missiles

• 72x AIM-9J Sidewinder air to air missile
• 72x AGM-65A Maverick
• 2,100x BGM-71C Improved TOW for MD 500 Helicopters

In addition to the Air Force, the police air wing operates 11 aircraft (including 3 Bell 206L Long Ranger, 3 Bell 212, 4 Mil Mi-17 Hip).

Former fleet:

• BAC 167 Strikemaster fighters (in operation since 1971) (sold to Botswana 1993-94) -6 Delivered
• BAE Hawk 52 (in operation since 1980, 8 or more built) -12 Delivered
• Hawker Hunter fighters (bought from RAF, in operation 1974-79) -6 Delivered
• De Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk trainers (in operation 1964-74)
• De Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver bush planes (in operation 1964-83)
• De Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou transport (in operation 1966-87)
• Dornier Do 28D utility, (in operation since 1977, 4 or more built) -8 Delivered.

History

The Kenya Air Force was formed on 1 June 1964, soon after independence, with the assistance of the United Kingdom.

From 1979-1982 President Daniel arap Moi used Air Force F-5 fighter jets to escort his flights in and out of the country; later commentators have pointed out that there was no threat justifying the waste of fuel and the difficult and complex requirements of the escort mission.

After a failed coup by a group of Air Force officers on August 1, 1982, the Air Force was disbanded. Air Force activity was reconstituted and placed under tighter army control as the 82 Air Force. The Air Force regained its independent status in 1994. Currently it is a professional force with F-5 upgrade and procurement underway (10 F-5E, 2 F-5F, and 3 F-5EM from Jordan).

On April 10, 2006 a KAF Harbin Y-12 crashed near Marsabit with 17 on board, of whom 14 died. It was carrying several local and national politicians; Bonaya Godana, a former minister, was among the casualties. The pilot in command was Major David Njoroge.

There has been a controversy over the purchase of used F-5 jets from Jordan, which were shipped to Kenya and assembled locally.

Commanders

The following officers have been in command of the Kenya Air Force:

• 12 December 1964 Group Captain I S Stockwell CBE DFC RAF
• 22 February 1967 Group Captain F Rothwell DFC TD RAF
• 9 August 1971 Group Captain David John Edwards CBE AFC RAF
• 17 April 1973 Colonel Dedan Gichuru
• 27 June 1980 Major General P M Kariuki
• 1982 Major General Mohamoud Mohamed (as commander of the 82 Air Force)
• 27 February 1986 Major General Dedan N Gichuru (as commander of the 82 Air Force)
• 10 May 1989 Major General D K Wachira
• 28 June 1994 Major General N L Leshan
• 1 December 2000 Major General S K Muttai
• 27 November 2003 Major General J W Karangi
• 10 August 2005 Major General Harold M Tangai

See also

• Military of Kenya
• 1982 Kenyan coup d'état attempt

External links

• Kenya Air Force - official website
• The EastAfrican, June 19, 2006: Kenyatta, Kissinger and the fighter jets
• http://www.worldairforces.com/Countries/kenya/ken.html
• http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/ke%5Eaf.html
• http://aviation-safety.net/database/operator/airline.php?var=5882