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==First female pilot==
==First female pilot==
[[Asli Hassan Abade]] was the first female pilot in the Somali air force. She had been training on single prop aircraft, and later earned a scholarship to study at the [[US Air Force Academy]].
[[Asli Hassan Abade]] was the first female pilot in the Somali air force. She had been training on single prop aircraft, and later earned a scholarship to study at the [[United States Air Force Academy]].


==The difficult decade (1978–1991)==
==The difficult decade (1978–1991)==

Revision as of 13:05, 22 July 2009

Somali Air Force
File:Flag of Somali air force.png
CountrySomalia
Size150 Aircraft and 10.000 Personnel (Pre-1991)
Part ofSomali Armed Forces
Garrison/HQAden Adde International Airport
Nickname(s)SAF
Motto(s)isku tiirsada!
EngagementsOgaden War
1982 Ethiopian–Somali Border War
Shifta War
Commanders
Chief of Armed forcesPresident of Somalia
Notable
commanders		Ali Matan Hashi 1959-1978
Insignia
The Roundel
Finflash

The Somali Air Force (SAF) ([Ciidamada Cirka Soomaaliyeed] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help), [Corpo di Sicurezza della Somalia, Somali Aeronautical Corps] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help)) is the air force of Somalia. The Somali Aeronautical Corps was the name of the Somali Air Force during the pre-independence (1954-1960) period. After 1960, when Somalia gained independence, the name changed to the Somali Air Force. The roundel to the right corner is the symbol of the Somali Air Force.

Pre-Independence (1954-1960)

The Somali Air Force was created with the assistance of Italy in the 1950s. A few young Somali men were selected to train to fly and maintain various aircrafts such as F-86 sabre. Most of these trained Somali airmen then returned to Somalia with the skills and knowledge they had acquired during their training period abroad.

Post-Independence (1960–1969)

The Somali Air Force was established before Somalia's independence, and was at first equipped with a small number of Western aircraft, such as the Beech 18, (possibly six) C-47 Dakotas for transport tasks, a few Piaggio P.148s, and P-51D Mustangs used as fighters, and a pair of Bell 47 Sioux helicopters. On 21 of October 1969, former commander of the Somali Army, General Mohamed Siad Barre assumed power in a bloodless coup, ending the Egal regime. Barre then proclaimed Somalia to be a socialist state, and rapid modernization soon followed suit. Numerous Somali airmen where subsequently sent to train abroad in countries such as the United States, Italy, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom. After their training, many of these men went on to become the nation's leading instructors and fighter pilots. The Somali Air Force was at this time considered to be among the very best air forces on the continent.

Here below is the list of the SAF's aircraft according to the administration of Air Defence in Mogadishu (30 July 1960):

Soviet influence (1969–1978)

The SAF's roundel which, like the tail marking, shows the flag of Somalia.

In the beginning of the 1970s, Somalia and the USSR signed a friendship deal, which included the provision of a large number of modern weapons, advisors, training and maintenance. The air force expanded rapidly, and was at the time one of the most advanced in eastern Africa. The first squadron of jet fighters was equipped with the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15, along with some MiG-15UTI double seaters for conversional training. Also provided were small numbers of transport aircraft: Antonov An-2 biplanes, Antonov An-24s, some Ilyushin Il-18s and at least one Antonov An-26. Yakovlev Yak-11 trainers and a few Mil Mi-4 piston-engined helicopters were also added to the inventory. The respected Il-28 'Beagle' was also rumored to have been in service, albeit in very small numbers. Later on, the Soviets sold more modern jets: a large number (at least two fully equipped squadrons) of Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 subsonic jet fighters, and a smaller number of MiG-21F and MiG-21MF supersonic point defence fighters, and possibly twelve Mil Mi-8 turbine powered transport helicopters. The advanced Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 is also rumoured to have visited Somalia in the seventies, but it is very unlikely they were actually in use by the Somali Air Force. Below is the list of aircraft of Somali Air Force (1969–1978):

Ogaden War (1977–1978)

Main article: Ogaden War

During the 1970s, the SAF or Somali Air Force had proven to be a useful airpower that provided security to Somali Airspace. Its achievements in the first 'real' war turned out to be a disappointment. Dreams of a Greater Somalia and Somali support of the WNLF-rebels, active inside the Ethiopian part of the Ogaden, led Siad Barre's regime to start an incursion of the Somali region of Ogaden claimed by Ethiopia.

The territory had always been a disputed region, and its mostly nomadic inhabitants are Somali people. Aided by more than 250 tanks and 300 armoured vehicles[citation needed] (the largest armoured army in sub Saharic Africa at the time), some 23,000 soldiers marched towards the west and at first brought almost 95% of the Ogaden province under Somali control. The Ethiopian defences where broken within days of the invasion. In 1977–1980, Somali forces were considered the strongest army in Africa.[citation needed]

The Somali Air Force was ordered to protect the Somali Army and to offer close air support on the battlefield. By this time however, Ethiopia itself had sought assistance of the Soviet Union, the latter being forced to drop Somalia as a client state because of the Ogaden war. The SAF, not only strongly reliant on Soviet equipment but moreover on Soviet assistance, training and maintenance (even some pilots), suffered badly from these recent political changes. At first it had at least been able to provide the army with close air support, but by the time the invasion was halted by the regrouping Ethiopian forces, the SAF lost momentum.

Worst of all, after the souring of Soviet-Somali relations, Cuba had joined the Ethiopian effort by missleading information that American troops had invaded Ethiopia. The Cubans helped reclaim the Ogaden province with modern Russian arms like the Mil Mi-24 attack helicopters, flown by Cuban pilots, proved to be devastating for to the old and relatively thinly-armoured Somali T-34 and T-54/55 tanks. The SAF was not efficient enough to win airpower, and shortly after, the Somali army was defeated and driven out of the Ogaden in the end of 1978. Tensions remained, however, and some three years later the conflict rekindled for another round of Ethiopian-Somali bloodshed. By this time the SAF was degraded to the extent that it played almost no significant role in the area anymore.

First female pilot

Asli Hassan Abade was the first female pilot in the Somali air force. She had been training on single prop aircraft, and later earned a scholarship to study at the United States Air Force Academy.

The difficult decade (1978–1991)

After the loss of Soviet assistance, and the loss of equipment in the Ogaden, the SAF tried to maintain itself by getting help from other sources. First of all, relationships with the U.S. improved in the wake of the Cold War conflict in the Horn of Africa, and with Ethiopia getting a lot of Soviet military assistance, the SAF received in turn some American assistance as well, but not nearly enough to rebuild the squadrons.

A Bell AB204B Iroquois and some AB206 Jet Rangers and maybe a CH-47 Chinook were provided and a couple of unarmed Cessna trainers, but the SAF had to turn to other sources.

A lot of Italian equipment reached Somalia: three Douglas C-47s, at least two Aelitalia G.222L medium transport planes and some twelve SIAI SF. 260 Warrior light trainers/COIN aircraft (six SF.260Ms, six SF.260Ws), "a few" Agusta-Bell AB.212s, plus three Piaggio P.166s.[1]

F-6C jet fighters (Chinese MiG-19 copies),[1] and FT-6 double seat fighter trainers in 1983. Zimbabwean private contractors overhauled and repaired some MiG-21 jet fighters, and maybe a few Chinese F-7's (MiG-21 copies) fighters were provided.

Libya provided three Antonov An-26 transports and several Mil Mi-8 helicopters.

Also, Abu Dhabi gave 6 or 8 used Hawker Hunter FGA.76's ground attack fighters and one Hawker Hunter T.77 double-seat trainer, which were flown by South African and Rhodesian mercenaries, while the Zimbabwean repair crews provided their maintenance. New transport aircraft were also added from a number of western European sources: 6 C-212 Aviocars and some 4 BN-2 Islanders were acquired. In the 1980s, the SAF consisted of:

  • one fighter squadron equipped with MiG-21s (or F-7s)
  • two fighter squadrons equipped with some 20 remaining MiG-17s (spare parts from China F-5 or through cannibalization of grounded MiG-17s)
  • one ground attack squadron equipped with the 7 or 9 (ex Abu-Dhabi) Hawker FGA.76 Hunters
  • two ground attack/fighter squadrons equipped with some 20 Chinese F-6s
  • one training/counter-insurgency squadron equipped with 12 SIAI SF.260 Warriors
  • one helicopter squadron equipped with a mix of remaining Mil-4's, Mil-8's and western Agusta Bell AB 204B and AB 206 helicopters
  • one transport squadron equipped with a mix of remaining An-2s and An-24s, and 6 new C-212 Aviocars and a few BN-2 Islanders.

The national carrier airline, Somali Airlines, equipped with 5 Boeing 707s, could also provide some transport capacity.

However, due to the costs of the first and second ongoing Ogaden conflict, the worldwide economic problems, and some severe droughts in the Horn of Africa, the Somali economy collapsed halfway through the '80s and funding to maintain the rather large air force dried up. Still the SAF managed to deploy some squadrons to fight SNM rebels in the north of Somalia in the late 1980s. The SNM rebels managed to shoot down and ground a number of aircraft. One of the damaged aircraft has been placed on a monument in Hargeisa, Somalia in memory of those who died as a result of the aerial bombings carried out by the SAF in the northern regions.

Historical aircraft

Fighter Squadron

Helicopter squadron

Transport squadron

Training aircraft

Other

End of the SAF (1991)

With the fall of Siad Barre's regime in 1991 and the start of the civil war, funding for any government activity, including the SAF, ended immediately. The remains of the SAF were subsequently photographed in a derelict state at Mogadishu Airport in 1993 by U.S troops in Mogadishu.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Somali, 1980-1996 ACIG

References

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