Sudanese Air Force

The Sudanese Air Force (Arabic: القوّات الجوّيّة السودانيّة‎, romanized: Al-Quwwat al-Jawwiya As-Sudaniya) is the air force operated by the Republic of the Sudan. As such it is part of the Sudanese Armed Forces.

Sudanese Air Force
القوّات الجوّيّة السودانيّة
Al-Quwwat al-Jawwiya as-Sudaniya
Founded1956 (1956)
Country Sudan
TypeAir force
RoleAerial warfare
Size13,000 personnel
Part ofSudanese Armed Forces
Equipment194 aircraft
Engagements
Commanders
Air Force CommanderEssam al-Din Saeed
Insignia
Roundel
Fin flash
Flag
Aircraft flown
AttackSu-24, Su-25, Nanchang Q-5
FighterMiG-29, Chengdu J-7
HelicopterMil Mi-8
Attack helicopterMil Mi-24
TrainerHongdu JL-8, Guizhou JL-9
TransportIl-76, An-12, An-26, An-32, Falcon 20, Falcon 50

History

The Sudanese Air Force was founded immediately after Sudan gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1956. The British assisted in the Air Force's establishment, providing equipment and training. Four new Hunting Provost T Mk 51s were delivered for jet training in 1961. In 1958, the Sudanese Air Force's transport wing acquired its first aircraft, a single Hunting President. In 1960 the Sudanese Air Force received an additional four re-furbished RAF Provosts and two more Hunting Presidents. Also in 1960, the transport wing's capability was increased by the addition of two Pembroke C Mk 54s.

The Air Force gained its first combat aircraft when 12 Jet Provosts with a close air support capability were delivered in 1962.[1] In the 1960s Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and People's Republic of China started supplying the Sudanese Air Force with aircraft. This included supply of Shenyang F-5 fighters (F-5/FT-5 variants).

Aircraft

The air force flies a mixture of transport planes, fighter jets and helicopters sourced from places including the European Union, Russia, China and the United States. However, not all the aircraft are in a fully functioning condition and the availability of spare parts is limited. In 1991, the two main air bases were at the capital Khartoum and Wadi Sayyidna near Omdurman.[2]

On 4 April 2001, a Sudanese Antonov An-24 aircraft crashed in Adaril (Adar Yeil, Adar Yale), Sudan. The fifteen dead included a general, seven lieutenant generals, three brigadiers, a colonel, a lieutenant colonel and a corporal.[3]

Sudan has also made a successful deal to buy two different batches of 12 MiG-29 Russian fighter jets each.[4] There are 23 MiG-29s in active service as of late 2008.[5] However, the rebel Justice and Equality Movement claimed to have shot down one MiG-29 with large-caliber machine-gun fire on 10 May 2008, killing the pilot of the plane, a retired Russian Air Force fighter pilot; the Sudanese government denied the allegation.[6] South Sudan also claimed to have shot down a Sudanese MiG-29 during the 2012 border conflict.[7]

During May, June, and August 2011, members of the UN Panel of Experts on the Sudan documented the following aircraft in Darfur, potentially indicating violations of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1556:[8]

  • Five Sukhoi Su-25 ground attack aircraft (tail numbers 201, 204, 205, 207, 212)
  • Three Mi-17 transport helicopters (tail numbers 525, 540, 543)
  • Nine Mi-24 attack helicopters (tail numbers 928, 937, 938, 939, 942, 943, 947, 948 stationed at El Fasher and Nyala, and an additional Mi-24 which crashed near El Fasher on 18 April 2011.) Satellite imagery also indicates that a total of five other attack helicopters were present at Kutum, N Darfur, in April 2011, and at El Geneima in February 2011, but panel members have not determined whether they were introduced from outside Darfur in addition to those listed above, or moved from within Darfur.

In August 2013, pictures showed Su-24's in Sudanese colors, reporting that the aircraft were among the ex Belarusian Air Force Su-24's retired in 2012.[9] Various reports have said that the air force uses Iranian drones such as the Ghods Ababil.[10][11][12][13]

Current inventory
Sudanese Air Force MiG-29
A pair of K-8s taking off from Port Sudan Airport.
Aircraft Origin Type Variant In service Notes
Combat Aircraft
Sukhoi Su-35 Russian Federation multirole 36 on order 4[14]
MiG-29 Russian Federation multirole 11[15]
MiG-23 Soviet Union multirole 3[15]
MiG-21 Soviet Union fighter 4[15]
Sukhoi Su-24 Soviet Union attack 12[15]
Sukhoi Su-25 Russia attack 15[15]
Nanchang Q-5 People's Republic of China attack A-5 20[15]
Chengdu J-7 People's Republic of China fighter F-7M 20[15] licensed built MiG-21
Transport
Antonov An-12 Ukraine transport 9[15]
Antonov An-26 Ukraine transport 6[15]
Antonov An-32 Ukraine heavy transport 6[15]
Ilyushin Il-76 Russia heavy transport 1[15]
C-130 Hercules United States transport C-130H 1[15]
DHC-5 Buffalo Canada utility / transport 1[15] STOL capable aircraft
Helicopters
Mil Mi-8 Russia utility Mi-8/17/171 24[15]
Mil Mi-24 Russia attack Mi-35 43[15]
Trainer Aircraft
Guizhou JL-9 China jet trainer FTC-2000 6[15]
Hongdu JL-8 China / Pakistan jet trainer K-8 17[15]

Retired aircraft

Previous aircraft operated by the Air Force included the Northrop F-5 (12), Shenyang J-6, BAC Jet Provost (20), Percival Pembroke (3), Douglas C-47,[16] MBB Bo 105, UH-1 Iroquois, PZL Mi-2 and the Agusta-Bell 212 helicopter.[17][18]

References
  1. "Sudan Air Force". Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  2. Library of Congress Sudan Country Study Archived 10 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine, 1991, accessed March 2009
  3. "Sudan-military-leaders-killed-in-plane-crash Archived 19 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine", BreakingNews, 4 April 2001, Retrieved 12 April 2010
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 7 January 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "Directory: World Air Forces", Flight International, 11–17 November 2008.
  6. "Russia says fighter pilot shot down in Sudan was an ex-military officer". Archived from the original on 13 May 2015. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  7. "South Sudan says it shot down Sudanese fighter jet as tensions escalate". CNN. 4 April 2012. Archived from the original on 13 April 2012.
  8. 'Letter dated 24 January 2011 from former members of the Panel of Experts on the Sudan established pursuant to Resolution 1591 (2005) and renewed pursuant to Resolution 1945 (2010) addressed to the Chairman of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to Resolution 1591 (2005) concerning the Sudan, page 30
  9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 19 August 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. War Is Boring. "Sudan's Drones Are Dropping Like Flies". Medium. Archived from the original on 14 July 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  11. "Sudan Armed Forces Implicated in Video Captured by Their Own Drone". satsentinel.org. Archived from the original on 1 July 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  12. "Warplanes: Iranian UAVs In Africa". strategypage.com. Archived from the original on 14 July 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  13. "Africa Confidential - The world's leading fortnightly bulletin on A". africa-confidential.com. Archived from the original on 12 September 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  14. "First Batch of Su-35 Fighters Arrive in Sudan". Military Watch Magazine. 2017. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  15. "World Air Forces 2020". Flightglobal Insight. 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  16. "World Air Forces 1969 pg. 253". flightglobal.com. Archived from the original on 23 June 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  17. "World Air Forces 2004 pg. 87". flightglobal.com. Archived from the original on 23 June 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  18. "Shenyang J-6 / F-6 Farmer Fighter Aircraft - Airforce Technology". Archived from the original on 15 April 2015. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.