The National Air Force of Angola (FANA; ) is the

air force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

branch of the Angolan Armed Forces. With an inventory of more than 300 aircraft, FANA is (on paper) one of the largest and strongest air forces of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

History

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

became independent from

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

on 11 November 1975. However, the foundations for the establishment of the air force were laid before independence when members of the then Flying Club of Angola () were assembled at Luanda in October 1975. These people and aircraft left behind by the

Portuguese Air Force The Portuguese Air Force () is the air force, aerial warfare force of Portugal. Locally it is referred to by the acronym FAP but internationally is often referred to by the acronym PRTAF. It is the youngest of the three branches of the Portuguese ...

formed the basis for the air transport branch of the force. The force was formally established on 21 January 1976 as the People's Air Force of Angola / Air and Antiaircraft Defense or FAPA/DAA (). Its first batch of Soviet MiG fighter aircraft was delivered in mid-December 1975. The FAPA/DAA fought several battles with

South African Air Force The South African Air Force (SAAF) is the air warfare branch of South African National Defence Force, with its headquarters in Pretoria. The South African Air Force was established on 1 February 1920. The Air Force saw service in World War II a ...

aircraft in November 1981, October 1982, and twice in September 1987. Circa 1983–85, in order to enhance MPLA's combat capacity, Romania sent 150 flight instructors and other aviation personnel, who contributed to the establishment of an Angolan Military Aviation School. The FANA has bases at

Luanda Luanda ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Angola, largest city of Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Ang ...

, Catumbela, Belas, Luena, Kuito, Lubango and Moçâmedes.

The World Factbook ''The World Factbook'', also known as the ''CIA World Factbook'', is a Reference work, reference resource produced by the United States' Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) with almanac-style information about the countries of the world. The off ...

, produced by the CIA, reported that by 2007 the name of the force had changed to "National Air Force". Most of the inventory is out of service, and refers to historical equipment delivered along the years. FAN has many bases – most of them, former Portuguese Air Force bases and other courtesy of the Cold War – but few airplanes that actually fly. The main body of the active air force is made of transport/cargo planes, used for moving supplies, equipment and personnel between parts of the country.

Structure

The National Air Force of Angola is headed by the Chief of Staff of the FANA (). The Chief of Staff of the FANA is a General directly subordinate to the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Angola. FANA follows a Russian/ex-Soviet organizational model, with its air units being aviation regiments (), each one including several squadrons (). To each of the six aviation regiments corresponds an air base. Besides the aviation regiments, there is also a Pilot Training School. Its order of battle is: * 25th Fighter Aviation Regiment ( Kuito Airport) ** 13th Fighter Squadron (Su-27 and Su-27UB) ** 12th Fighter Squadron (MiG-23ML and MiG-23UB) ** 11th Fighter Squadron (MiG-21bis, MiG-21M, MiG- 21F-13 and MiG-21U) * 26th Fighter Aviation Regiment ( Moçâmedes Air Base) ** 14th Fighter Squadron (Su-24MK) ** 16th Fighter Squadron (Su-25K and Su-25UBK) ** 15th Fighter Squadron (Su-22M-4K and Su-22UM-3K) * 24th Training Regiment (

Menongue Airport Menongue Airport () is an airport serving Menongue, a Municipalities of Angola, municipality in the province of Cubango Province, Cubango in Angola. From 2008 to 2014 the expansion of their terminal building and lengthened. The Menongue non-d ...

) ** 8th Training Squadron (L-39ZA, EMB-312, PC-9 and PC-7) ** 9th Training Squadron (L-29 Delfin, MiG-15UTI, Yak-11 and PC-6B) ** 10th Training Squadron (Cessna 172 and Z-142C) * 23rd Air Transportation Regiment ( Luanda Air Base) ** 5th Light Transportation Squadron (An-2, An-12, An-24, An-26, An-28, An-32, An-72, An-74, F-27, C-212-300, C-212-200, BN- 2A-21 Commander Turbo, Do-27, Do-28C and Do-228) **6th Transportation Squadron (Il-76T, C-130K, Lockheed L-100-20 and Boeing 707) **7th Transportation Squadron (Boeing 707 and EMB-120) * 21st Transportation Helicopter Regiment ( Luena Airport) **1st Helicopter Squadron (SA-315, IAR-316, SA-342m, AB-212 and SA-365m) **2nd Helicopter Squadron (Mi-8, Mi-17 and AS-532) * 22nd Combat Helicopter Regiment ( Huambo Air Base) ** 3rd Helicopter Squadron (Mi-25, Mi-35, AS-565AA, AS-565UA and SA-342m) ** 4th Helicopter Squadron (Mi-24, Mi-25 and Mi-35) * Pilot Basic Training School ( Lobito)

Inventory

Aircraft

Angolan Air Force Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21bis Lofting-1

Air Defense

Armaments

Accidents and incidents

On 14 September 2011, an

Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia The Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia is a twin-turboprop 30-passenger regional airliner, commuter airliner designed and manufactured by the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer. The EMB 120 began development during 1974. While initially conceived as ...

, operated by the Air Force, crashed just after takeoff from Nova Lisboa Airport, killing 11 army officers (including three generals, among them Kalias Pedro) and six civilians. The accident occurred at 11:30 am at the airport, with a military delegation on board the flight at Albano Machado Airport.

Ranks

Commissioned officer ranks

The rank insignia of

commissioned officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent ...

Other ranks

The rank insignia of

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted rank, enlisted leader, petty officer, or in some cases warrant officer, who does not hold a Commission (document), commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority b ...

s and

enlisted personnel An enlisted rank (also known as an enlisted grade or enlisted rate) is, in some armed services, any rank below that of a commissioned officer. The term can be inclusive of non-commissioned officers or warrant officers, except in United States ...