Military unit
The
Mali Air Force
(
French
:
Armee de l'air du Mali
), established in 1961, serves as the primary aerial warfare branch of
Mali's armed forces
.
[3]
The force was initially created with the assistance of the
French military
, which provided training and equipment to establish the air force's initial capabilities.
[4]
In the following years, the Mali Air Force received significant support from the
Soviet Union
, which provided both equipment and training to the force.
[5]
History
[
edit
]
The Mali Air Force (
French
:
Armee 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.
[6]
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?Senou
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-17
Fs 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?Senou 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 Other jets withdrawn from service were six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.
[7]
In June 2015 the Malian government ordered
Super Tucano
light attack aircraft from the Brazilian company
Embraer
.
[8]
Four were paid for and were delivered in 2018.
[9]
One of these crashed in
Sevare
two years later, killing both pilots.
[10]
In December 2020, the
Malian government
ordered 4
Mi-171
helicopters. They were delivered by
Russia
on 30 September 2021.
[11]
In September 2023, the Malian government has lost their last
Su-25
due to a crash caused by missile launched by
Azawad rebels.
However the pilot safely ejected.
[12]
Equipment
[
edit
]
Ranks
[
edit
]
Commissioned officer ranks
[
edit
]
The rank insignia of
commissioned officers
.
Other ranks
[
edit
]
The rank insignia of
non-commissioned officers
and
enlisted personnel
.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Участники встречи с Президентом переходного периода Республики Мали А.Гойтой"
.
- ^
https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1645
- ^
"Mali Air Force"
.
www.globalsecurity.org
. Retrieved
2023-03-16
.
- ^
"French Air Force (2023)"
.
www.wdmma.org
. Retrieved
2023-03-16
.
- ^
"Here's what we know about the military aircraft delivered to Mali Air Force - AeroTime"
. 2022-08-10
. Retrieved
2023-03-16
.
- ^
World Aircraft Information Files
. Brightstar Publishing, London. Files 337, Sheet 04.
- ^
Sands, Glenn (February 2018). "Mali's Air Force".
Air Forces Monthly
(359): 84?86.
- ^
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
.
- ^
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//
- ^
Aviation Safety Network, April 7, 2020,
https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/234839
- ^
"Mali receives 4 helicopters, weapons from Russia: Defense Minister"
.
Devdiscourse
. ANI ? Sputnik. 1 October 2021.
- ^
Abdul, Kazim (September 11, 2023).
"Last remaining Malian air force Sukhoi Su-25 aircraft crash"
.
Archived
from the original on October 3, 2023.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
Hoyle, Craig (December 2023).
World Air Forces 2024
.
FlightGlobal
(Report). London: Flight Global Insight. p. 24
. Retrieved
12 December
2023
.
- ^
International Institute for Strategic Studies
(15 February 2023).
The Military Balance 2023
. Taylor & Francis. p. 463.
ISBN
978-1-000-91070-4
.
- ^
"Mali receives more TB2, L-39 aircraft"
.
Janes.com
. Retrieved
2024-01-04
.
- ^
a
b
"2011 - Plaquette sur les insignes et blasons des Forces Armees du Mali"
(in French). 23 April 2011. Archived from
the original
on 21 January 2021
. Retrieved
17 October
2020
.