Namibia

Brief history
Namibia, formerly South West Africa under South African rule, gained its independence on 21 March 1990. After a long periode of hostilities and being situated between South Africa and Angola, meant that they inherited some infrastructure from that border War. Prime example is Groothoek AFB that is now used by the air force. The Defence force consists of several branches that grew into separate forces through the years. These are the Nambia Air Force, the Police Air Wing and Coast Guard, the latter ressorts under the Ministry Fisheries and Marine Resources.

Brief history
In its early years, the current air force was a mere wing of the defence force. This practice continued until 13 March 2005 when the Namibia Air Force was created. At this time the 'NDF' prefix was dropped. Mainstay of the force back then was the K-8 but these were augmented by the F-7NM in 2008. More Chinese aircraft in use are the Y12 and H425 helicopters. Some Mi-8 and Mi-25 helicopters were sourced from Libya.

Photo: Charles Hugo

Brief history
Namibia created a Police Air Wing in 1996. After using AS350B the more powerful AS350B3 was acquired in 2009/10. To continue this legacy, latest addition was the EC145. All these have thier homebase at Windhoeks' Eros airport although the police uses hangars at Oshakati, a new hangar is to be erected somewhere in the South but we have to see if sufficient funds will be available for that.

Brief history
Not really a part of the Defence Force, but ressorting under various Ministries are aerial assets that are worth mentioning. Firstly, there is the Ministry of Works and Transport that is repsonsible for the all-important VVIP transport duties as well. To that end, they operate the Government Air Transport Services equipped with modern business jets and helicopters. Homebase is Eros Intl, Windhoek.

Secondly, the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, controls the Fisheries patrol unit. Currently, they operate two fixed wing aircraft, Reims-Cessna CeF406s, and a single Sikorsky S-61L helicopter out of Walvis Bay.