Tanzania Air Force Command | |
---|---|
Jeshi la Anga lA Tanzania | |
Founded | 1965 |
Country | Tanzania |
Role | Aerial warfare |
Part of | Tanzania People's Defence Force |
Engagements | Uganda–Tanzania War |
Commanders | |
Commander | Major General Shaban Mani |
Aircraft flown | |
Fighter | Chengdu F-7, Shenyang F-6 |
Helicopter | Bell 412, Airbus H125, Airbus H155, Airbus H225LP |
Trainer | K-8 Karakorum, Shenyang FT-6, Chengdu FT-7 |
Transport | Antonov An-28, Shaanxi Y-8, Harbin Y-12 |
The Tanzania Air Force Command (Swahili : Kamandi ya Jeshi la Anga) [1] is the aerial service branch of the Tanzania People's Defence Force (TPDF). [2] The current commander of the Tanzania Air Force Command is Major General Shaban Mani, who replaced major general Ingram upon the latter's retirement in 2021.
Tanzania established its air force as the "Air Wing" (Kiswahili: Usafirashaji wa Anga) of the Tanzania People's Defence Force's (TPDF) Air Defence Command in 1965. [3] An autonomous branch, its purposes were to support the TPDF ground forces and ensure air links between the government and distant areas of the country. [4]
The Tanzania Air Defence Command defeated the nominally stronger Uganda Army Air Force during the air campaign of the Uganda–Tanzania War (1978–79). [5] [6]
A few of the Tanzanian air wing's transport remain serviceable. However, its Shenyang F-5s, and Chengdu F-7s are reported to fly only on rare occasions because of airworthiness problems. Tanzania's long coastline means that transports are also used for patrol flights.
In 1980, an order for 10 F-7Bs and two TF-7s was issued to China, and in 1997 also two F-7Ns were purchased from Iran, together with four ex-Iraqi Air Force transports of an unknown type. Today, no Russian-supplied MiG-21s remain in service with the TPDF/AW, and only three or four F-7s remain operational. The TPDF/AW MiG-21MFs are now confirmed to have carried serials - in black or green - underneath the cockpit, but no details about these are known.[ citation needed ]
On 14 November 2013, Helmoed-Römer Heitman reported for Jane's Defence Weekly that a 'usually reliable source' had informed Jane's that the TPDF had replaced its 12 old CAC J-7 fighters with 14 new J-7s, twelve single-seat and two dual-seat. Deliveries were completed in 2011. Heitman also reported that the aircraft were fully operational at Dar es Salaam and Mwanza air bases.
Recent estimates (2014) suggest that Tanzania's air force command operates 32 aircraft in three different types. It is believed they are operating 14 fighters, 11 fixed-wing attack aircraft and 7 transport aircraft. On October 1, 2015, a K-8 trainer jet of Tanzania Air Force Command crashed into the sea killing both pilots.
Aircraft | Origin | Type | Variant | In service | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Combat aircraft | ||||||
Chengdu F-7 | China | Fighter | 11 [7] | Licensed built MiG-21 | ||
Shenyang J-6 | China | Fighter | F-6 | 3 [7] | ||
Transport | ||||||
Cessna 402 | United States | Transport | 1 [7] | |||
Shaanxi Y-8 | China | Transport | 2 [7] | |||
Harbin Y-12 | China | Transport | 2 [7] | |||
Antonov An-28 | Poland / Soviet Union | Transport | 1 [7] | |||
Alenia C-27J Spartan | Italy | Transport | - | 2 on order [8] | ||
Helicopters | ||||||
Bell 412 | United States | Utility | 2 [7] | |||
Airbus H155 | France | Utility | 2 [7] | |||
Airbus H225M | France | Utility | 2 [7] | |||
Airbus H215M | France | Utility | 1 | 1 on order [7] | ||
Airbus H125M | France | Utility | 2 | 1 on order [7] | ||
Trainer aircraft | ||||||
Hongdu JL-8 | China | Jet trainer | K-8 | 5 [7] | ||
Chengdu J-7 | China | Conversion trainer | FT-7 | 2 [7] | ||
Shenyang J-6 | China | Conversion trainer | FT-6 | 1 [7] |
Name (birth–death) | Term of office | ||
---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | |
Brigadier General Robert Mboma [9] | February 15, 1982 | March 28, 1994 | 12 years, 41 days |
Major General Jumanne Omari Mwakitosi [9] | March 29, 1994 | July 1, 2003 | 8 years, 100 days |
Brigadier General Geofrey Dahal [9] | July 1, 2003 | April 25, 2005 | 1 year, 298 days |
Brigadier General Charles Makakala [9] | July 2, 2005 | October 16, 2007 | 2 years, 174 days |
Brigadier General Festo Ulomi [9] | October 17, 2007 | March 19, 2012 | 4 years, 154 days |
Brigadier General Joseph Kapwani [9] | March 20, 2012 | January 31, 2016 | 3 years, 317 days |
Brigadier General George Ingram [9] | February 1, 2016 | August 22, 2016 | 203 days |
Major General Shabani Mani [9] | August 23, 2016 | Incumbent | 8 years, 146 days |
The Chengdu J-7 is a Chinese fighter aircraft. It is a license-built version of the Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21, and thus shares many similarities with that aircraft. The aircraft is armed with short-range, infrared homing air-to-air missiles and is mainly designed for short range air-to-air combat. The aircraft is also used for close air support.
The Tanzania People’s Defence Force (TPDF) is the military force of the United Republic of Tanzania. It was established in September 1964, following a mutiny by the former colonial military force, the Tanganyika Rifles. From its inception, it was ingrained in the troops of the new TPDF that they were a people's force under civilian control. Unlike some of its neighbouring countries, Tanzania has never suffered a coup d'état or civil war.
The Uganda–Tanzania War, known in Tanzania as the Kagera War and in Uganda as the 1979 Liberation War, was fought between Uganda and Tanzania from October 1978 until June 1979 and led to the overthrow of Ugandan President Idi Amin. The war was preceded by a deterioration of relations between Uganda and Tanzania following Amin's 1971 overthrow of President Milton Obote, who was close to the President of Tanzania, Julius Nyerere. Over the following years, Amin's regime was destabilised by violent purges, economic problems, and dissatisfaction in the Uganda Army.
The Battle of Lukaya was a battle of the Uganda–Tanzania War. It was fought on 10 and 11 March 1979 around Lukaya, Uganda, between Tanzanian forces and Ugandan government forces. After briefly occupying the town, Tanzanian troops and Ugandan rebels retreated under artillery fire. The Tanzanians subsequently launched a counterattack, retaking Lukaya and killing hundreds of Libyans and Ugandans.
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The Battle of Entebbe was a battle of the Uganda–Tanzania War that took place on 7 April 1979 on the Entebbe peninsula in Uganda between Tanzanian units and Ugandan and Libyan units. The Tanzanians occupied the area, killed hundreds of Libyans, and ended the Libyan airlift in support of the Ugandan government.
The Battle of Sembabule was a battle of the Uganda–Tanzania War that took place from March to 5/6 April 1979 in the town of Sembabule, Uganda. Tanzania had repulsed a Ugandan invasion in late 1978, and in early 1979 the Tanzania People's Defence Force (TPDF) crossed into southern Uganda. The Tanzanians decided shortly thereafter to attack the Ugandan capital, Kampala, and the 205th Brigade was detailed in early March to be sent north from Masaka and then west of the city. Ugandan President Idi Amin declared over radio that his forces were about to surround the TPDF, prompting Tanzanian commanders to dispatch the 205th Brigade to deal with the Uganda Army's Tiger Regiment in Mubende. While moving north, the 205th Brigade encountered the Tiger Regiment at Sembabule, beginning a three-week-long battle. The Tiger Regiment effectively resisted the Tanzanians for some time, prompting a change in command of the 205th Brigade and in its tactics, bringing about the eventual fall of Sembabule to the Tanzanians on 5 or 6 April. The Battle of Sembabule was the longest battle of the 1978-1979 war.
In October 1978 Uganda invaded the Kagera Salient in northern Tanzania, initiating the Uganda–Tanzania War. The Ugandans met light resistance and in November President Idi Amin of Uganda announced the annexation of all Tanzanian land north of the Kagera River. The Tanzanians organised a counter-offensive later in November and successfully ejected the Ugandan forces from their country.
The Battle of Jinja was a battle of the Uganda–Tanzania War that took place on 22 April 1979 near and in the city of Jinja, Uganda between Tanzanian and allied Uganda National Liberation Front forces on the one hand, and Ugandan troops loyal to Idi Amin on the other. The Tanzanians and the UNLF men met slight resistance and captured Owen Falls Dam and the town of Jinja.
The Battle of Karuma Falls was one of the last battles in the Uganda–Tanzania War, fought between Tanzania and Uganda Army troops loyal to Idi Amin on 17 May 1979. Soldiers of the Tanzania People's Defence Force attacked Ugandan forces at the bridge over the Nile River at Karuma Falls. Tanzania's 205th Brigade was tasked with advancing from Masindi to Gulu, taking a route which passed over the Karuma Falls Bridge. The brigade assaulted the crossing on the morning of 17 May with tanks and artillery and one of its battalions ran over the bridge to attack the Ugandan positions. The Ugandans destroyed a TPDF tank, delaying the Tanzanians long enough to board buses and retreat to Gulu. The Tanzanians secured Karuma Falls before capturing Gulu several days later.
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The Battle of Mutukula took place from 21 to 22 January 1979 near and in the town of Mutukula, Uganda, during the Uganda–Tanzania War. After repulsing a Ugandan invasion of the Kagera Salient in 1978, Tanzanian commanders feared that Ugandan forces stationed upon the high ground in Mutukula, a town located along the Tanzania–Uganda border, still posed a threat to their territory. On the night of 21 January 1979 the Tanzanian 208th Brigade crossed the border and surrounded the town. The following morning it attacked, and the Ugandan garrison—including the Gondo and Suicide Battalions—fled. Afterwards the Tanzanians razed the locale in revenge for the damage wrought by the Ugandans in Kagera.
The Uganda–Tanzania War of 1978–79 included an air campaign, as the air forces of Uganda and Tanzania battled for air superiority and launched bombing raids. In general, the conflict was focused on air-to-ground attacks and ground-based anti-aircraft fire; only one dogfight is known to have occurred.
The Battle of Simba Hills or Battle of Kakuuto was a conflict of the Uganda–Tanzania War that took place over several days in mid-February 1979 around the Simba Hills in southern Uganda, near the town of Kakuuto. Tanzanian troops advanced over the Ugandan border and assaulted the Ugandans' positions, forcing them to retreat.
The Battle of Gayaza Hills or the Battle of Kajurungusi was a conflict of the Uganda–Tanzania War that took place in late February 1979 around the Gayaza Hills and Lake Nakivale in southern Uganda, near the town of Gayaza. Tanzanian troops attacked the Ugandan positions in the hills, and though suffering heavy casualties in an ambush, they successfully captured the area by the end of the day.
Godwin Sule was a high-ranking Sudanese-born Ugandan military officer who held important commands in the Uganda Army during the dictatorship of President Idi Amin. A native of southern Sudan, he fought as a rebel in the First Sudanese Civil War before migrating to Uganda. There he rose to command the Malire Battalion and later the Paratroopers Military School. Regarded as one of the most talented soldiers in the Uganda Army during Amin's rule, Sule was tasked with leading the last major Ugandan counter-offensive during the Uganda–Tanzania War of 1978–79. This operation culminated in the Battle of Lukaya of 10–11 March 1979, during which Sule was killed under unclear and disputed circumstances. His death resulted in the collapse of the Ugandan offensive, contributing to the eventual overthrow of Amin's regime.
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Operation Dada Idi was a military offensive conducted by Tanzania against the Ugandan government of Idi Amin and its Libyan and Palestinian allies in March and April 1979 during the Uganda–Tanzania War. The attack took place amid the disintegration of the Uganda Army, and thus encountered only sporadic and disorganised resistance. The operation resulted in the Tanzanian capture of Mpigi and several other locations around Kampala.
Imran Hussein Kombe was a Tanzanian military and intelligence officer. During the Uganda–Tanzania War of 1979, he commanded the Tanzania People's Defence Force's 201st Brigade as it invaded Uganda. From 1980 until 1983, he served as TPDF Chief of Staff, before being made Director of the Tanzania Intelligence and Security Service. He held the latter post until 1995. He was shot and killed by police the following year after they mistook him for a car thief.
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