Somali Air Force (Ciidanka Cirka Soomaaliyeed)

In short

The air force is one branch of Somalia's armed forces, alongside the Somali National Army and the Somali Navy. It was once among the larger air forces in the Horn of Africa. It ceased to exist in 1991 and is now being rebuilt on a small scale. This page sets out its history from the sources.

Before independence

Under Italian trusteeship in the 1950s, a Somali Aeronautical Corps (Corpo Aeronautico della Somalia) flew transport aircraft, trainers and six P-51 Mustang fighters; the Mustangs went back to Italy before independence. It was renamed the Somali Air Force in 1960. Its founder and first chief was Ali Matan Hashi, described as Somalia's first pilot (Wikipedia, Somali Air Force, citing Tom Cooper's 2015 history of the Ogaden war).

The Soviet-era force, 1960s–1977

Italy trained airmen from 1962, and about 50 cadets trained as jet pilots in the Soviet Union (Wikipedia, citing John Drysdale, 1964). Asli Hassan Abade, widely described as Africa's first female military pilot, made her first solo military flight on 9 September 1976 (Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, 13 November 2025). By July 1975 the International Institute for Strategic Studies counted three Il-28 bombers, MiG-15s, 23 MiG-17s and MiG-19s, 24 MiG-21s, transport aircraft and Soviet helicopters (Wikipedia, citing The Military Balance 1975–76). The air force grew under Siad Barre, whose government was closely allied with Moscow until 1977; see The Siad Barre era.

The Ogaden war, 1977–78

In the Ogaden war, Somali bombers flew high-altitude missions until Ethiopian fighters contested the skies, and none of the Il-28s survived the war. The Soviet Union switched its support to Ethiopia during the war, leaving the air force without its main supplier of parts (Wikipedia, citing Cooper, 2015).

The 1980s

A US government study recorded that by 1980 fewer than six of about 21 combat aircraft were thought to be working, kept flying by Pakistani mechanics. Chinese Shenyang J-6 jets began arriving in 1981, alongside British-built Hawker Hunters and Italian SF.260 light attack aircraft (Wikipedia, citing the Library of Congress country studies of 1982 and 1993). The IISS counted 2,500 personnel and 56 combat aircraft in 1990 (Wikipedia, citing The Military Balance 1990–91).

The north, 1988. When fighting broke out between government forces and the Somali National Movement in May 1988, government aircraft bombed Hargeisa and other northern towns, and Wikipedia records that up to 90 per cent of Hargeisa was destroyed. The New York Times reported strafing of people fleeing, and scholars such as Adam Jones have written that mercenary pilots were paid per sortie (Wikipedia, citing Jane Perlez, The New York Times, 1988, and Adam Jones, 2004). One pilot, Ahmed Mohamed Hassan, refused the order and flew to Djibouti (Reuters, 27 June 2008, reposted by Isweydii).

Collapse, 1991

The armed forces had been breaking apart since 1987–88. When Siad Barre left Mogadishu in January 1991 the air force ceased to exist. In 1993 UN forces found the wrecks of MiG-21s, MiG-15 trainers and MiG-17s at Mogadishu airport and Hawker Hunters at Baidoa (Wikipedia, citing the Australian War Memorial).

Rebuilding since 2015

• Headquarters. On 1 July 2015 Defence Minister Abdulkadir Sheikh Dini reopened the air force headquarters at Afisone in Mogadishu (Wikipedia, citing Goobjoog).
• Size. In 2017 it had no aircraft and about 170 personnel, trained mainly in Turkey; the World Bank put the cost of rebuilding over ten years at US$50 million (Wikipedia, citing the World Bank, 2017).
• Helicopters. Italy delivered five Agusta-Bell 412EPX helicopters to the army in July and August 2024. The UN Panel of Experts called this "a positive development" that gave the army and the AU mission close air support, medical evacuation and troop transport, but said keeping them flying "will remain challenging" because of maintenance costs (UN Panel of Experts on Somalia, S/2024/748, para. 107 and annex 15).
• Air base. Work on an air base at Wargaadhi, Middle Shabelle, began in December 2023 (Wikipedia, citing Radio Dalsan).

Turkish drones

The UN Panel of Experts reported in October 2022 that Bayraktar TB-2 armed drones had been delivered to Mogadishu on 6 December 2021 by two Turkish Air Force A400M aircraft, according to confidential reports. Turkey told the Panel it had delivered no drones to the Somali authorities and that the systems were "assigned to be used by Türkiye in the fight against terrorism in Somalia". The Panel said that, as Turkey was not exempted from the arms embargo, the delivery was "not compliant with the arms embargo" (UN Panel of Experts on Somalia, S/2022/754, 10 October 2022, para. 96). Six Turkish T129 attack helicopters arrived in 2025; Turkish officials said they stayed under Turkish control (Wikipedia, citing Garowe Online, November 2025). See Foreign forces in Somalia and the UN arms embargo.

Sources differ

• Il-28 bombers. Wikipedia's account gives both three and four in service in 1977.
• Turkish training dates. Cadet training in Turkey is dated 2013 in one source and 2014 in another.
• Pakistani jets. Reports in 2026 described a contract for JF-17 fighters from Pakistan; neither government had made a formal statement (Wikipedia, citing Radio Dalsan and Business Insider Africa).
• Who flies the drones. Turkey says the drones and attack helicopters are under its control; Somali officials have described their use against al-Shabaab (Wikipedia, citing ILKHA, 2022).

Read the primary sources yourself

• UN Panel of Experts on Somalia, S/2022/754 (2022): PDF.
• UN Panel of Experts on Somalia, S/2024/748 (2024): PDF.
• Wikipedia, "Somali Air Force", with its references: article.