Namibian Air Force
The Namibian Air Force grew out of the Air Defence Wing that independent Namibia set up on 23 July 1994 with gifted Cessnas and Indian helicopters, became a full service on 13 March 2005, and is now an almost entirely Chinese-equipped force — F-7NM fighters, K-8 trainers, and in 2024 the first Y-9 transports ever exported — whose only war was a helicopter and Y-12 detachment in the Congo.
The Namibian Air Force story: gifted Cessnas, a helicopter flight in the Congo and an air force built in China
1990–1997: an air wing with borrowed aircraft
Namibia became independent from South Africa in 1990, and the Namibian Defence Force was formed on 2 June 1990 by integrating the liberation army, PLAN, with the South West African Territorial Force. Neither brought an air force with it. The NDF’s Air Defence Wing was established on 23 July 1994, and its first aircraft were gifts and small purchases: six Cessna O-2A observation aircraft from the United States, with two American advisers; four HAL Cheetah and Chetak helicopters from India in December 1994, with Indian Air Force personnel to train the crews; and two Harbin Y-12 light transports in December 1997. It was an air arm for liaison, transport and surveillance in a large, thinly populated country, not a fighting force.
1998–2002: the Congo, and a deadly year at home
It went to war almost at once. Under President Sam Nujoma, Namibia joined Angola and Zimbabwe in sending forces to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the Second Congo War, which began on 2 August 1998. By February 1999, Wikipedia records, the Namibian contingent was an infantry battalion group with artillery, logistics and a flight of Alouette-type helicopters and Y-12 transports. Wikipedia puts the contingent at 1,600–2,000 in 2000–2001, its cost at 150,000 dollars a day, and the NDF’s dead at 30 killed in action; Namibia signed the Lusaka ceasefire in July 1999. At home, on 15 January 1999, the Cheetah H-702 and the Chetak H-708 collided in mid-air and 11 people were killed — the worst accident in the service’s history. In 1999–2000 Libya supplied two Mi-8s and two Mi-25 gunships.
2004–2006: Chinese jets and a new service
The service that exists today was shaped by China. In 2004 Namibia ordered 12 Chengdu F-7NM fighters and two FT-7NM trainers; they were delivered in 2005 and 2006 and officially entered service on 23 June 2006. In the middle of that programme, on 13 March 2005, the air wing was formally established as the Namibian Air Force at Grootfontein, in the north. K-8 jet trainers followed, also from China, though their delivery dates are not documented in a source that could be checked. The organisation is wings and squadrons: 23 Squadron flies the F-7s in the Air Defence Wing, 153 Squadron the helicopters in 15 Wing, and 13 Wing the transports.
2008–2021: Karibib, floods and a run of accidents
The next decade was quieter. The headquarters moved to a new base at Karibib, in Erongo, which President Hage Geingob visited in 2016. The air force’s most public work was humanitarian: in February 2014 two Alouette-type helicopters and a Harbin Z-9 spent nine days in the Tokwe-Mukosi flood zone in Zimbabwe and rescued more than 600 people, repaying help the Air Force of Zimbabwe had given in Namibia’s Zambezi floods of 2006. The accident record was less happy: a Chetak crashed near Opuwo on 1 August 2008, an An-26 crash-landed at Omega on 30 November 2013, a Z-9 crashed at Grootfontein on 11 April 2014, a K-8 at Karibib on 23 September 2021 and an F-7NM made a crash landing on 15 October 2021.
2024–2026: the Y-9, the parade and the counting problem
In November 2024 two Shaanxi Y-9E transports, NAF-1962 and NAF-1990, flew in from China; defenceWeb reported Namibia as the type’s first export customer, and they were handed over at Grootfontein on 16 December. On 2 June 2025 the NDF’s 35th anniversary parade at Grootfontein showed a Y-9, three K-8s, two F-7s and four helicopters, and a Chinese ASN-209 drone. What Namibia actually has is harder to say than it looks. Published counts disagree sharply — six F-7s or nine; four K-8s, eleven or twelve; two Mi-24-family gunships or three — because they come from different years and count different things. This page publishes the ranges, not one number.
The Namibian Air Force in numbers
Service
- Name
- Namibian Air ForceEnglish is Namibia’s official language
- Founded
- 13 March 2005Formally established at Grootfontein; its predecessor, the Air Defence Wing of the Namibian Defence Force, was set up on 23 July 1994
- Part of
- Namibian Defence ForceFormed on 2 June 1990 from PLAN and the South West African Territorial Force
- Air Force Commander
- AVM Teofilus ShaendeAs listed by Wikipedia; appointment date not found
- Chief of Defence Force
- Air Marshal Martin PinehasSince 2020, as listed by Wikipedia; a former air force commander
- Headquarters
- Karibib Air Force BaseIn Erongo Region
Strength
- Fighters
-
- Chengdu F-7NM and FT-7NM — 6 to 11
14 delivered (12 F-7NM, 2 FT-7NM). Wikipedia’s table: nine F-7NM and two FT-7; defenceWeb in January 2025: six F-7NM
- Jet trainers
-
- Hongdu K-8 — 4 to 12
defenceWeb gave four in January 2025 and twelve in June 2025; Wikipedia lists eleven
- Transport
-
- Shaanxi Y-9E — 2 (2024)
- Harbin Y-12 — 2
- Antonov An-26 — 1
- Helicopters
-
- Mi-24/25/35 — 2 or 3
- Mi-8 — 2
- HAL Chetak — 3
- HAL Cheetah — 1
- Harbin Z-9 — 1 or 2
- Harbin H425 — 1
No Mi-17 was found in any source checked
- Observation
-
- Cessna O-2A — 4 (six delivered)
Infrastructure
- Air bases
-
- Karibib — headquarters
- Grootfontein — where the service was founded; Y-9 handover and 2025 parade
Other airfields used by the air force were not confirmed from a reachable source
- Organisation
- Air Defence Wing, 10, 13 and 15 Wings, Air Force Regiment23 Squadron (F-7), 153 Squadron (helicopters), 13 Wing transport squadron
- Drones
- ASN-209Shown on a launch truck at the June 2025 parade; which service operates it was not stated
How the Namibian Air Force is organised
The air arm of the Namibian Defence Force, a full service since 13 March 2005, with its headquarters at Karibib and an Air Defence Wing, 10, 13 and 15 Wings and an Air Force Regiment. It is almost entirely Chinese-equipped: 23 Squadron’s F-7NM fighters, K-8 jet trainers and, since December 2024, two Shaanxi Y-9E transports, the type’s first export according to defenceWeb. Published counts disagree sharply, from six F-7s to nine and from four K-8s to twelve, so ranges are given rather than one number.
Namibian Air Force
The air arm of the Namibian Defence Force, formally established at Grootfontein on 13 March 2005 from the Air Defence Wing of 1994, with its headquarters at Karibib Air Force Base since the move reported in March 2016. Wikipedia names Air Vice Marshal Teofilus Shaende as commander, with no appointment date found; his predecessor, Martin Pinehas, has been Chief of the Defence Force since 2020. Wikipedia lists an Air Defence Wing, 10, 13 and 15 Wings and an Air Force Regiment.
23 Squadron, Air Defence Wing
Flies the Chengdu F-7NM, ordered from China in 2004 with FT-7NM trainers, 14 aircraft in all, and in service from 23 June 2006. How many remain is contested: Wikipedia lists nine F-7NMs and two FT-7s, defenceWeb six F-7NMs in January 2025; two flew at the June 2025 parade. Where the squadron is based is not published.
K-8 fleet
Hongdu K-8 jet trainers from China, whose delivery dates and unit are not published; counts range from four (defenceWeb, January 2025) through eleven (Wikipedia) to twelve (defenceWeb, June 2025). One crashed at Karibib on 23 September 2021, and two flew in the SADC Blue Lugwasho exercise in Zambia in September 2025.
13 Wing
The transport wing: two Shaanxi Y-9Es, the type’s first export according to defenceWeb, handed over at Grootfontein on 16 December 2024, two Harbin Y-12s delivered in December 1997, which flew with the Namibian contingent in the Congo, and an An-26. Four O-2A observation aircraft remain of the six the United States donated in 1994.
153 Squadron, 15 Wing
The helicopter squadron, with two or three Mi-24-family gunships and two Mi-8s, both first supplied by Libya in 1999–2000, three HAL Chetaks, a Cheetah, one or two Z-9s and a Harbin H425. Two Alouette-type helicopters and a Z-9 flew from Grootfontein in February 2014 to rescue more than 600 people from floods in Zimbabwe; which squadron is based there today is not published.
What the Namibian Air Force flies today
Every type on charge, linked to its Book of Beasts page where one exists. Counts are aircraft on the books, not aircraft available on a given day.
| Type | Role | In service | Since | Units | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chengdu F-7NM and FT-7NMIn service | Fighter | 2006 | Contested: 14 delivered (12 F-7NM, 2 FT-7NM). Wikipedia lists nine F-7NM and two FT-7; defenceWeb listed six F-7NM in January 2025; two flew at the June 2025 parade.
MoreNo single figure is published here. |
|||
| Hongdu K-8 KarakorumIn service | Jet trainer and light attack | Contested: four (defenceWeb, January 2025), eleven (Wikipedia), twelve (defenceWeb, June 2025). | ||||
| Shaanxi Y-9EIn service | Tactical transport | 2 | 2024 | Two: NAF-1962 and NAF-1990. | ||
| Harbin Y-12In service | Light transport | 2 | 1997 | Two. | ||
| Antonov An-26In service | Transport | 1 | One. | |||
| Mil Mi-24 family (Mi-25/Mi-35)In service | Attack helicopter | 1999 | Contested: two (Wikipedia, and two Mi-35 as of 2023 in its Mi-24 article) or three Mi-25 (defenceWeb, January 2025); one flew at the June 2025 parade. | |||
| Mil Mi-8TIn service | Transport helicopter | 2 | 1999 | Two. | ||
| HAL Chetak (Alouette III)In service | Light utility helicopter | 3 | 1994 | Three. | ||
| HAL Cheetah (Lama)In service | Light utility helicopter | 1 | 1994 | One. | ||
| Harbin Z-9In service | Utility helicopter | One (Wikipedia) or two (defenceWeb, June 2025). | ||||
| Harbin H425In service | Light utility helicopter | 1 | One (defenceWeb, January 2025). | |||
| Cessna O-2A SkymasterIn service | Observation | 4 | 1994 | Six donated by the United States; defenceWeb listed four in January 2025. |
Where the Namibian Air Force flies from
Black pins are active bases; none of the airfields listed has closed. The air force has two bases: Grootfontein in the north, a former South African Air Force base where the service was commissioned in 2005, and Karibib, built by a Chinese company and its headquarters since about 2016. Windhoek’s Eros Airport, where the first helicopters were delivered in December 1994, is a civil airport today. Neither air base has published aerodrome data, so neither carries a pin.
| Base | ICAO | Status | Runway | Units and aircraft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grootfontein Air Force BaseOtjozondjupa Region | FYGF | Active |
|
|
| Karibib Air Force BaseErongo Region | Active |
|
||
| Windhoek Eros AirportKhomas Region, Windhoek | FYWE | Closed | 01/192,229 m09/271,005 m |
|
No air base matches that search.
Who is stationed where in the Namibian Air Force
Units by base, current units first. Namibia does not publish which squadron flies from which base: the only units placed at a base are the headquarters, at Grootfontein until 2016 and at Karibib since, and the helicopters that flew the 2014 flood rescue from Grootfontein. The South African Air Force units that used Grootfontein before independence are listed and marked as not Namibian; their names and dates were not found.
- Namibian Air Force helicoptersHelicopter detachment · active
- HAL Chetak (Alouette III), Harbin Z-9
- Namibian Air Force headquarters2005–2016
- South African Air Force
- Namibian Air Force headquartersService headquarters · active
No unit matches that search.
Namibian Air Force milestones, 1914 to today
2 June: the Namibian Defence Force is formed from PLAN and the South West African Territorial Force.
23 July: the NDF Air Defence Wing is established; six O-2As arrive from the US and, in December, Cheetah and Chetak helicopters from India.
December: two Harbin Y-12s delivered.
2 August: the Second Congo War begins; Namibia sends forces to support the Kinshasa government.
15 January: a Cheetah and a Chetak collide; 11 killed. February: a flight of helicopters and Y-12s is with the contingent in the Congo. July: Namibia signs the Lusaka ceasefire.
Two Mi-8s and two Mi-25s arrive from Libya (1999–2000).
12 F-7NM fighters and two FT-7NM trainers ordered from China.
13 March: the Namibian Air Force is formally established at Grootfontein.
23 June: the F-7NMs officially enter service.
1 August: Chetak H-706 crashes near Opuwo.
30 November: An-26B NAF-3-642 crash-lands at Omega.
February: three helicopters rescue more than 600 people in Zimbabwe’s Tokwe-Mukosi floods. 11 April: a Z-9 crashes at Grootfontein.
March: President Hage Geingob visits the new air force base at Karibib.
23 September: a K-8 crashes at Karibib. 15 October: F-7NM 0315 crash-lands.
November: two Y-9Es arrive from China, the type’s first export; handed over at Grootfontein on 16 December.
2 June: Y-9, K-8s, F-7s and helicopters at the NDF’s 35th anniversary parade. September: two K-8s in Exercise Blue Lugwasho.
Every war the Namibian Air Force has fought
Sorties and losses where the record gives them, and an honest blank where it does not.
- Second Congo War 1998–2003 A flight of Alouette-type helicopters and Y-12 transports supported the Namibian battalion group sent to defend the Kinshasa government
- Tokwe-Mukosi flood rescue 2014 Humanitarian rescue: three helicopters flew stranded people out of the Tokwe-Mukosi river basin
Everything people ask about the Namibian Air Force
When was the Namibian Air Force founded?
What is the Namibian Air Force called?
What fighter jets does Namibia fly?
Does Namibia fly the K-8?
What is the Y-9 and why does it matter?
Does Namibia have Mi-17 helicopters?
Did the Namibian Air Force fight in the Congo?
Where is the Namibian Air Force based?
What was the worst accident in the air force’s history?
Read the aircraft the Namibian Air Force flew
Every type with a page in the Book of Beasts, in service first, then by the year it left the fleet.
Every fact, checked
- defenceWeb: Namibia acquires Y-9 transport aircraft from China (10 January 2025)Two Y-9E, NAF-1962 and NAF-1990, 11–17 November 2024, handover 16 December; first export customer; fleet list (2 Y-12, 1 An-26, 6 F-7NM, 4 K-8, 4 O-2A, 2 Mi-8T, 1 Cheetah, 3 Chetak, 3 Mi-25, 1 H425).
- defenceWeb: Namibia displays UAVs, Bushcat APCs and other new equipment during anniversary parade (10 June 2025)2 June 2025 at Grootfontein; aircraft displayed; ASN-209; inventory (12 K-8, 2 Z-9, 2 Mi-24, 12 F-7NM/FT-7NM acquired, 2 Y-9E).
- defenceWeb: Six SADC air forces bolster Ex Blue Lugwasho with aircraft contributions (19 September 2025)Namibia contributed two K-8s; exercise in Zambia 9–26 September 2025.
- defenceWeb: Namibian Air Force ends Zimbabwe flood rescue mission (26 February 2014)Two Alouette III and one Z-9; six pilots and seven technicians; more than 600 rescued; 38.6 hours in nine days; AVM Martin Pinehas quoted.
- defenceWeb: African Military Profile: Namibia (26 January 2026)NDF established 1990; tri-service force of about 12,000 personnel.
- The Namibian: Geingob impressed with new air force base at Karibib (7 March 2016)Built by China Jiangsu International from 2006, about 15 km north of Karibib on the Omaruru road; N$63 million approved, about N$39.5 million spent in 2007/2008; fighter-capable; fourth phase under way; not yet inaugurated.
- The Namibian: Air Force headquarters relocate to Karibib (6 March 2016)Headquarters and the commander Martin Pinehas moved from Grootfontein; Lt Col. Monica Sheya: Karibib more centrally positioned, no effective date given; Grootfontein remains operational; base about 10 km north of Karibib, begun in 2008; phases one to three complete.
Figures verified 2026-10-01. Order of Battle pages are regenerated from a single dataset; if a number here disagrees with a Book of Beasts page, this page is the more recent of the two.
Photographs: Photo: Md Shaifuzzaman Ayon / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Photo: Kentaro Iemoto from Tokyo, Japan / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Photo: André Gerwing / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)