1892–2006: Sifain to MNDF, without aircraft

The Maldivian military dates itself to 21 April 1892, when Sultan Ibrahim Nooraddeen formally established a force called Sifain, according to English Wikipedia’s article on the MNDF, which traces its spirit back to Muhammad Thakurufaanu’s campaign against the Portuguese. It was the National Guard until 1979, then the National Security Service, which included the police until 1 September 2004; on 21 April 2006 it was renamed the Maldives National Defence Force and reorganised with a Marine Corps and a larger coast guard. No source reached for this page records an aircraft in any of these forces before 2010.

1988: the night India flew in

The cost of having nothing in the air was shown on 3 November 1988. A group of Maldivians and Sri Lankans led by the businessman Abdullah Luthufee, with mercenaries from the People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam, attacked Malé. India’s answer, Operation Cactus, came by air: two Indian Air Force Il-76s escorted by six Mirage 2000s put paratroopers onto Hulhulé within nine hours of President Gayoom’s appeal, and they restored control of the capital within hours, per English Wikipedia, which records 19 reported dead, most of them mercenaries, and 39 injured. The Maldivian defenders had no aircraft; the episode set the pattern of Indian air power standing behind Maldivian security.

2010–2016: Dhruvs from the Indian Navy

That pattern became an Air Corps. In April 2010 the Indian Navy gifted a HAL Dhruv to the MNDF for search and rescue and medical evacuation, and in December 2013 a second Dhruv, a Mk III with weather radar, followed; the first was based at Addu Atoll and the second was to be based at Hanimaadhoo, English Wikipedia’s Dhruv article records. On 27 April 2016 the Indian Navy stationed a further ALH Mk III at Kadhdhoo in Laamu Atoll with a naval contingent of four officers and 21 sailors and a 13-strong technical team. The arrangement worked for medical evacuations, but it also meant that the aircraft in Maldivian colours were flown and maintained by Indian service personnel, along with a fixed-wing reconnaissance aircraft India had donated.

2023–2024: “India out” and the civilian crews

That became politics. As president, Mohamed Muizzu called for all Indian troops to leave; by 10 May 2024 all Indian armed forces had departed, per English Wikipedia. According to New Delhi, Al Jazeera reported, those forces had been operating the two helicopters and one aircraft India had donated, and the two governments agreed to replace them with civilians who would help the Maldives manage the aircraft. In Al Jazeera’s July 2025 phrasing the contingent had flown “two search-and-rescue helicopters and a fixed-wing reconnaissance aircraft”. The aircraft stayed; the uniforms changed. Who exactly flies each sortie today — Maldivian or Indian civilian crews — is not set out in any source reached for this page.

2024–2026: Turkish drones and a thaw with Delhi

The Air Corps also acquired a different kind of aircraft. English Wikipedia lists the MNDF as an operator of six Bayraktar TB2 drones from 2024, and Maafaru International Airport in Noonu Atoll, opened on 1 December 2019, houses the MNDF’s operation hangar for the TB2; the figure of six is not corroborated by a second source reached. Relations with India then warmed: Muizzu made a state visit to India in October 2024, and on 25 July 2025 Narendra Modi pledged US$565 million and said India would continue to support the Maldives in strengthening its defence capabilities. In 2026 the Air Corps is a small service with Indian-built helicopters, an Indian-donated fixed-wing aircraft and Turkish drones, under Brig Gen Abdul Rauf.

Current fleet and orders

Baykar, HAL