No South Sudanese air operations are described in the sources reached; the air war was flown by Sudan.

Nine months after independence, fighting over the Heglig oilfield showed how one-sided the air balance was. According to Wikipedia’s summary of contemporary reporting, the Sudanese Air Force bombed the Unity oilfield on 27 March 2012, struck Bentiu with an An-26 used as a bomber on 12 April, sent two MiG-29s against the Bentiu bridge on 14 April, killing four civilians and a soldier, used Su-25s against Jau and Panakuach, and bombed Rubkona market on 23 April. South Sudan said its forces shot down a MiG-29 over Unity on 4 April; Sudan denied it. South Sudan’s small Mi-17 fleet is not reported in combat.

Sonuç Wikipedia dates the crisis from 26 March to 26 September 2012.

All details come from a Wikipedia summary; Sudan’s side of the same war is in the Sudanese Air Force entry.

Uçmak için

SPLA (air wing)

Nerede

Unity state and the Heglig (Panthou) oil area

Yanında

Müttefik hava kuvvetleri yok.

Aykırı

Sudan

Kayıplar

No South Sudanese aircraft losses recorded. South Sudan claimed a Sudanese MiG-29 shot down on 4 April 2012; Sudan called the claim a fabrication.

Kaynaklar

Vikipedi

Close air support and attack by Mi-24 gunships, with L-39 jets and a Diamond 42 reconnaissance aircraft reported; Mi-17 transport.

When fighting broke out in Juba on 15 December 2013 the air arm had only transport helicopters. On 27 December Riek Machar accused Ugandan aircraft of bombing his forces at Bor. The UN Panel of Experts reported that the government bought Mi-24 attack helicopters from early 2014, from Motor Sich of Ukraine for US$42.8 million; Peter Martell, as summarised on Wikipedia, writes that Erik Prince sold three Mi-24s and two L-39s, with Hungarian pilots, for US$43 million. The Panel recorded Mi-24 attacks around Malakal in 2015, a Mi-24 based at Paloich, Mi-24s over Wau in April 2016 and two Mi-24s that crossed about 6 km into the DRC on 17 August 2016 chasing SPLM/A-IO forces; it judged that the Wau and DRC operations needed approval from the chief of general staff, Paul Malong. Western Equatoria’s information minister said 50 people were killed and over 100 wounded in a gunship attack in Mundri West in November 2015; the army did not comment. The Panel documented L-39s with photographs in 2016; the First Vice-President denied they existed.

Sonuç Ended by the Revitalised Agreement of 12 September 2018. Wikipedia cites an estimate of about 400,000 dead by April 2018 and more than 4 million displaced.

Casualty figures for individual strikes come from local officials and were not independently verified; the government has published no account of its air operations.

Uçmak için

SPLA air force

Nerede

Upper Nile, Unity, Jonglei, Western Bahr el Ghazal, the Equatorias; one incursion into the DRC

Yanında

Uganda

Aykırı

SPLM/A-IO and allied forces

Uçak

Mi-24, Mi-17, L-39, DA42

Kayıplar

No confirmed losses. Opposition forces claimed a gunship shot down at Malakal in May 2015; the government denied it.

Kaynaklar

Vikipedi · UN Panel of Experts on South Sudan · UN Panel of Experts on South Sudan · UN Panel of Experts on South Sudan · UN Panel of Experts on South Sudan · Vikipedi · Eye Radio · Eye Radio · Eye Radio

Air strikes by gunship helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft against opposition-held areas, with drones reported.

After armed youth overran the Nasir garrison in early March 2025, the government turned to air power and Uganda sent troops at its request. Human Rights Watch found that government incendiary weapons killed at least 58 people and severely burnt 17 in Nasir, Longechuk and Ulang in early March. Local officials and witnesses quoted by Radio Tamazuj blamed the SSPDF and the Ugandan army for strikes on Nasir that killed at least 21 people on 16–17 March; the Nasir commissioner said bombs dropped on 19 March came from "an Antonov aircraft from Uganda". The SPLA-IO accused the SSPDF of bombing its Wunaliet cantonment near Juba on 24 March. On 3 May the Fangak commissioner described two gunships, a drone and a fixed-wing aircraft attacking Old Fangak; he counted four dead, HRW seven. A helicopter fired on armed youth in Warrap on 5 June, which the state information minister called intimidation, and strikes followed in Jonglei in December, when a gunship hit the MSF facility at Pieri and civil society reported 26 killed at Lankien. A bomb destroyed the MSF warehouse at Lankien on 3 February 2026. The Upper Nile governor said in December 2025 that areas that attack government forces will be bombed, and that bombing does not target any one community.

Sonuç Continuing; ceasefire monitors were investigating reported bombing in Panyijiar in June 2026.

Casualty figures differ between local officials, civil society and HRW and are given with their source; the SSPDF did not respond to most allegations.

Uçmak için

South Sudan People’s Defence Forces air force

Nerede

Upper Nile, Jonglei, Unity, Warrap and Central Equatoria

Yanında

Uganda

Aykırı

SPLA-IO and White Army

Uçak

Gunship helicopters (type not stated), Fixed-wing aircraft (type not stated), Drone (type not stated)

Kayıplar

No South Sudanese aircraft losses reported. A UN helicopter evacuating SSPDF soldiers was attacked at Nasir on 7 March 2025, killing a UN crew member and, according to UNMISS as summarised on Wikipedia, 27 soldiers and their commander.

Kaynaklar

İnsan Hakları İzleme Örgütü · Vikipedi · Radio Tamazuj · Eye Radio · Eye Radio · Eye Radio · Eye Radio · Eye Radio · Eye Radio · Eye Radio · Eye Radio · Eye Radio · Eye Radio · Eye Radio