Ghana Air Force

The Ghana Air Force (GHF) is the aerial warfare organizational military branch of the Ghanaian Armed Forces (GAF). The GHF, along with the Ghanaian army (GA) and Ghanaian navy (GN), make up the Ghanaian Armed Forces (GAF), which are controlled by the Ghanaian Ministry of Defence (MoD).

Ghana Air Force
Ghana Armed Forces emblem
Founded	29 July 1959; 63 years ago (1959-07-29)
Country	Ghana
Type	Air force
Role	Aerial warfare
Size	22 aircraft ^[1]
Part of	Ghana Armed Forces
Headquarters	Burma Camp
Colours
Engagements	First Liberian Civil War^[2]^[3] Second Ivorian Civil War^[4]^[5]^[6] Mali War^[7]^[8]
Commanders
Chief of the Air Staff	Air Vice Marshal Frank Hanson
Insignia
Roundel
Fin flash
Aircraft flown
Fighter	Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano
Patrol	Diamond DA42 Twin Star
Trainer	Hongdu K-8 Karakorum
Transport	EADS CASA C-295, Fokker F28 Fellowship

History

The GHF (Ghana Air Force) started on 24 July 1959 as a Flying Training School with Israeli instructors and technicians, under the command of Lt. Col. Adam Shatkay of the IAF. The School was established as a cradle of a service to complement the Army and the Navy. Later that year a headquarters was established in Accra under the command of Indian Air commodore K. Jaswant-Singh who was appointed as the first Chief of Air Staff (CAS).^[9] In 1960 Royal Air Force personnel took up the task of training the newly established Ghana Air Force and in 1961 they were joined by a small group of Royal Canadian Air Force personnel. In September 1961 as part of President Kwame Nkrumah's Africanization program, a Ghanaian CAS was appointed, with the first being J.E.S. de Graft-Hayford, born in the U.K. of Ghanaian descent.

The Ghana Air Force was in the beginning equipped with a squadron of Chipmunk trainers, and squadrons of Beavers, Otters and Caribou transport aircraft. In addition a DH125 jet was bought for Kwame Nkrumah, Hughes helicopters were bought for mosquito spraying plus DH Doves and Herons. British-made Westland Whirlwind helicopters and a squadron of Italian-made MB-326 ground attack/trainer jets were also purchased.

In 1962 the national School of Gliding was set up by Hanna Reitsch, who was once Adolf Hitler's top personal pilot. Under the command of Air Commodore de Graft-Hayford, she served as director, operations instructor and trainer of the school. She also acted as the personal pilot of Kwame Nkrumah from 1962–1966.

Organisation

The GHF headquarters is located at Burma Camp and the main transport airfield is the Air Force Base Accra, which shares the same runway with the Kotoka International Airport. Other GHF airfields include:

• Air Force Base Tamale, which shares its runway with the Tamale Airport.
• GHF Air Force Station Sekondi-Takoradi started as RAF Station Takoradi, then became Ghana Air Force Station Sekondi-Takoradi on 1 March 1961. The Chipmunk Basic Trainer Aircraft was the first aircraft used at the Station with an all Rank Air Force Station.
• GHF Air Force station Accra came into being soon after the Royal Air Force (RAF) had taken over the administration from the Indian and Israeli Air Force officers at the beginning of 1961. The station was housed at No 3 hangar at the Accra Airport (Kotoka International Airport) with hardly any aircraft. The Unit had four main sub-units, i.e. the Administration Wing, Flying Wing, Technical Wing and Equipment Wing. The School of Technical Training was also located at this station. The Station moved from No 3 hangar to its present location in Burma Camp towards the end of 1965.^[9]

Mission

 

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan inspecting the Ghana Air Force guard of honour at The Flagstaff House (now the Jubilee House), 1 March 2016.

The role of the Ghana Air Force, as defined in the National Defence Policy, is to provide "Air Transport and Offensive Air Support to the Ghana Armed Forces and to protect the territorial air space of Ghana". The National Defense Policy states certain specific tasks which the Ghana Air Force is expected to perform:

• To maintain Fighter Ground Attack capability and provide Close Air Support during operation.
• To provide transport support to the Ghana Armed Forces.
• To provide surveillance over the air space of Ghana and over the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
• To provide liaison and recce flight capability.
• To provide VIP flight capability.
• To provide transport support for civilians as government directs.
• To provide medical evacuation and air rescue assistance.

The Ghana Air Force is also responsible for the co-ordination and direction of Search and Rescue (SAR) within the Accra Flight Information Region.^[9]

Aircraft

Active inventory

 

A Ghanaian special forces team board a Mi-17 helicopter

Aircraft	Origin	Type	Variant	In service	Notes
Combat
Embraer EMB 314	Brazil	light attack / COIN			5 on order^[10]
Reconnaissance
Diamond DA42	Austria	surveillance		2^[11]
Transport
CASA C-295	Spain	utility / transport		2^[11]
Helicopters
Mil Mi-24	Russia	attack	Mi-35		1 on order^[11]
Mil Mi-17	Russia	utility / transport	Mi-17/171	6^[11]
Bell 412	United States	utility		1^[11]
Harbin Z-9	China	utility		4^[11]
Trainer Aircraft
Aero L-39NG	Czech Republic	jet trainer			6 on order^[12]
Hongdu K-8	China	jet trainer		4^[11]
Diamond DA42	Austria	multi engine trainer		1^[11]

Retired

Previous notable aircraft operated were the Aermacchi MB-339, MB-326, DHC-4 Caribou, Fokker F27 Friendship, de Havilland Heron, Short Skyvan, BN-2 Islander, Beagle Husky, DHC-3 Otter, Cessna 172, Bell 212, Westland Wessex, Aérospatiale Alouette III, Mil Mi-2, Scottish Aviation Bulldog, DHC-1 Chipmunk, L-29 Delfín, and the Aero L-39ZO^[13][14]

Chiefs of Air Staff

Further information: Chief of Air Staff (Ghana)

The senior appointment in the GHF is the Chief of Air Staff. The following is a list of the Ghana Air Force Chiefs of Air Staff:^[15]

GHF Chiefs of Air Staff

Chief of Air Staff	Conscription	Note
Air Commodore K. Jaswant-Singh	May 1959 – August 1960	Indian
Wing Commander I. M. Gundry-White	September 1960 – March 1961	British
Air Commodore John N. H. Whitworth	March 1961 – September 1962	British
Air Commodore J.E.S. de Graft-Hayford	September 1962 – July 1963	First Ghanaian CAS
Air Vice-Marshal Michael Otu	July 1963 – March 1968^[16]
Air Commodore N. Y. R. Ashley-Larsen	March 1968 – January 1971
Air Commodore Charles Beausoliel	January 1971 – December 1971
Air Commodore N. Y. R. Ashley-Larsen	December 1971 – January 1972
Air Commodore Charles Beausoliel	December 1972 – November 1976
Air Vice Marshal George Yaw Boakye	November 1976 – June 1979
Wing Commander Samuel Gyabaah^[17]	June 1979 – July 1979
Group Captain F. W. K. Klutse	July 1979 – December 1979
Air Commodore J. E. Odaate- Barnor	December 1979 – May 1980
Air Commodore K. K. Pumpuni	May 1980 – January 1982
Group Captain E. A. A. Awuviri	January 1982 – December 1982
Air Vice Marshal J. E. A. Kotei	December 1982 – June 1988
Air Marshal Harry Dumashie	June 1988 – June 1992
Air Marshal John Asamoah Bruce	5 June 92 – February 2001 (? – 16 March 2001)
Air Vice Marshal Edward Apau Mantey	February 2001 – January 2005^[18]
Air Vice Marshal Julius Otchere Boateng	20 May 2005 – to 28 January 2009^[19]
Air Vice Marshal M. Samson-Oje	31 March 2009 – January 2016^[20]
Air Vice Marshal Maxwell Mantsebi-Tei Nagai	January 2016 – January 2019 ^[20]
Air Vice Marshal Frank Hanson	January 2019 – Present ^[20]

Rank structure

Main article: Military ranks of Ghana

The GHF's rank structure is similar to the RAF's rank structure from where its ranks were derived.

Commissioned officers

Rank group	General/flag officers										Senior officers						Junior officers								Officer cadet
Ghana Air Force v t e
			Air Chief Marshal		Air Marshal		Air Vice-Marshal		Air Commodore		Group Captain		Wing Commander		Squadron Leader		Flight Lieutenant		Flying Officer			Pilot Officer

Enlisted

Rank group	Senior NCOs																						Junior NCOs						Enlisted
Ghana Air Force v t e																																			No insignia
	Warrant Officer Class I						Warrant Officer Class II		Flight Sergeant		Sergeant												Corporal						Leading Aircraftsman						Aircraftsman

References

1. World Air Forces 2014, Flightglobal Insight, 2014
2. Noble, Kenneth B. (17 September 1990). "Ghana Is Said to Strike Liberian Rebels". New York Times.
3. "Ghana's aircraft bomb rebel targets in Liberia". Tampa Bay Times. 17 October 2005.
4. "Legacy of Ghav's pioneers of peace". African Aerospace. 22 November 2017.
5. "Ghana's air force in a class of its own". African Aerospace. 8 May 2019.
6. Nossiter, Adam (4 April 2011). "Strikes by U.N. and France Corner Leader of Ivory Coast". New York Times.
7. https://www.myjoyonline.com/news/national/crashed-military-aircraft-survived-bomb-attack-in-mali/#!^{[dead link]}
8. "Ghana's small unit making a huge impact". African Aerospace. 10 March 2017.
9. . gaf.mil.gh.
10. "Embraer Defense & Security sells five A-29 Super Tucano to the Ghana Air Force". prnewswire.com. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
11. "World Air Forces 2023". Flightglobal Insight. 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
12. "Ghana Air Force to get six L-39NG aircraft". Air Recognition. 21 December 2021. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
13. "World Air Forces 2004 pg, 59". Flightglobal I. 2004. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
14. "Historical Listings: Ghana, (GHA)." 2011-07-20 at the Wayback Machine World Air Forces. Retrieved: 19 May 2011.
15. . Official website. Ghana Armed Forces. 6 February 2008. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2008.
16. Military Air Vice-Marshal 28 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine. thestatesmanonline.com.
17. "Ghana News, Volumes 8". Ghana News. Washington, D.C. : Embassy of Ghana: 3. 1979.
18. . Official website. Ghana Armed Forces. 22 April 2005. Archived from the original on 7 January 2008. Retrieved 11 June 2007.
19. . Official website. Ghana Armed Forces. 21 May 2005. Archived from the original on 27 August 2007. Retrieved 11 June 2007.
20. Mahama, makes changes at the military hierarchy. . myjoyonline.com. Multimedia Group. Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017.

• World Aircraft Information Files. Brightstar Publishing, London. File 338 Sheet 03
• . Ghanaian Times. newtimes.com.gh.
• Defence Equipment & Technology. janes.com.

External links

•   Media related to Ghana Air Force at Wikimedia Commons