The Ghana Armed Forces have a small but smart Air Force, the key to their success being training, as Patrick Dirksen and Frank Mink found during a recent visit to Ghana.
Chief of Air Staff Air Vice Marshal Maxwell Mantserbi-Tei Nagai
As Air Vice Marshal Maxwell Mantserbi-Tei Nagai current Chief of the Air Staff of the Ghana Air Force (GAF) said, “our primary role is support of the army and the navy. Next to that we assist with governmental issues, like disaster management. We also support the police and Ghana Gas as well. But our main role is support of the army with troop transport, airborne forces, paradropping, fighter ground attack and close air support with helicopters. We also carry out aerial photography, air transport of the yield from gold mines in middle of the country and transport of personnel and logistics of the Electoral Commission during elections”.
A tour of various Air Bases
Accra
Accra is the main airbase of the GAF, where two of the recently acquired C.295s are flying with the Communication squadron, having replaced the venerable Fokker F-27s. These aircraft have been put through the test in Mali, where Ghanaian Forces played a major role in the United Nations mission MINUSMA. However, a terrorist attack at Gao in 2016, damaging a C.295, put an end to that deployment, but the damaged aircraft is operational again.
Mi-171 flying the Ghanaian flag (via GAF)
Ghana has participated in dozens of UN and ECOWAS missions since the ‘sixties, in which helicopters played a big role. A recent example was in neighbouring Cote d’Ivoire during the genocide, where A.109 helicopters were used as gunships and Bell 412s for troop transport. These have now been replaced by Z-9 and Mi-17/171 helicopters. All helicopters are operated by No.3 Squadron and are based at Accra AFB. The main roles of the four Z-9s are patrols over gas pipeline and powerline, coastal fishery protection and ambulance flights.
K-8 advanced trainer and strike aircraft (via GAF)
Also flying from Accra AFB are the Chinese-origin No.K-8s of 4 Squadron which replaced the L-39 and MB.339. “The home base of the squadron is supposed to be in Tamale, but at the time that they arrived, Tamale was not positioned to receive them …. maybe they will move there now, we are thinking about it, if the leadership academy is pulled through.” says Nagai. “The role of this aircraft is strike and reconnaissance, mostly on the border. The aircraft can be armed for ground attack for such training we have a live firing range at Bundase, close to Accra. We coordinate with the army and carry out air power combat fire training together.” K-8 pilots are selected after the fixed wing training and sent to China for K-8 conversion.
Takoradi
Two of the female Da.42 pilots (via GAF)
Takoradi AFB was taken over from the RAF in 1961 and since then the Flying Training School (FTS) has been based here. First aircraft were Chipmunks donated by the RAF, later on Beavers, Otters and Caribous were employed. The FTS currently still operates the venerable Ce.172s, although these haven’t flown for years. Initial flying training is now done on the Diamond Da.42, which is operated by No.1 Squadron. After selection process in Accra, student pilots get an initial 10 hours of flying experience on the Da.42 before they are sent to Bristow Academy for helicopter pilots or Flight Safety Academy for fixed wing pilots, both in the USA. After this the students that transit to fixed wing squadrons, come back to Takoradi AFB for follow up training on the Da.42, while helicopter pilots go directly to the squadrons. No.1 Squadron operates three DA.42 aircraft, of which only one fulfils the training role while the other two are dedicated for surveillance tasks.
A group of K-8 pilots (via GAF)
A DA.42 simulator has also been procured from Diamond to facilitate instrument flying and in-flight failure training. The main task however of No.1 Squadron is surveillance, the ISR capability of the Ghana Air Force assured by the two surveillance DA.42s, which are which equipped with the SAFIRE sensor suite. These aircraft were modified in the UK by DO Systems Ltd, which also supplied a dedicated DA.42 crewman trainer simulator. Their main roles are maritime surveillance, reconnaissance and internal security operations in support of police forces.
Chinese built Z-9 at Takoradi AFB
The Diamonds also contribute to the international organisation Oceans Beyond Piracy. Together with Ivory Coast, Togo, Benin and Nigeria, Ghana is responsible for Zone E and Zone F in the Gulf of Guinea. There is also a Z-9 detachment at Takoradi, operating under No.1 Squadron.
Tamale AFB
Smallest of the three airbases is Tamale AFB, which was built in 1966 with help of the former Soviet Union. One of the Casa 295s is based here, flying with No.2 Squadron, although at the time of writing this was undergoing an initial heavy maintenance with Airbus in Spain after being in service for six years. Also used for training is a F-27 which aircraft had the honour of making the last operational flight of the type in 2013, then delivered to Tamale for ground training.
The future
Asked about future plans, Nagai talked about plans to establish an air force base at centre of the country, around Atebubu. “Plan is to establish a helicopter squadron there, so from there we can reach the North and also the South. Furthermore there are plans to have a joint FOB with the navy somewhere In the West, because of oil find. All these are still on the drawing board, and we are currently technically working towards there. But the final approval of course needs to come from the government.” Nagai continues: “So there are plans to expand. The air force is already much bigger than when I joined in 1980. But as both the economy and the population grows, there will be new requirements.”
Regarding the addition of new aircraft to the fleet, the Super Tucano is high on the wish list of Nagai. “In 2013 this came up. Chief of the Air Staff at the time assessed the threat level and we looked at capabilities of the Super Tucano, and recommended the government to have it. It would be used both as a strike aircraft and a trainer, because it could do both. So far this didn’t get through, but we had a long cooperation with the manufacturers in Brazil, and the negotiations are not totally closed. Because we still need it, and while we are also looking for alternatives, the Super Tucano remains the key in our new acquisitions.” The Intention is to get four aircraft and one simulator. However there are no plans to get additional helicopters over the coming three to five years and an option for a fourth C.295 will not be exercised for now.
File photo of GAF C.295
Focus has been and will be for the coming years on personnel, both on training level and comfort. “We try to increase the housing facilities for air force personnel, because that’s a very serious command challenge. And we try to train people, for which we’ve run set courses on our own. In the past we depended on the programme for the whole armed forces, and there was a very big backlog. So we had to find money, locally, within the air force for training and to improve the working environment for our troops. We believe that if the soldier is happy, well trained and has a place to put his head, he will come to work leaving the home baggage at home, do his work, and we get a good product.” And based on both reputation and results, this should works out well indeed!
We would like to thank Air Vice Marshal Maxwell Mantserbi-Tei Nagai for the warm welcome and the time he took for the interview, and also Squadron Leader Francisca Aholo without whom this article would not have been possible.