Living on donations and old fleet: State of KDF military planes
A Kenya Airforce helicopter at Wilson Airport in Nairobi.
What you need to know:
- The 8 Bell Huey II helicopters similar to the General Ogolla perished were donated to Kenya by the US.
- Kenya Air Force has for a long time depended mostly on aircrafts that were delivered in 1980 for training.
- In 2017, Jordan donated five AH-2 Cobra attack helicopters and in 2018 Kenya received a donation of 9 Eurocopter AS350B3 and AS550C3 Fennec helicopters from UAE.
Kenya has largely survived on aircraft donations and maintains an older fleet bought years ago, apart from a few purchases for use by VIPs, publicly available information and military records indicate.
Kenya Air Force has for a long time depended on its 17 old Scottish Aviation Bulldogs, Embraer Tucanos trainers and 14 BAE System Hawks that were delivered in 1980 for training.
There are several MD530s and C-27J Spartans for transport in the fleet.
The only recent helicopters the Kenyan government has purchased for the Kenya Air Force are five Augustawestland manufactured AW 139s, several Tucanos and 12 Grob 120As Grobs training aircraft.
In 2017, Jordan donated five AH-2 Cobra attack helicopters which joined the Army’s 50th Air Calvary helicopters handled by the Joint Helicopter Command based at Embakasi Garrison.
In September 2018, for instance, Kenya received a donation of 9 Eurocopter AS350B3 and AS550C3 Fennec helicopters from United Arab Emirates.
UAE received 27 of these helicopters from Airbus, France in 2001 before transferring 10 to Jordan in 2005 and 13 to Kenya later.
Also Read: Bang, ball of fire is all there was: Residents tell of General Francis Ogolla’s copter crash
They were mounted with seven round 70mm rocket launchers and 7.62mm M134 midguns.
A scene where a KDF helicopter carrying Chief of Defence Forces General Francis Ogolla and 11 others crashed at Sindar, Kaben Location at the border of Elgeyo Marakwet and West Pokot counties.
The helicopters and assorted spare parts were received and commissioned by the then Defence Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo at the Laikipia Air Base in Nanyuki in the company of the then Commander of the Kenya Air Force Major General Francis Ogolla.
The aircraft were donated by the United Arab Emirates President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nayhan.
Also present during the reception were the then UAE ambassador to Kenya Khalid Abdullah Rashid Al Mu’alla, the then Laikipia Air Base Commander and current Air Force Commander Major General John Omenda and Colonel Jamal Alhababi from the UAE Joint Aviation Command.
Another H 124 Fennec has also joined the Kenya Air Force fleet. At around the same time, KAF placed an order for 11 MD530F Cayuse Warrior attack helicopters, but it is not known if they were ever delivered to Kenya.
The 8 Bell Huey II helicopters similar to the one in which General Francis Ogolla crashed to his death were donated to Kenya by the United States of America.
In February 2024, South Korea donated nine retired McDonnel Douglas MD 500 light attack helicopters previously used by Republic of Korea Army.
These were the first batch of 21 helicopters that South Korea had pledged to donate to Kenya during the United Nations Peace Keeping Forum hosted in Seoul, South Korea.
“The government will closely cooperate with the US and UN to complete the donation of the remaining 12 helicopters and expand contribution to the global peace and security, including the UN Peace Keeping operations”, the South Korean Defence Ministry said then in a statement.
A Kenya Air Force Bell Huey II helicopter. Gen Francis Ogolla and nine others were aboard such a helicopter when it crashed on Thursday.
The 10 Grob 120A basic trainers purchased by Kenya were handed over to KAF in Germany in November 2013 and flown back to the country by eight Kenyan pilots that had been trained in Mattsies, Germany.
Kenya is the first African Air Force to operate the six cylinder Lycoming piston engine aircraft that provides 260 horse power. The composite airframe aero plane has 15,000 hours service life and good for aerobatic training.
It has a glass cockpit featuring Elbit 205x150mm multifunction display, digital standby flight display and digital engine display.
Grob 12A has the lowest maintenance costs in the industry and therefore recommended for aviation training.
During the 2023 African Air Chiefs Symposium in Dakar, Senegal, the Kenya Air Force Commander Major General John Omenda said that the country’s wide assortment of military aircraft can be difficult to maintain and get parts for.
“Having a variety of aircraft is a challenge. We source wide and large for spares. Most of these assets are aged and their support is rapidly going down. It is a bit demanding in terms of acquisition of these parts and training of the technicians to maintain them,” he is quoted saying.
The call to modernise the equipment and mostly aircraft in the Kenya Air Force has picked up momentum following the tragic helicopter crash that claimed Gen Ogolla alongside nine other soldiers.
As at 2021, Kenya Air Force also possessed 11 new Chinese-made Harbin Y-12 transport planes and three Canadian built Bombardier Das
In matters financing, the military has been receiving the largest share of the total monies allocated to the security sector.
The Kenya Air Force, Fennec helicopter, hit a tree and crashed while taking off at Chemolingot Primary School in Tiaty West.
Last year, President William Ruto allocated the security sector Sh338. 2 billion in his first budget as Head of State.
Treasury and National Planning Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung'u said the amount will be shared among the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), National Police Service (NPS), National Intelligence Service (NIS) and the Kenya Prisons Service (KPS).
KDF took the lion's share of Sh144.9 billion followed by the National Police Service with Sh98.6 billion. The NIS got Sh44.3 billion and the Prisons Service was allocated Sh31.3 billion.
The discussion on the state of Kenya’s aircraft reached Parliament, with National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah saying most of them were outdated, given that some were acquired in the 1980s and they cannot put up with the demanding security missions at this moment.
"As we consider the next few years' budgets, let's seriously consider modernisation our military and police equipment. The presidential jet was bought in late or early 1980's by then President the late Daniel Moi," he said.
For Gen Ogolla, today would have been his first anniversary at the helm of the Kenya Defence Forces, he but lost his life in an air crash — KDF’s fifth such accident in just under 12 months.
On November 20, 2023 tragedy struck when KAF 1101, a Mi 171e helicopter delivered in 2011, crashed in Buna, Garissa during Operation Amani Boni patrols.
Another incident occurred on November 9, involving an AS 550 C3 Fennec delivered in 2018, which crashed in Ol-Tepesi in Kajiado. The others are a refurbished Bell UH-1M Huey 2 delivered in 2017, which crashed in Lamu County, and an AS 550 C3 Fennec, delivered in 2018, in Chemolingot, West Pokot on July 20, 2023, while accompanying Defence CS Aden Duale.
On the day of the crash, CDF Ogolla was using one of the military owned Bell-UH 1M heuy choppers.
The military has been requesting the National Assembly to increase it budget so as to modernising its weaponry and aircraft, but its pleas have hardly taken seriously.
But growing demand by the political class to use military choppers has rubbed up the wrong way operators of these aircraft who have minimal time for servicing them and the pilots suffer from fatigue.
One particular case that stirred up Kenyans’ anger was when in September 2022, Kapsaret MP Oscar Sudi arrived at the United Demorcatic Alliance party’s Parliamentary Group meeting in a military chopper.
Narok Senator Ledama ole Kina blasted him, saying it was a waste of public resources.
Nonchalantly, Mr Sudi responded to this diatribe with a simple line and posted photos of his previous rides using military choppers.
“I am used to these government helicopters. Pictures below show when I had freedom and when I didn't have,” he said on his X platform, formerly Twitter.
Kenya Civil Aviation Regulations state that aircraft flying with the 5Ycivilian registrations must be insured, their pilots should hold civilian flying licenses and their management structure should conform to civilian standards. This means hours gained by KDF pilots are not acknowledged in the civilian world.
With police service helicopters including 5Y-DIG and 5Y-PEU being constantly used by civilians of the political class, the flights have had to be re-registered as National Air Support Department due to KCAA dictates on civilian air travel.
Military helicopters, initially intended for critical roles like providing close air support against terror threats, are now being repurposed for VIP transport.
The lack of accident investigation reports from Kenya Air Force raises questions about transparency and accountability in the military, which has traditionally evaded public scrutiny.
The National Assembly has asked the chairperson of the Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Relations Committee Nelson Koech to inform them of the status of the military equipment.
