Namibian Air Force

K-8 taxiing with centerline gun pod and rocket pods attached

The Namibian Air Force has suffered a number of aircraft incidents and accidents. The first notable accident occurred during Operation Atlantic in the DRC, where two helicopters — a Cheetah and a Chetak (serials H-702 and H-708) — collided mid-air during bad weather, resulting in the deaths of 11 personnel, five of whom were Namibian.[10]

• On 1 August 2008, Chetak H-706 crashed resulting in injuries to the crews and passengers near Opuwo.[10]
• On 30 November 2013, the An-26B registered as NAF-3-642 crash-landed at the disused Omega airfield in Zambezi Region, with the six crew members getting away unhurt. The aircraft was flying to Bagani to collect the remains of the occupants of LAM Mozambique Airlines Flight 470.[11]
• In April 2014, the Harbin Z-9 with serial number H-700 crashed during takeoff at Grootfontein Air Force Base resulting in it being written off.
• On 23 September 2021, a Hongdu JL-8 crashed during landing at Karibib Air Force Base.[12]
• On 15 October 2021, the Chengdu F-7NM with serial number 0315 crashed on landing at the Andimba Toivo ya Toivo Airport. The cause was allegedly a failure of the safety parachute to deploy upon deceleration.[13][14]

A Namibian F-7

The Namibian Air Force has deployed numerous times to help civilian authorities during disasters. Health outreach workers have been ferried during immunisation campaigns. It has assisted in transporting electoral material and personnel during national elections.[19] It has also flown foreign heads of state during their stay in Namibia.[20]

Between 1998 and 2002 the air force was deployed to the DRC during the Second Congo War. Harbin Y-12 transport aircraft where used on logistics supply missions to the DRC as well as withdrawing Namibian troops at the end of the war. On 1 August 1999 an air force flight engineer died after he was hit by anti-aircraft fire on a Harbin Y-12 that was en route to resupply Namibian and Zimbabwean troops besieged at Ikela. Two Namibian Alouette helicopters collided in mid-air while on operations during the war due to bad weather on 15 January 1999. The accident claimed nine lives, including two Namibian pilots and three technicians.[21]

During the 2014 floods at Tokwe-Murkosi in Masvingo, Zimbabwe, the air force deployed a flight consisting of one Harbin Z-9 and two Alouettes to assist with the evacuation of the affected people.[22] The mission lasted seven days in which 600 residents were airlifted, as well as 56 tons of goods.[23]

The air force deployed a composite flight consisting of a Y-12 transport aircraft and Z-9 light utility helicopters to the SADC air forces exercise Blue Kavango held in Botswana.[24][25]

The rank insignia of commissioned officers.

Rank group	General / flag officers										Senior officers						Junior officers								Officer cadet
Namibian Air Force[26]
			Chief air marshal		Air marshal		Air vice marshal		Air commodore		Group captain		Wing commander		Squadron leader		Flight lieutenant		Flying officer			Pilot officer

The rank insignia of non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel.

Rank group	Senior NCOs																						Junior NCOs						Enlisted
Namibian Air Force[26]																													No insignia
	Warrant officer class 1						Warrant officer class 2		Flight sergeant		Sergeant												Aircraftman				Leading aircraftman		Private (or equivalent)

• Cooper, Tom; Weinert, Peter; Hinz, Fabian; Lepko, Mark (2011). African MiGs, Volume 2: Madagascar to Zimbabwe. Houston: Harpia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9825539-8-5.
• Hoyle, Craig (13–19 December 2011). "World Air Forces Directory". Flight International. Vol. 180, no. 5321. pp. 26–52. ISSN 0015-3710.