Well Christmas has brought a new war to the world.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/africa/12/25/somalia.jets.reut/index.html

Ethiopia and Somalia? They can't even feed themselves and they can put planes in the air.

When I read the article, my first thought was like Sal's.

"They have jets?"

As much as I'd like to have peace on earth, it doesn't look like it's going to happen anytime soon, dammit.

There's worse to come, as much as I hate to say that.

When I read the article, my first thought was like Sal's.

"They have jets?"

Ethiopia has more than 100 combat aircraft in their air force, some old, some not-so-old.

4 Canberra B57
20 MiG-17
28 MiG-21
19 MiG-23
26 F-5
2 Su-25
8 Su-27

Their transport planes are another matter.

13 An-12
2 An-26
1 An-32
3 DHC-6
13 C-47 Skytrain
2 C-54
10 C-119
2 Harbin Y-12
1 Il-14
4 C-130
1 Tu-154
1 Yak-40

A mixture of ancient American designs, and old and new Russian planes must make for a logistical nightmare for the Ethiopians. My guess would be that many of these planes aren't airworthy. My uncle flew C-47's during WWII, and the C-119 was being used by NG units 40 years ago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopian_Air_Force

This new war is in the Horn of Africa, an important region for a number of reasons. It borders the Red Sea, and all traffic passing through the Suez Canal goes by the war zone. Also it borders the Sudan, where the U.N. is debating a no-fly zone to stop the violence in Darfur. Also there are U.S. Naval facilities in the area which operate in support of the Persian Gulf. Notice also in the article, the mention of getting weapons and fighters from outside countries. These might well include Iran and Saudi Arabia.
relief efforts for Darfur are based in surrounding countries, including Ethiopia.
The presence of Al Qaida in Somalia has long been reported. It is unclear where all this is headed, but it doesn't look good.

Here is a link for a good map of the region.

http://www.infoplease.com/atlas/africa.html

Ethiopia has more than 100 combat aircraft in their air force, some old, some not-so-old.

4 Canberra B57
20 MiG-17
28 MiG-21
19 MiG-23
26 F-5
2 Su-25
8 Su-27

Their transport planes are another matter.

13 An-12
2 An-26
1 An-32
3 DHC-6
13 C-47 Skytrain
2 C-54
10 C-119
2 Harbin Y-12
1 Il-14
4 C-130
1 Tu-154
1 Yak-40

A mixture of ancient American designs, and old and new Russian planes must make for a logistical nightmare for the Ethiopians. My guess would be that many of these planes aren't airworthy. My uncle flew C-47's during WWII, and the C-119 was being used by NG units 40 years ago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopian_Air_Force

This beats the Somali Air Force hands down. Also from Wikipedia the history of the Somali Air Force. Note the end of the force after the collapse of the central government.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_of_Somalia

Air Force

[edit] After Independence (1960-1969)
The air force, or Somali Aeronautical Corps was established after independence, and was first equipped with small numbers of mostly old Western aircraft, such as the Beech 18, (possibly six) C-47 Dakotas for transport tasks, a few Piaggio P. 148s and P-51D Mustangs used as fighters, and a pair of Bell 47 Sioux helicopters. As with every air arm, the air force evolved along the lines off Somalian politics, and when on 21 of October 1969 Siad Barre took over power, ending the Igaal reign and proclaiming Somalia to be a socialist state, a rapid modernisation took place.


[edit] Soviet Influence (1969-1978)
In the beginning of the 1970s, Somalia and the USSR signed a friendship deal, which included the provision of a large number of modern weapons, advisors, training and maintenance. The air force expanded rapidly, and was at the time one of the most advanced in eastern Africa. The first squadron of jet fighters was equipped with the Mig-15 'Fagot' (Nato codename), along with some Mig-15UTI 'Midget' double seaters for conversional training. Also provided were small numbers of transport aircraft: An-2 Colt biplanes, An-24 Cokes, some Il-18 Coots and at least one An-26 'Curl'. Yak-11 'Moose' trainers and a few Mi-4 'Hound' piston-engined helicopters were also added to the inventory. The respected Il-28 'Beagle' was also rumored to have been in service, albeit in very small numbers. Later on, the Soviets sold more modern jets: a large number (at least two fully equipped squadrons) of Mig-17 'Fresco' subsonic jet fighters, and a smaller number of Mig-21F and Mig-21MF 'Fishbed' supersonic point defence fighters, and possibly twelve Mi-8 'Hip' turbine powered transport helicopters. The advanced Mig-23 is also rumoured to have visited Somalia in the seventies, but it is very unlikely they were actually in use by the Somali Aeronautical Corps, which by now had changed its name to Somali Air Force or SAF.


[edit] The Ogaden War (1977 - 1978)
During the 1970s the SAF or Somali air force had proven to be useful to suppress the many violent uprisings that took place in Somalia, but its achievements in a first 'real' war turned out to be a disappointment. Dreams of a 'Greater Somalia' and Somalian support of the WNLF-rebels, active inside the Ethiopian part of the Ogaden, led Siad Barre's regime to start an invasion of the Ethiopian Ogaden province, in 1977.

The territory had always been a disputed part of Ethiopia, and its mostly nomadic inhabitants were closely related to the Somalian people. Aided by more than 250 tanks and 300 armoured vehicles (the largest armoured army in sub Saharic Africa at the time), some 23000 soldiers marched towards the west and at first brought allmost 90% of the Ogaden province under Somalian control.[citation needed]

The SAF was ordered to protect the forces and to offer close air support on the battlefield. By this time however, Ethiopia itself had sought assistance of the Soviet Union, the latter being forced to drop Somalia as a client state because of the Ogaden war. The SAF, not only strongly reliant on Soviet equipment but moreover on Soviet assistance, training and maintenance (even some pilots), suffered badly from these recent political changes. At first it had at least been able to provide the army with close air support, but by the time the invasion was halted by the regrouping Ethiopian forces, the SAF lost momentum.

Worst of all, after the souring of Soviet-Somalian relations, Cuba had joined the Ethiopian efford to reclaim the Ogaden province, and modern Mil-24 'Hind' attack helicopters, flown by Cuban pilots, proved to be devastating to the old and relativily thin-armoured Somalian T-34 and T-54/55 tanks. The SAF was unable to stop the onslaught, and shortly after, the Somali army was defeated and driven out of the Ethiopian part of the Ogaden in the end of 1978. Tensions remained however, and some three years later the conflict rekindled for another round of Ehtiopian-Somali bloodshed. By this time the SAF was degraded to the extent that it played almost no significant role in the area anymore.


[edit] The Difficult Decade (1978-1991)
After the loss of Soviet assistance, and the loss of equipment in the Ogaden, the SAF tried to maintain itself by getting help from other sources. First of all, relationships with the U.S. improved in the wake of the Cold War conflict in the Horn of Africa, and with Ethiopia getting a lot of Soviet military assistance, the SAF received in turn some American assistance as well, but not nearly enough to rebuilt the squadrons.

A Bell AB204B Iroquois and some AB206 Jet rangers and maybe a CH-47 Chinook were provided and a couple of unarmed Cessna trainers, but the SAF had to turn to other sources.

A lot of Italian equipment reached Somalia: three Douglas C-47s, at least two Aelitalia G.222L medium transport planes and some twelve SIAI SF. 260 Warriors light trainers/coin aircraft (six SF.260Ms, six SF.260Ws), "a few" Agusta-Bell AB.212s, plus three Piaggio P.166s.[1]

China provided 40 F-6C 'Farmer' jet fighters (Chinese Mig-19 copies)[2], and FT-6 double seat fighter trainers in 1983. Zimbabwean private contractors overhauled and repaired some Mig-21 jet fighters, and maybe a few Chinese F-7's 'Fishbed'(Mig-21 copies) fighters were provided.

Libya provided three Antonov An-26 transports and several Mil Mi-8 helicopters.

Also, Abu Dhabi gave 6 or 8 used Hawker Hunter FGA.76's ground attack fighters and one Hawker Hunter T.77 double-seat trainer, which were flown by South African and Rhodesian mercenaries, while the Zimbabwean repair crews provided their maintenance. New transport aircraft were also added from a number of western European sources: 6 C-212 Aviocars and some 4 BN-2 Islanders were acquired. In the 80s the SAF consisted of:

one fighter squadron equipped with Mig-21s (or F-7s)
two fighter squadrons equipped with some 20 remaining Mig-17s (spare parts from China F-5 or through cannibalization of grounded Mig-17s)
one ground attack squadron equipped with the 7 or 9 (ex Abu-Dhabi) Hawker FGA.76 Hunters
two ground attack/fighter squadrons equipped with some 20 Chinese F-6s
one training/counter-insurgency squadron equipped with 12 SIAI SF.260 Warriors
one helicopter squadron equipped with a mix of remaining Mil-4's, Mil-8's and western Agusta Bell AB 204B and AB 206 helicopters
one transport squadron equipped with a mix of remaining An-2s and An-24s, and 6 new C-212 Aviocars and a few BN-2 Islanders.
The national carrier airline, Air Somalia, equipped with 5 Boeing 707s, could also provide some transport capacity.

However, due to the costs of the first and second ongoing Ogaden conflict, the worldwide economic problems, and some severe droughts in the Horn of Africa, the Somalian economy collapsed halfway the '80s and funding for the rather large air force dried up. Still the SAF managed to deploy some squadrons to fight rebels in the north of Somalia in the late '80s.


[edit] The End of the SAF (1991)
With the fall of the Siad Barre's regime in 1991, a civil war ignited and chaos roamed free in Somalia. Funding for any government activity, including the SAF, ended immediately, and the remains of the SAF were photographed in a derelict state at Mogadishu airport in 1993.

This new war is in the Horn of Africa, an important region for a number of reasons. It borders the Red Sea, and all traffic passing through the Suez Canal goes by the war zone. Also it borders the Sudan, where the U.N. is debating a no-fly zone to stop the violence in Darfur. Also there are U.S. Naval facilities in the area which operate in support of the Persian Gulf. Notice also in the article, the mention of getting weapons and fighters from outside countries. These might well include Iran and Saudi Arabia.
relief efforts for Darfur are based in surrounding countries, including Ethiopia.
The presence of Al Qaida in Somalia has long been reported. It is unclear where all this is headed, but it doesn't look good.
The U.S. also has troops stationed in Djibouti. They were originally placed there for carrying out anti-terrorism operations in Yemen, but could be used in the Somali conflict if need be. However, that's unlikely since the Somali Islamists are unlikely to ever gain the upper hand in the conflict.

The U.S. also has troops stationed in Djibouti. They were originally placed there for carrying out anti-terrorism operations in Yemen, but could be used in the Somali conflict if need be. However, that's unlikely since the Somali Islamists are unlikely to ever gain the upper hand in the conflict.

Exactly what I was about to say, there are American troops in Djibouti. But after what happened in Mogadishu in 1993, we might be a little aprehensive about sending American military back into Somalia. Africa is just another middle east with all the ethnic cleansing, and religious conflicts anyways. Dunno if we can afford to deal with another one of those.

This sounds like the best Christmas present arms dealers have had in years. All the old second hand stuff lying around have just found a market.

Looks like the Southern Sahara has opened on 2 fronts, this new development in the horn, and out west the tragedy in Dafur, could be the start of a new mini cold war, only this time its the west v Islam.

Under the theory that the enemy of my enemy is my friend I say, Go Ethiopa!

This new war is in the Horn of Africa, an important region for a number of reasons.
Ignorance is bliss. Thanks for the info Imagineer. The area is a powder keg.

How do you classify when a new war has begun in Africa if they're just killing each other every day anyways?

Under the theory that the enemy of my enemy is my friend I say, Go Ethiopia!

Exactly, I do believe the same... though I think more about politics.

One other factor may be playing a part, although unspoken, in outside interest in this conflict. During the early 1990's the area was being searched for oil. Apparently there is oil in the area, although the collapse of Somalia into civil war at the time, and the continuing conflicts have made it to dangerous to follow up on development of the resource.