Republic of Guinea-Bissau Air Force / Força Aérea da Guiné-Bissau
Brief history The Republic of Guinea-Bissau used to be a Portuguese colony until independence in 1974. Like many young African countries, Guinea-Bissau struggled to gain a true democratic civilian government. After a military supported reign by João Bernardo Vieira that lasted until 1999, including the first elections thats saw the general being elected as president, a new president was elected and he stayed in office for a short period of time. Again, the military took over, and after an interim government, Vieira was elected president again. Eventually he met his fate and was assassinated in 2009. The 2009 election resulted was won by Malam Bacai Sanha who passed away in 2012. Currently, there is a transitional government pending the next elections.
As could be expected, the early Guinea-Bissau air force consisted of former Portuguese Air Force Dakotas and some second hand MiG-15, -17 and -21 fighters. However, the current air force is basically non-existent with only one Mi-8 thought to be in active use
