Brief history This former French Colony gained independence in August 1960 and was known as Upper Volta until 1984. Military aviation started in 1964 with a squadron of aircraft subordinate to the army. In 1970 this was upgraded to force-level and after that it became a separate branch of the armed forces in 1977.
In the mid-eighties the Force Aérienne de Burkina Faso acquired aircraft from several sources consisting of training aircraft, helicopters, some transports and light attack aircraft. The force is now known as Armée de l'Air Burkinabé and two bases are used, at Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso.
