Brief history
October 1961 saw the creation of the Air Force, nearly a year after the Armed Forces were formed and just after the unification of Cameroon. Those first years, the Armée de l'Air relied on European aircraft types like the MH1521 Broussard, MD315 Flamant, SE3130 Alouette 3, Dornier Do28 and the venerable C-47 Dakota.
During the seventies more modern hardware was incepted when four CM170, a single SA330 Puma, two BAe748, a DHC-4, and last but not least, the Presidential B727 TJ-AAM arrived. The eighties meant another period of reenforcement, most ntable was the acquisition of five Alpha Jet MS2. Also, the transport capabilities were greatly enhanced by obtaining C-130 and DHC-5 aircraft. For patrolling duies Do128 were used and SA342L Gazelles gave the force anti-tank capabilities.
Most of those types still form the back bone of the Air Force today. Although a modernization progamme was initiated in the 2010s. In this programme a couple of extra air bases were created, at Bamenda in the North West and Bertoua in the East. This should bring the number of bases to five throughout the three defence regions each of which holds one of the original three air bases, Yaoundé, Douala and Garoua.
