Brief history After being a French colony, Ivory Coast gained its independence in 1960. The country prospered and unlike many of the surrounding countries was not plagued by turmoil or military coups until 1999. The government was overthrown and this led to a civil war and two camps, the North and South. The UN stepped in as did the French armed forces and after several attempts to install a civil government accepted by both sides, the former president Ggagbo was ousted after he refused to step down after being beaten by Alassane Dramane Quattara in the 2010 elections.
Not surprisingly, the air force's lineage is French, both in structure and material. It has had much to suffer the last decade though. Not many aircraft are currently operable. Some VIP transports, Dauphin and Mi-24 helicopters and two of the quartet of relatively recently acquired Su-25s are potentially active.
