Kenya has largely survived on aircraft donations and maintains an older fleet bought years ago, apart from a few purchases for use by VIPs, publicly available information and military records indicate.
Kenya Air Force has for a long time depended on its 17 old Scottish Aviation Bulldogs, Embraer Tucanos trainers and 14 BAE System Hawks that were delivered in 1980 for training.
There are several MD530s and C-27J Spartans for transport in the fleet.
The only recent helicopters the Kenyan government has purchased for the Kenya Air Force are five Augustawestland manufactured AW 139s, several Tucanos and 12 Grob 120As Grobs training aircraft.
In 2017, Jordan donated five AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters which joined the Armys 50th Air Calvary helicopters handled by the Joint Helicopter Command based at Embakasi Garrison.
In September 2018, for instance, Kenya received a donation of 13 Eurocopter AS350B3 and AS550C3 Fennec helicopters from United Arab Emirates.
UAE received 27 of these helicopters from Airbus, France in 2001 before transferring 10 to Jordan in 2005 and 13 to Kenya later.
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They were mounted with seven round 70mm rocket launchers and 7.62mm M134 midguns.
The helicopters and assorted spare parts were received and commissioned by the then Defence Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo at the Laikipia Air Base in Nanyuki in the company of the then Commander of the Kenya Air Force Major General Francis Ogolla.
The aircraft were donated by the United Arab Emirates President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nayhan.
Also present during the reception were the then UAE ambassador to Kenya Khalid Abdullah Rashid Al Mualla, the then Laikipia Air Base Commander and current Air Force Commander Major General John Omenda and Colonel Jamal Alhababi from the UAE Joint Aviation Command.
Another H 124 Fennec has also joined the Kenya Air Force fleet. At around the same time, KAF placed an order for 11 MD530F Cayuse Warrior attack helicopters, but it is not known if they were ever delivered to Kenya.
The 14 Bell Huey II helicopters similar to the one in which General Francis Ogolla crashed to his death were donated to Kenya by the United States of America.
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In February 2024, South Korea donated nine retired McDonnel Douglas MD 500 light attack helicopters previously used by Republic of Korea Army.
These were the first batch of 21 helicopters that South Korea had pledged to donate to Kenya during the United Nations Peace Keeping Forum hosted in Seoul, South Korea.
The government will closely cooperate with the US and UN to complete the donation of the remaining 12 helicopters and expand contribution to the global peace and security, including the UN Peace Keeping operations, the South Korean Defence Ministry said then in a statement.
The 10 Grob 120A basic trainers purchased by Kenya were handed over to KAF in Germany in November 2013 and flown back to the country by eight Kenyan pilots that had been trained in Mattsies, Germany.
Kenya is the first African Air Force to operate the six cylinder Lycoming piston engine aircraft that provides 260 horse power. The composite airframe aero plane has 15,000 hours service life and good for aerobatic training.
It has a glass cockpit featuring Elbit 205x150mm multifunction display, digital standby flight display and digital engine display.
Grob 12A has the lowest maintenance costs in the industry and therefore recommended for aviation training.
During the 2023 African Air Chiefs Symposium in Dakar, Senegal, the Kenya Air Force Commander Major General John Omenda said that the countrys wide assortment of military aircraft can be difficult to maintain and get parts for.
Having a variety of aircraft is a challenge. We source wide and large for spares. Most of these assets are aged and their support is rapidly going down. It is a bit demanding in terms of acquisition of these parts and training of the technicians to maintain them, he is quoted saying.
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The call to modernise the equipment and mostly aircraft in the Kenya Air Force has picked up momentum following the tragic helicopter crash that claimed Gen Ogolla alongside nine other soldiers.
As at 2021, Kenya Air Force also possessed 11 new Chinese-made Harbin Y-12 transport planes and three Canadian built Bombardier Das
In matters financing, the military has been receiving the largest
