Airforces

helicopters managed to return to

base, but some of the contractors

returned to Ukraine in the days

that followed. As of March 30,

2012, two Hinds were still in

service and were operating from

the city of Gao, while the other

two provided a source of spare

parts. Two other Mi-24Ds were

delivered from Bulgaria in 2012.

After the coup of March 22,

2012 and the collapse of the

Malian Army, the last Ukrainian

contractors left the country.

Between March 13 and 15 the

following year, Mi-24s were

Gunships and light

attack

In 2007, two Mi-24D attack

helicopters – TZ 404 and TZ 405

• were acquired from Bulgarian
  Air Force stocks. Two more
  arrived in November 2009.
  These were piloted by mixed
  crews of Ukrainian contractors
  and Malian airmen. On April 2,
  2008, one of these contractors
  was killed and another wounded
  during an air strike by a pair of
  Mi-24s on a column of vehicles
  belonging to a Tuareg rebel
  chief, southwest of Kidal. Both

aircraft, TZ-359 and TZ-399,

were photographed in 2008 but

are currently unserviceable.

In 1997, the FARM ordered

two Basler BT-67s, but TZ-389

crashed prior to delivery on March

15 that year after colliding with

a Beechcraft Bonanza flown by

company founder and CEO Warren

Basler in Newton, Wisconsin.

Mr Basler was among the four

company employees killed. A

second aircraft was assigned

the same registration but was

later transferred to a civilian

operator. Meanwhile, TZ-390

was delivered in September 1997

before being withdrawn and

stored at Gao, then reactivated in

2015 as TZ-01T. Aircraft TZ-391

was delivered in July 1998, and

returned to Basler for overhaul

in 2007, and did not return.

The air force also acquired two

BN-2 Islanders in the 1980s that

are currently stored at Bamako.

At least 14 Tétras 912CSLs have

been delivered from France and

at least seven remain in service:

one may have crashed in 2007.

In February 2016, Mali ordered

a single Airbus Defence and

Space C295W for the air force.

The transport arrived at

Bamako on December 15 that

year. Further modernisation

was noted on September 20,

2017, when the FARM took

delivery of two Harbin Y-12s.

In December 2000, China

donated two Harbin Z-9B

helicopters to the air force. One

of these, TZ-393, crashed on

September 10 the following year.

The remaining example is stored

at Bamako. An AS350B Ecureuil

was also delivered in the late

1980s, but has been retired from

service. The first of two second-

hand AS332L1 Super Pumas

arrived on October 17, 2016, with

another following in January 2017.

Above: Now stored at Bamako, TZ-

357 is a MiG-21MF supplied by the

Czech Republic. Until September

2005 it served with the Czech Air

Force as ‘5508’. In the background

is stored An-26 TZ-359.

Jan Hendrikzijnzoon

Right: A rare in-flight view of a

Humbert Aviation Tétras 912CSL.

This aircraft operates from BA101

Bamako-Sénou. Jan Hendrikzijnzoon

Bottom: Before going into storage

at Bamako, Z-9A TZ-394 had briefly

seen some operational service.

Its sister aircraft was lost in an

accident in September 2001.

Jan Hendrikzijnzoon

engaged in operations in

the forest of Ouagadou near

the border with Mauritania.

On April 12, 2013, Mi-24

serial TZ-406 crashed near

Ouro Modi, 31 miles (50km)

southwest of Sévaré, killing

the five crew members.

On September 21, 2017,

the European Union Training

Mission in Mali (EUTM Mali)

announced that the FARM had

taken delivery of its first two

Mi-35Ms, delivered from Russia.

To mark the 50th anniversary

of Malian independence, Libya

donated two SF260Ws to the

country. One remains in service.

In June 2015, Mali signed an

agreement with Embraer for six

A-29B Super Tucanos. Four

aircraft in Malian colours (TZ-01C

to TZ-04C) were seen in late 2016

at Bacacheri Airport in Curitiba,

Brazil, but there’s no confirmation

they have been delivered. These

light combat turboprops are

considered well suited for counter-

insurgency operations alongside

the Hind gunships. With this

acquisition – and Mali’s continued

economic hardships – a return to

the jet fighters flown in previous

decades seems unlikely.AFM

86 // FEBRUARY 2018 #359 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com

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