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DRA Afghan Air Force and Air Defense in the late seventies
before the Soviet invasion

The DRA Afghan Air Force and Air Defense consisted of four forces. The air force; antiaircraft-artillery, antiaircraft-missile troops, and the radio-technical troops. In Bagram worked the aircraft repair plant, which was being specialized in MiG-17 ‘Fresco’ model.

By the end of the seventies, the Afghan Air Defense consisted of four anti-aircraft missile battalions of SA-75MK Dvina (SA-2 Guideline), three battalions of S-125M Neva (SA-3 Goa).

Member of the Afghan Air Force were usually low-educated and unmotivated. The rank of soldiers depended on the social rank of their family and not their talents.

In 1979, the Afghan Air Force consisted of approximately 200 combat aircraft including Su-7BMK ‘Fitter-A’, two air squadrons with MiG-21FL ‘Fishbed-D’ and MiG-21PFM ‘Fishbed-F’ fighters, MiG-17 ‘Fresco’ fighters, IL-28 ‘Beagle’ light bombers, and some Mi-4 ‘Hound’ and Mi-8 ‘Hip-C’ helicopters.

The most modern type of Afghan Air Force was the Su-7BMK ‘Fitter-A’ fighter-bomber. The new type served to intimidate Iran and Pakistan from the late sixties. Two squadrons were used by the 355th Fighter Bomber Regiment in Bagram Airport.

366th Fighter Air Regiment’s crew and their MiG-17F ‘Fresco-C’ jet aircrafts at Kandahar airport in 1979

Afghan MiG-17PF ‘Fresco-D’ interceptors with Izumrud RP-2 radar at Kandahar airport in 1980. Photo TASS GettyImages

In addition to Afghanistan's existing MiG-17F ‘Fresco-C’ and MiG-17PF ‘Fresco-D’ fighters, received a large number of former Soviet MiG-17s ‘Fresco-A’ from the Soviet Union in the early seventies. These were used as fighter-bombers and advanced training aircraft in the seventies at the 335th and 393rd regiments.

DRA Afghan Air Force and Air Defens’s order of battle in 1979:

The transport types of the Afghan Air Force were modernized in the second half of the seventies. Beside existing IL-14 Create and Mi-4 Hound piston engines, they received modern An-26 Curl transport aircraft and Mi-8T Hip-C medium cargo helicopters. In addition, an An-30 reconnaissance aircraft was also taken over.

Transport planes and helicopters were important because on the territory of Afghanistan traffic network was weak. There was no railway and not all provincial capitals had an airport to ensure the reception of transport aircraft. There were only 7 airfields with runway over 1800 m.

In April 1978, the communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) seized power in Afghanistan in the Saur Revolution. The coup was strategically planned to begin Thursday 27 April, because it was the day before Friday, the Muslim day of worship, and most military commanders and government workers were off duty. With the help of a few airplanes of Afghanistan's military air force, which were mainly Soviet made MiG-21 Fishbed and Su-7BMK Fitter-As. The aerial attacks on the palace intensified about midnight as six Su-7BMK Fitter-As made repeated rocket attacks, lighting up the city.

Under the coup, two aircraft were lost: MiG-21UM Mongol-B was damaged by the antiaircraft fire, after which pilot ejected; Su-7BMK Fitter-A's pilot of which on the takeoff felt bad and ejected. In addition, three MiG-21 Fishbed, four Su-7 Fitter, a Mi-8 Hip, an Il-14 Create, and an An-26 Curl, have been damaged.

Within months, opponents of the communist government launched an uprising in eastern Afghanistan that quickly expanded into a civil war waged by guerrilla mujahideen against government forces countrywide. The Afghan Air Force were actively used in the civil war between 1978 and 1979.

Afghan Air Fores’s Roundels:

Photos: Air International, Associated Press, TASS GettyImages