Ghana Armed Forces wins UN aviation service contract in Mali

The Ghana Air Force (GAF) has won a United Nations air services contract to operate an aviation unit in Mali in support of its operations.

A statement from the Public Relations Directorate of the GAF said the Air Force, which won the international competitive bidding to operate the new unit, was already operating a similar service in UN’s operation in Cote d’ Ivoire.

It said with the UN fully taking over the peacekeeping operations in Mali, it had become imperative to operate air services in support of the international operation.

The statement said the Air Force was preparing to acquire two new CASA C295 Airbus Military Aircraft to provide the badly needed service.

Explaining further, it said, the CASA C295 was a robust military logistics and troop transport aircraft, which was ideal for medical evacuations, troop transport and logistics airlifting.

It is also able to land on paved or gravelled runway and has short landing and take-off capabilities.

The statement said the Air Force already had two of those aircrafts in its fleet and had operated them efficiently over the last two years.

It said the two new aircrafts would be acquired on a lease-to-purchase basis with the payments from the UN for the services to be provided in Mali under the UN arranged Memorandum of Understanding.

It said the payments would be committed to the lease obligations with the Ghana Air Force having an option to acquire the aircraft at the end of the lease period.

The Ghana Armed Forces has an enviable peacekeeping track record, the statement added

Source: GNA