Kenya recently acquired a deadly — albeit old — weapon: The Bell AH-1F Cobra attack helicopter.
Though the Kenya Air Force acquired the aircraft over a year ago, they have not flown any missions and now some pilots and air technicians are quietly raising questions over the airworthiness of the helicopters.
Air Force officers claim that the issue of the Cobra helicopters, which one officer described as “scrap metal”, is being hushed up in the military.
ACQUIRED DISCREETLY
The story of the Cobras, the world’s first production attack helicopters, which were acquired discreetly, first came to light in May last year, when a video was posted online showing the Kenya Air Force (KAF) receiving a stripped down Cobra at the Laikipia Air Base.
A month later, the Kingdom of Jordan announced that it had donated the Cobras to Kenya in a deal in which the US-manufacturer, the Bell Helicopter Company, reported that it would provide training and maintenance for the Cobras.
WAR MACHINE
Recently, the Air Force also acquired the Fennec AS350 B3 light attack and scout helicopter. The Fennec, which was for the first time displayed to the public during the KDF Day, is also yet to be deployed.
Despite increased attacks along the border with Somalia, the Cobras are sitting unused at the Kenya Air Force.
The KDF spokesman, Lt-Col Paul Njuguna, termed the lack of flying for the war machine as “normal”, disputing claims that the helicopters have been grounded.
“Pilot training and conversion is still ongoing. This is to ensure that we remain a mission-capable force that is deeply rooted in professionalism,” Lt-Col Njuguna told the Nation, insisting that the helicopters are in serviceable condition.
QUALIFIED PILOTS
This official narrative is disputed by KAF officers who say they have a pool of qualified pilots who have successfully trained to fly the Cobras.
“The excuses for non-deployment range from that the helicopters are too old to fly in critical missions, to lack of spare parts and appropriate ammunition,” an officer in the military well-versed with the issue, said.
The Cobra has a good reputation globally as a top fighter. It was designed, built and deployed to the battlefield in just over two years.
“We are wondering why such a good helicopter with a high reputation globally is not being involved in missions locally or in Somalia?” an officer asked.
MAIDEN FLIGHT
The AH-1F Cobra was the backbone of the United States Army’s attack helicopter fleet until the late 1990s when it was replaced by the more lethal AH-64 Apache. Although it is no longer used by the US Army, the Cobra is the primary attack helicopter for the United States Marine Corps.
According to the Marine Corps, the Cobra is well adapted to operating in severe environments and is simple to maintain compared to many of its more complex international counterparts.
The Cobra helicopter’s maiden combat flight was in 1967 in the Vietnam War.
DECLARED UNSAFE
According to reports on respected military and security sites, the Cobras procured by Kenya are believed to have been part of about 60 helicopters, which the Israeli Ministry of Defence, in August 2013, after years of service, declared unsafe to fly and prone to accidents.
When the Israelis put them up for sale in 2014, Nigeria was among the first to bid for them. The deal did not go through as the Obama administration in January 2015 suspended the sale of the US-made helicopters, arguing that they risked being deployed against civilians and thus could be used to perpetrate human rights abuses.
Then in mid-2015, Israel transferred 16 of the Cobras to the Royal Jordanian Air Force, to be used in the fight against ISIS, with the Jordanian Army saying they could be used as spare parts for its 25 Cobras already in service.
MACHINE GUNS
Questions are being asked if the Cobras delivered to Kenya were part of the unwanted helicopters in Israel, which were donated to Jordan for use as spare parts.
In July last year, KDF announced that it was receiving an undisclosed number of second-hand Bell AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters from the Kingdom of Jordan. The attack helicopters were to be used in the fight against Al-Shabaab.
Although they were to be deployed to the Kenya Army’s 50th Air Cavalry Division, the Cobras are currently stationed with the Kenya Air Force.
The AH-1F Cobra can fire missiles, has machine guns and can serve as a ground attack support gunship helicopter.
UNDER SCRUTINY
This is not the first time that a military deal between Kenya and Jordan is coming under scrutiny.
In October 2010, Parliament was informed that the Department of Defence had acquired 15 fighter jets from Jordan, which were substandard. A damning report tabled by the then Defence and Foreign Affairs Committee chairperson led to the stepping aside of the Foreign Affairs Minister and his PS.
Our defense budget is the highest in the region, we have highly trained personel , but the decision makers in the DOD are a let down.
stupid decisions that look very intentional.
The story of old jets from Jordan is not yet forgotten, the over-priced Air-Tractors from USA, and now this… i don’t know how true it is, but where there is smoke there is fire.
By now we should also have our own budding domestic defense industry producing some simple equipment, but alas…kickbacks zitoke wapi.
utaambiwa ni za enzi ya Moi naye Kibaki alikataa kulipa so in essence sio shida ya Man Gathesh!
Man Gathesh was just, simply minding his own business halafu shida ikamkuta. Same for the trillion dollar loans. Ni loan za zamani… na mnataka afanye nini na sio yeye?!
First let’s separate facts from fiction.
First, KDF needs approval from Amisom before bringing in such equipment to be used in Somalia. Such assets would needed to be shared by the entire battlefield contingent in all the sectors thus putting a strain on the already aged equipment.
The purpose of the cobras was to provide air support and cover for our special forces when doing missions in Zoomalia. This is allowed since they’re not being stationed in Zoomalia.
The Fennec helicopters we just bought were to be used by our special forces to quickly insert in Somalia completing missions. And as well do patrols over the Boni Forest.
hii Boni Forest inakaaje from Bird’s eye vue..? I hear about it alot
You are wasting time, this story was the headline grabber of the day to guarantee sales. It full of speculations and not facts. First on matters KDF you either know it or you don’t. There is no guess work. The only fact there is that we have acquired by grant cobras from Jordan. It was organized by Former President Obama so that should we need close air support they would be it considering garissa attacks. The number and everything else remains classified. Any speculations of if or not they are deployed, what mission specifics are they given and area of operations is only known to the commanders. If we wanted new cobras we will need to buy them, this are a grant. Lastly, this assumption that the enemy is based in camps somewhere to be bombed by choppers show how much the conflict in Somali is covered by our githeri media by guesswork. I’m sure the source is the same author. Anisom and KDF are fighting an insurgency war with alshabab. They are in hiding through out, wearing civilian cloths during the day and participating in normal activities. At night they take arms, plant IED and prefer quick ambush before they disappear. To defeat an insurgency you need to equip a local force to police the area before you withdraw. Its a deadly hide and seek war, that’s why force equipment are useless in that arena. 99% of the time is used in intelligence gathering to find out where the enemy is so that you can strike.
Si ni mistooni kubwa.
I hear gogo maps wako huko wame chora barabara.
I agree.
Plus the day Alshabab used to travel in technicals is over. There tactics changed a long time ago.
Not since drone strikes started in Somali, its an easy target. They use donkeys to slowly move weapons and ieds from one place to another. Its a logistical nightmare on their part. The last few miles to their target is on foot. They also exit the place quickly since they know we mobilize quickly to get there.
Even before the drone strikes KDF jets and MD500s would pick the off when they traveled in convoy.
The Americans took over after that when apparently we started getting bad intel.
Introduction of the Bell AH-1F Cobra attack helicopter, the only attack heli to be aquired by kdf/kaf is very questionable. Had it been early 80’s things could’ve been different. Lakini sasa?