National Air Force of Angola National Air Force of Angola The National Air Force of Angola or FANA (Portuguese: "Força Aérea Nacional de Angola") is the air branch of the Armed Forces of Angola. With an inventory of more than 300 aircraft, FANA is (on paper) one of the largest air forces of Africa. Angola became independent from Portugal on 11 November 1975. However, the foundations for the establishment of the air force were laid before independence when members of the then Flying Club of Angola ("Aeroclube de Angola") were assembled at Luanda in October 1975. These people and aircraft left behind by the Portuguese
1950s in Angola of Northern Angola, which advocated the independence of the traditional Kingdom of Kongo, in 1954. Portuguese police arrested Agostinho Neto of the MPLA and future President of Angola (1975–1979), in 1952 and again in 1955 for his involvement in the Portuguese Communist Party. He returned to Angola in 1959 and police arrested him again in 1960. Portuguese authorities arrested over 100 MPLA members in 1959. The Portuguese discovered petroleum in Angola in 1955. Production began in the Cuanza basin in the 1950s, in the Congo basin in the 1960s, and in the exclave of Cabinda in 1968. The Belgian company