Vice-President John Mahama has announced plans by the government to re-equip the Ghana Air Force by replacing the ageing fleet of aircraft in its inventory with new ones.

The re-equipment involves acquisition of four new turbo propelled aircraft to replace the Skyvans and the Fokker 27s, which have been in service for over 30 years. Other new aircraft to be acquired are Diamond DA 42s, special aircraft for surveillance activities in the wake of the oil find and two light and two heavy lift helicopters to augment the helicopter fleet.

Vice-President Mahama who is the chairman of the Armed Forces Council, was speaking as guest of honour at a dinner/dance to mark the 50th anniversary of the Ghana Air Force in Accra on Saturday.

"It is now time for us to inject new life into the Air Force as the provision for spare parts and other accessories for the old aircraft are becoming more and more expensive and in some cases hard to come by," he said.

The Vice-President stressed that for economic and safety reasons, it was prudent that the entire fleet be replaced with new ones.

With the onset of oil exploration in Ghana, government was aware of the enormous task that would be placed on the Air Force to support the Navy in policing the territorial waters, he added.

Mr. Mahama said in doing all these, government would not ignore the domestic and international commitment of the country, peacekeeping, as well as the internal requirement for helicopter support.

He noted that in spite of the numerous resource constraints, the Ghana Air Force had stayed in the air and had performed creditably not only in its traditional role of protecting the territorial air space of the country but also in supporting the sister services - the Army and Navy and supporting rescue efforts in times of disaster.

Vice-President Mahama gave the assurance that the military in general would be resourced adequately to enable them to perform their constitutional duties.

The event was attended by the top brass of the military including the Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice-Marshal Sampson Oje and the Chief of Army Staff, Major General Joseph Adinkra.