Democratic Republic of Congo Air Force L-39 Fleet Update

An Aero L-39 Albatros went down near Kalemie in Tanganyika province in mid-June 2026. Video circulating on 15 June showed Russian-speaking personnel recovering the airframe from a swamp, a white Mi-26 lifting the wreck clear and allowing the type to be identified. Janes noted the L-39 was not previously known to be in service with the FARDC, pointing to operation by Russian-speaking contractors supporting Kinshasa in the east. M23-aligned accounts separately claimed around the same period to have shot down an aircraft flown by the DRC coalition. The cause of the loss has not been established.