The Macedonian Air Warfare and Air Defense Forces were first outfitted with the UTVA-66 and UTVA-75 aircraft. One UTVA-66 and four UTVA-75 A21 two-seat trainers, all leased from the Macedonian Aeronautical Union, were in operation when the Macedonian Air Warfare and Air Defence Forces were established.

A resolution requesting an immediate UN arms embargo on Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Macedonia, and Slovenia was unanimously adopted by the United Nations Security Council after full-scale conflict broke out in the newly independent republics of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1991. Macedonia thought this resolution was unfair because it was the only one of the former Yugoslav republics that had achieved its independence peacefully. From Ukraine, the Macedonian Air Force and Air Defence Forces acquired four 1920s-built biplanes in 1994. They were delivered to the Macedonian Air Force and Air Defense Forces with civil registrations as a result of the arms embargo. Macedonia was not included in the United Nations' arms embargo in 1996 by the Security Council. Following this, the Macedonian Air Force and Air Defence Forces painted and assigned military serial numbers to all four Mi-17 helicopters.