AFM - Air Forces of the World - 2019 - South American Air Forces.pdf

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AirForces
SOUTH
AMERICAN
AIR FORCES
Argentina to Venezuela
UNIT REPORTS
•
AIR POWER ANALYSIS
•
BASES
•
ORDERS OF BATTLE
OF THE WORLD
Airforces
Airforces
Monthly
Intelligence
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IN ASSOCIATION WITH
COLOMBIAN KFIRS
F-5E/F IN PATAGONIA
VOLUME 3: THE LATEST IN A SERIES OF REGIONAL AIR POWER REVIEWS
AirForces of the World
Introd
W
ELCOME TO the third edition
of
Air Forces of the World,
the
series of air power reviews
from the teams behind
AirForces Monthly
and
AirForces Intelligence.
Each year, our network of contributors
and analysts work their way around the
globe to bring you exhaustive coverage of
the world’s air arms, region by region.
The latest instalment puts the spotlight
on South America, which comprises 12
sovereign states (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil,
Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay,
Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela),
the air forces of which are profiled in the
following pages. South America also includes
part of France (French Guiana), and a non-
sovereign area (the Falkland Islands, a British
Overseas Territory disputed by Argentina).
While the resident air power capabilities of
these islands are beyond the scope of this
study, the Falklands/Malvinas still play a
prominent role in military thinking in Buenos
Aires and the conflict continues to cast a
shadow over today’s Argentine Air Force.
From the largest to the smallest, the
continent’s air forces are detailed in full, with
extensive orders of battle for every flying
unit; in addition,
AFM’s
correspondents
bring together the major stories from South
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AIRFORCES OF THE WORLD
www.airforcesmonthly.com
Cover:
A dramatic break by a pair of Mirage
2000Ps – a type that’s unique to the Peruvian
Air Force on the South American continent.
Although Peru’s Mirages are beginning to
flex their muscles in international exercises
(beginning with CRUZEX in 2018), the type has
had its potential stymied by a lack of funding
for much-needed upgrades. All Mirage 2000s
had been restored to a fully operational and
airworthy status by 2014, but since then no
budget has become available for renewal
of radar, self-defence suite or acquisition of
modern beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles.
Katsuhiko Tokunaga/DACT
oduction
America’s air forces over the last 12 months.
Our contributors also profile a select group
of air forces, with that coverage extending
to individual aircraft types and units. These
showcase some of the most captivating and
capable assets now on the front line in South
America: the Argentine Air Force A-4AR
Fightinghawk, Chilean Air Force F-5E/F Tigre III,
Colombian Air Force Kfir and Peruvian Air Force
Mirage 2000. There’s also timely coverage of the
IA-58 Pucará – an indigenously developed type
that’s now on the brink of retirement in its native
Argentina. There’s a profile of the Comando
Aéreo de Combate 4 – the Colombian Air Force’s
primary helicopter operator and the largest
rotary-wing unit in Latin America. Transport
and training elements also get a look in, with
reports from Colombia’s Palanquero air base,
home to the last T-37 Tweets in the Americas,
and from El Palomar, in Buenos Aires, where
the C-130 Hercules has clocked up over half a
century of service with the Argentine Air Force.
Almost every air force in this part of the world
has suffered the effects of budget cuts in the
last decade and many of those units on the
front line are having to rely on limited upgrades
to keep Cold War-era types in service. At the
same time, these air arms maintain a busy
tempo of operations, both in peacetime and in
conflict.
AFOTW
visits the Patagonian Andes to
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witness the Argentine Air Force practise flying
in an environment that closely simulates its
operations in the Antarctic, and to Natal air
base in northeast Brazil where the joint CRUZEX
exercise in November 2018 brought together
aircraft from Brazil, Chile, Peru and Uruguay as
well as the United States, Canada and France.
While the conflicts and the counter-
insurgency struggles of the late Cold War
period have mainly been consigned to
history, internal strife continues to be a
concern for many South American air forces.
In this issue we focus on Operação Ostium,
Brazil’s counter-narcotics effort along the
country’s northern borders, and also look
back to the Argentine Air Force’s baptism of
fire – the 1982 conflict in the Falklands.
Above:
Air power of the Americas in force. This
formation from November 2018’s CRUZEX exercise
brought together (from left to right): F-16C of the
Texas Air National Guard’s 149th Fighter Wing,
Uruguayan Air Force A-37B, Peruvian Air Force
Mirage 2000DP, Brazilian Air Force A-1B, Brazilian
Air Force F-5EM, Brazilian Navy AF-1C Skyhawk
and Chilean Air Force F-16AM.
Sgt Johnson/Força
Aérea Brasileira
Left:
A Chilean Air Force F-16 pilot
poses in front of a Fighting Falcon. In contrast to
many of the region’s other air arms, the Fuerza
Aérea de Chile has benefitted from new-generation
equipment, including Block 50 F-16s – arguably the
most capable in-service fighters in South America.
Cristobal Soto Pino and Simón Blaise Olivera
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AIRFORCES OF THE WORLD
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AirForces of the World
6
Last push for the Pucará
In a sad irony, the IA-58 Pucará may not be in service to mark this year’s
half a century since its first flight. Santiago Rivas describes how its
final operator is preparing for the rugged close air support aircraft’s
last missions.
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Operação Ostium
Sérgio Santana describes the most recent
operation organised by the Brazilian Air Force
– Operação Ostium – intended to thwart drug
running along the country’s borders.
16
South America air forces update
24
Argentine Air Force on ice
AFM’s
team of correspondents brings together the major stories from
South America’s air forces over the last 12 months.
56
Fighters at the end of the world
Based at Punta Arenas, near the tip of South America’s
Patagonia region, the Grupo de Aviación No 12 and its
Northrop F-5E/F Tigre IIIs form the world’s southernmost
fighter unit. Santiago Rivas reports on the group, with
photography by Katsuhiko Tokunaga.
Each year, units of the Argentine Air Force head to the Patagonian Andes
to practise flying in an environment that closely simulates operations in
the Antarctic. Horacio J Clariá joined them.
62
‘Tango’ Tweets
28
Jungle lions at 30
Yissachar Ruas reports from Palanquero air base as
AFOTW
flies with
the upgraded Kfir fighters of the Colombian Air Force’s Escuadrón de
Combate 111.
Colombia, together with Pakistan, is one of the final military
operators of the classic T-37. Cristobal Soto Pino and Cees-
Jan van der Ende report exclusively from Palanquero, the last
bastion of the Tweet in the Americas.
34
Fighters of the Southern Cross
66
Latin lifters
Air arms from Brazil, Chile, Peru and Uruguay as well as the United States,
Canada and France, came to Natal air base in northeast Brazil for the joint
CRUZEX exercise in late November 2018. Cristobal Soto Pino witnessed
the action.
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is the workhorse of many
air arms, not least with the Fuerza Aérea Argentina. Here
it has performed sterling service in some incredible and
unexpected roles, as Esteban G Brea discovers.
38
Defending Peruvian skies
74
Colombia’s helicopter haven
Latin American air arms have traditionally been keen operators of French
aircraft. While Peru isn’t the first nation you might think of when it comes
to the Mirage 2000, it has flown the type for more than 30 years and is
expected to do so for many more to come, as Santiago Rivas and Amaru
Tincopa explain.
With pilot training and combat capabilities, the
Comando Aéreo de Combate 4 is the Fuerza Aérea
Colombiana’s primary helicopter unit. As Santiago
Rivas reports, its 70-aircraft fleet makes it the largest
helicopter unit in Latin America.
44
Staying alive
80
Argentina remembers
While Argentina’s A-4AR Fightinghawks are among the last examples of
the Skyhawk in active military service, they continue to support frontline
roles and played an important part in air policing for the G20 Summit in
Buenos Aires in November 2018, as Santiago Rivas explains.
The Argentine Air Force recently commemorated
the 37th anniversary of its baptism of fire – the 1982
conflict in the Falklands, known in Argentina as the
Malvinas War. Esteban G Brea reports from Buenos
Aires province.
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84
AIR POWER REVIEWS: South American air forces
Argentina
Chile
Guyana
Suriname
86
91
95
97
Bolivia
Colombia
Paraguay
Uruguay
88
92
95
97
Brazil
Ecuador
Peru
Venezuela
89
94
96
98
Below:
South American air forces have traditionally been known for their varied inventories, with
multiple types often procured from different manufacturers around the world. Today’s Fuerza Aérea del
Perú is no exception, and this formation comprises combat jets acquired from France (Mirage 2000P/
DP), the United States (OA/A-37B Dragonfly), plus Belarus and Russia (MiG-29SM-P). The first 18 Peruvian
‘Fulcrums’ (including a pair of two-seaters) were acquired second-hand from Belarus in 1996. They were
followed by a batch of three MiG-29SE jets ordered direct from RSK MiG in September 1998 and delivered
the following year. Some survivors have been upgraded to MiG-29SM-P (single-seat) and MiG-29UBM-P
(two-seat) standard.
Katsuhiko Tokunaga/DACT
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