FMA IA 58 Pucará

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FMA IA 58 Pucará
IA 58 Pucará Counter-Insurgency aircraft
Class	turboprop
Crew	2
Length	14.25 m (46 ft 9 in)
Wingspan	14.5 m (47 ft 7 in)
Height	5.36 m (47 ft 1 in)
Wing area	30.3m² (326.1ft²)
Weight (Empty)	4,020 kg (8,860 lb)
Maximum Takeoff	6,800 kg (15,000 lb)
Powerplant	2 Turbomeca Astazou XVIG 965 shp turboprops
Max Speed	750 km/h (466 mph)
Cruising Speed	480 km/h (298 mph)
Range	3,710 km (2,300 mi)
Wing Loading	132.7 kg/m² empty, 224.4 max takeoff
Thrust/Weight	0.4825 hp/kg empty, 0.2838 hp/kg max takeoff
Guns	2× 20 mm Hispano-Suiza HS.804 autocannons 4× 7.62 mm FM M2-20 machine guns
Bombs	3× hardpoints for up to 1,500 kg (3,300 lb) of gun pods, bombs, rockets, mines, or torpedoes

The FMA IA 58 Pucará (Fortress in Quechua) is a twin-engined counter-insurgency (COIN) aircraft made in Argentina.

[edit] Background

The Pucara is a robust and versatile aircraft in its primary role of defeating insurgents. Flown for the first time on August 20, 1969, it was designed to be able to operate from small front-line airfields. This aircraft is unusual because of the tandem cockpit arrangement in a twin-prop-driven military aircraft.

[edit] Service

First units were delivered in 1975 to the Argentine Air Force (Fuerza Aérea Argentina, FAA), III Air Brigade in northern Reconquista, Santa Fe province with almost 100 airframes delivered by 1982. The unit was deployed south during the Falklands War, performing coastal surveillance from the Patagonia airfields. As the only aircraft available in substantial numbers for deployment on the islands (Port Stanley Airport paved runway was not long enough for FAA Skyhawks and Mirages to be deployed), many Pucarás were destroyed on the ground by British forces before taking part in actual combat. Among the mentioned Port Stanley paved runway, Pucarás also operated from two small grass improvised airfields at Goose Green and Pebble Island. They were used in the recco role and shot down a Royal Marines Scout on May 28. After the war, one was taken back to the United Kingdom, currently in Duxford. A second example (serial number A-515) was taken to Boscombe Down, returned to flying condition and assessed by the RAF. It is now on display at the RAF Museum Cosford. A total of six Pucarás were destroyed in a single instance, along with another 5 aircraft, when the SAS carried out the Raid on Pebble Island.

They also see combat duty in Sri Lanka

In the 1990s FAA Pucarás, received several minor upgrades and as of 2007 they remain in service within the III Air Brigade and with the Uruguayan Air Force.