Chilean Air Force
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| Chilean Air Force. | |
|---|---|
| Founded | March 21, 1930 |
| Country | Chile |
| Part of | Chilean Armed forces |
| Motto | «quam celerrime ad astra» |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander |
General del Aire (Air General) Ricardo Ortega Perrier |
| Insignia | |
| Roundel |  |
| Aircraft flown | |
| Attack | Lockheed F-16 Fighting Falcon |
| Bomber | Lockheed F-16 Fighting Falcon |
| Electronic warfare |
707 Cóndor AEW / AWACS |
| Fighter | Lockheed F-16 Fighting Falcon, F-5E/F Tiger III |
| Trainer | T-35 Pillán |
| Transport | UH-1H Huey, Bell 412EP, UH-60 Black Hawk, C-130 Hercules |
The Chilean Air Force (Spanish: Fuerza Aérea de Chile, FACH) is the air force of Chile, a branch of the Chilean military.
Contents |
[edit] History
The first step towards the current FACH was taken by Teniente Coronel Pedro Pablo Dartnell when he founded the Servicio de Aviación Militar de Chile (Military Aviation Service of Chile) on December 20, 1910 being trained as a pilot in France. Although a school was included, the first officers were sent to France for their training as well. One of them, Capitán Manuel Ávalos Prado, took command over the Chilean military aviation school that was officially instated 11 February 1913 and remained in command until 1915. The Escuela de Aviación Militar was named in honor of him in 1944 and still carries that name today.
In those early years many aviation milestones were achieved, conquering the height of The Andes was one of the main targets as well as long distance flights. Typical aircraft of that era were Avro 504, Bleriot XI, Bristol M.1C, DH.9, and SE5a. In the following decade the (Airmail Line of Chile) Línea Aeropostal de Chile was created on 5 March 1929 as branch of the military aviation. This postal airline later developed into the airline Línea Aérea Nacional (National Airline) that is still the leading airline in Chile today. Shortly afterwards, on 21 March 1930, the existing aviation elements of the army and navy were amalgamated into a dedicated department: the Subsecretaria de Aviación (Department of the Air Force) effectively creating the current independent Air Force. It was initially named Fuerza Aérea Nacional. The international airport of Chile carries the name of Lan's founding father and first commander of the air force, Arturo Merino Benítez.
The first outlines of the organization of the current air force were visible in 1945 with the inception of Grupo de Transporte No.1 (First Transport Group), later renumbered Grupo 10, with two C-45s and a single T-6 Texan at Los Cerillos. Two years later the first Fuerza Aérea flight to Antarctica was performed. The fifties meant entry into the jet age for the FACh and Grupo 7 was the first unit to receive them in 1954. Chile got its aircraft from both the United States and Europe. The American supply consisted of F-80, T-33, T-34 Mentor, T-37, A-37 and F-5E/F for example, whereas the British supplied Hawker Hunters and the French delivered various helicopters and Mirage 50 aircraft.
[edit] Commanders-in-chief
| Rank | Name | Took Office | Left Office | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air Commodore | Arturo Merino Benítez | 1930 | 1931 | Air Force Commander-in-chief |
| Air Commodore | Adirio Jessen Ahumada | 1932 | 1932 | Air Force Commander-in-chief |
| Air Commodore | Ramón Vergara Montero | 1932 | 1932 | Air Force Commander-in-chief |
| Air Commodore | Marmaduque Grove Vallejos | 1932 | 1932 | Air Force Commander-in-chief |
| Air Commodore | Diego Aracena Aguilar | 1932 | 1939 | Air Force Commander-in-chief |
| Air Commodore | Armando Castro López | 1939 | 1943 | Air Force Commander-in-chief |
| Air Commodore | Manuel Tovarías Arroyo | 1943 | 1946 | Air Force Commander-in-chief |
| Air Commodore | Oscar Herreros Walker | 1946 | 1947 | Air Force Commander-in-chief |
| Air Commodore | Aurelio Celedón Palma | 1947 | 1952 | Air Force Commander-in-chief |
| Air Commodore | Armando Ortíz Ramírez | 1952 | 1955 | Air Force Commander-in-chief |
| Air Commodore | Renato García Vergara | 1955 | 1955 | Air Force Commander-in-chief |
| Air Commodore | Diego Barros Ortíz | 1955 | 1961 | Air Force Commander-in-chief |
| Air General | Eduardo Jensen Franke | 1961 | 1964 | Air Force Commander-in-chief |
| Air General | Máximo Errázuriz Ward | 1964 | 1969 | Air Force Commander-in-chief |
| Air General | Carlos Guerraty Villalobos | 1969 | 1970 | Air Force Commander-in-chief |
| Air General | César Ruiz Danyau | 1970 | 1973 | Air Force Commander-in-chief |
| Air General | Gustavo Leigh Guzmán | 1973 | 1978 | Air Force Commander-in-chief |
| Air General | Fernando Matthei Aubel | 1978 | 1991 | Air Force Commander-in-chief |
| Air General | Ramón Vega Hidalgo | 1991 | 1995 | Air Force Commander-in-chief |
| Air General | Fernando Rojas Vender | 1995 | 1999 | Air Force Commander-in-chief |
| Air General | Patricio Ríos Ponce | 1999 | 2002 | Air Force Commander-in-chief |
| Air General | Osvaldo Sarabia Vilches | 2002 | 2006 | Air Force Commander-in-chief |
| Air General | Ricardo Ortega Perrier | 2006 | Present | Air Force Commander-in-chief |
[edit] Industry
Chile also maintains its own aviation industry, ENAER. The design of the T-35 Pillan trainer based on the PA-28 Dakota is the best known example, seeing some export success as well. Furthermore, the assembly of the A-36/T-36 Halcon (CASA C-101) was achieved as well. Performing maintenance on most types in the current inventory such as minor modifications on F-5E aircraft for example, the industry is of significant importance to the air force. ENAER is reported to be in talks with Embraer of Brazil to codesign the first indigenous South American military tansport plane.
[edit] Order of Battle (2006-2007)
Personnel = 10,600 (including 700 conscripts)
[edit] Future Programmes
The delivery of ten new F-16 F-16 C and D model (Block 50) Peace Puma aircraft from the United States to Chile kicks off a promising era of interoperability between the two nations. The 10 aircraft sale, munitions and maintenance -- all part of the “Peace Puma” program -- is worth $900 million[1].
The U.S. Air Force worked with the Chilean Government, the Chilean Air Force and the defense contractor to broker the aircraft sale as the latest improvement in the long-term relationship between the two nations’ air forces, said Bruce Lemkin, U.S. Air Force deputy undersecretary for international affairs.
Included in the purchase are joint direct attack munitions, or JDAMs, AIM-9 heat-seeking missiles, AGM-65 Mavericks and advanced medium range air-to-air missiles, or AMRAAMs. The FACh F-16s can also operate Israeli made Derby and Python4 air-to-air missiles carried by the Chilean Air Force (FACh) F-5E/D TigerIII fleet.
The U.S. Air Force conducted F-16 flying training with Chilean pilots. In addition, “train-the-trainer” instruction enabled the Chileans to train their own pilots. The U.S. Air Force and contractor also provided maintenance training.
“These are state-of-the-art aircraft and will provide great capability for Chile, and will also provide interoperability with us. These are the same airplanes the U.S. Air Force flies,” he said. “These F-16s will become the centerpiece of a 30-year or more relationship between the U.S. Air Force and the Chilean Air Force.”
The long-term relationship comes not only from operating common hardware, but also from the experiences of Airmen working together throughout their careers, Mr. Lemkin said.
“We will be training together, operating together, flying together and learning from one another,” Mr. Lemkin said. “There is no substitute for the relationship that results when a captain from the Chilean Air Force is in F-16 training with a captain from the U.S. Air Force, and 20 years later they are both generals. That becomes the most essential element of an air force to air force relationship -- the human element.”
Together with the purchase of brand new F-16s, the Air Force has recently purchased 18 refurbished (MLU program) F-16 block 20 (11 F-16As and 7/F-16Bs) from the Royal Netherlands Air Force. These aircraft have been recently upgraded to F-16MLU standard and have more in common in equipment and capabilities to the F-16C Block 50s than the original F-16A/B block 15 stock from where they come. These aircraft replaced the aging Mirage 5 Elkan (Mirsip). A further batch of F-16MLU aircraft from the same source may follow in the near future, making The Netherlands the primary supplier of the Chilean Armed Forces (202 Leopard 1V tanks, 2 "L" Class anti-aircraft frigates, 2 "M" Class multipurpose frigates and the aforementioned fighters).
Chile has issued an RFP for 5.5 tonne, twin engined new generation helicopter and HAL is participating in the competition with its HAL Dhruv helicopter. HAL had conducted live demonstration of Dhruv equipped with advanced cockpit, electronic warfare suite and surveillance pod in Chile. Four Dhruv choppers were involved in a wide range of applications for evaluation with the demonstration clocking a total 107 hours. It flew to highest altitudes, hot and desert conditions, carried out ship deck landing at Valparaiso, search and rescue at 12,500 ft above mean sea level at a temperature of two degrees Celsius of Iquique as well as long distance ferry flights between Santiago to Arica and back, covering 3600 km. All the requirements for the Chilean Air Force was met by Dhruv helicopter. Finally the contract for 12 new Bell 412 helicopter was awarded to Bell Helicopter Textron Inc.[2][3]
[edit] Aircraft Inventory
| Aircraft | Origin | Type | Versions | In service[4] | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beechcraft 99 |  United States |
transport/patrol | 99A | 6 | modified locally to Petrel ELINT standard |
| Beechcraft King Air | United States |
utility | B100 200 300 |
1 1 1 |
used by local Civil Aviation Directorate |
| Bell UH-1H Iroquois | United States |
utility helicopter | UH-1H | 10 | 4 additional units purchased second-hand and refurbished in USA |
| Bell 206B JetRanger | United States |
utility helicopter | 206B | 3 | |
| Bell 412 | United States |
transport helicopter | 412EP | 4 | 12 additional new aircraft purchased in Nov 2007 |
| Boeing 707 | United States |
airborne early warning tanker/transport |
IAI Phalcon (707-385C) 707-330B |
1 1 |
Israeli AWACS modification modified airliner. Tanker aircraft to be replaced by 2 Airbus A310MRTT |
| Boeing 737 | United States |
transport VIP transport |
737-330QC 737-58N |
1 1 |
|
| CASA C-101 Aviojet |  Spain Chile |
trainer attack |
T-36 Halcon (C-101BB-02) A-36 Halcon |
7 17 |
12 delivered; 8 locally built by ENAER 23 delivered; 22 locally built by ENAER |
| CASA C-212 Aviocar | Spain |
tactical transport | C-212-200 C-212-300 |
2 4 |
|
| Cessna 206 Skywagon | United States |
utility | 2 | ||
| Cessna O-2 Skymaster | United States |
liaison | O-2A | 2 | |
| Cessna A-37 Dragonfly | United States |
attack reconnaissance |
A-37B | 14 | 34 purchased in 1973. 10 additional OA-37 on loan from USAF returned to USA in 2005. |
| Cessna Citation | United States |
VIP transport | CitationJet CJ1 | 4 | |
| de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter |  Canada |
utility transport | DHC-6-100 DHC-6-300 |
4 9 |
|
| ENAER T-35 Pillán | Chile |
trainer | T-35A T-35B |
19 14 |
|
| MBB Bo 105 |  Germany |
utility helicopter | 1 | 5 sold to civilian market. Now used for EMS service in Chile | |
| Extra 300 | Germany |
aerobatic | 300L | 6 | |
| Gulfstream IV | United States |
VIP transport | 4 | ||
| Learjet 35 | United States |
VIP transport | 35A | 2 | |
| Lockheed C-130 Hercules | United States |
tactical transport | C-130B C-130H |
3 2 |
only 2 C-130H and 1 C-130B currently operational |
| Lockheed F-16 Fighting Falcon | United States |
fighter fighter lead-in trainer |
F-16 total F-16A-20MLU F-16B-20MLU F-16C-50 F-16D-50 |
28 11 7 6 4 |
18 F-16 MLU were sold by Netherlands Air Force |
| MBB/Kawasaki BK 117 | Germany Japan |
utility helicopter | BK 117B-1 | 1 | |
| Northrop F-5E/F Tiger III | United States |
fighter lead-in trainer |
F-5E F-5F |
14 2 |
upgraded in Israel (retired in near future) |
| Piper PA-28 Dakota | United States |
utility | PA-28-236 | 10 | |
| Pitts Special | United States |
aerobatic | S-2S | 1 | |
| Sikorsky S-70A Black Hawk | United States |
transport helicopter | S-70A | 1 |
[edit] References
- ^ Flight International, 5-11 July 2005, page 16
- ^ HAL Receives RFP from Chile for Dhruv
- ^ Air chief flies Dhruv helicopter.
- ^ "World Military Aircraft Inventory", Aerospace Source Book 2007, Aviation Week & Space Technology, January 15, 2007.
[edit] External links
- Fuerza Aérea de Chile website (Spanish)
- Ranks of Fuerza Aérea de Chile website (Spanish)
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 Ejército de Chile (Army)  Armada de Chile (Navy)  Fuerza Aérea de Chile (Air Force)  Carabineros de Chile (Military Police) |
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