Ecuadorian Air Force

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The Ecuadorian Air Force (Spanish: Fuerza Aérea Ecuatoriana, FAE) is the Air arm of the Military of Ecuador.

[edit] History

The FAE was officially created on October 27th 1920. However, like in many other countries, military flying activity started before the formal date of birth of the Air Force. The history of Ecuador is marked by many skirmishes with its neighbour Peru. As a direct result of the 1910 Ecuador-Peru crisis the members of Club de Tiro Guayaquil decided to expand their sporting activities to aviation as well. Renamed Club de Tiro y Aviación they started an aviation school. Dn. Cosme Renella, an Italian emigrated mechanic and practical pilot who born in Secondigliano, Naples, was the first intrepid willing to fly in the first airplane brought to the country. Surviving a crash during this demonstration flight, Renella named by the Ecuadorian authorities with a "Capitan" rank, went to Europe to gain more experience during the first World War. When he returned to the country, his experiences served as motivation for a reduced group of Ecuadorian pilots, who moves to the Aviation School in Turin, Italy, with the objective of graduating as the first Ecuadorian pilots of the nascent Ecuadorian Military Aviation.

Aviation did not start in earnest until the early forties when an Ecuadorian mission to the United States resulted in the delivery of an assortment of aircraft for the Aviation school at Salinas. Three Ryan PT-22 Recruit, six Curtiss-Wright CW.22 Falcon, six Fairchild PT-19A Cornell and three North American AT-6A Harvard arrived in March 1942, considerably boosting the capacity of the Escuela de Aviación at Salinas.

The fifties and sixties saw a further necessary build up of the air force, gaining more units and aircraft. Meanwhile efforts were made in enhancing the facilities at various airbases. In may 1961 the First Air Zone (I Zona Aérea) with its subordinate unit Ala de Transportes No.11 was founded. The Second Air Zone (II Zona Aérea) controls the units in the southern half of Ecuador: Ala de Combate No.21 at Taura, Ala de Rescate No.22 at Guayaquil and Ala de Combate No.23 at Manta as well as the Escuela Superior Militar de Aviación (ESMA) at Salinas.

Three Ecuadoran air force aircraft in formation a Kfir, top, and a Mirage F.1, bottom, are following a Jaguar.

Ecuadorian Air Force Kfir CE (C.10). Note the refuelling probe and the characteristic longer nose of this variant.

The air force has a unique mixture of types on its inventory, mostly from Western origin. The prime fighters are the Mirage F.1, Kfir C2, CE, and Jaguar Mk.1 all based at Taura with Ala 21. For advanced training and light attack missions, Strikemaster Mk.89, 90, and A-37B are in use at Manta with Ala 23. These aircraft often operate from airfields in the amazon region.

The transport wing uses various marks of the C-130 Hercules, DHC-6, BAe.748 to transport passengers, haul cargo and support the units deployed to the secondary airfields dotted around the country. Ala 11 has its own 'commercial' branch, like in many other South-American countries, the Transporte Aérea Militar Ecuatoriana (TAME). Besides the military transport aircraft, they also use Boeing 727 and Fokker 28 aircraft. Flying to locations off the beaten track, mostly lacking service by commercial airlines, TAME provides an additional service to the people of Ecuador. Presidential transport is among the tasking of Ala 11 as well; several Sabreliners are in use for this mission.

The FAE saw action on several occasions. An unending and constant history of border disputes with Peru over the south-eastern Cenepa area saw escalation in 1981 and 1995. The FAE managed to down nine Peruvian aircraft in this last conflict, among which were one A-37B, two Su-22 and several Mi-8.

Besides the constant, unending threat of its southern neighbour, the conflict believed being "subdued" by the 26 October 1998 Brasilia peace treaty, the FAE faces the war on drugs as well as many humanitarian and logistic missions into the Amazon region of the country. Being a small country, supporting the relatively large, but obviously necessary, air force with a variety of aircraft types, is a burden. Nevertheless, with the perils of the recent past and present War on Drugs acting as an incentive, the FAE is dedicated to maintain a necessary high profile against northern and southern threats.

The Ecuadorian Armed Forces have the President of the Republic as their Supreme Commander in Chief, the president is advised by the Minister of Defense (this was always an Active or Passive duty General or Admiral until January 15th 2007 when Guadalupe Larriva became Minister of Defense) and The N. S. C. (National Security Council). Although the idea of founding a naval air arm dates back to 1952, the aviation branch of the navy only formed in 1967. In March 1968 it became a subordinate division resorting under the Primera Zona Naval. Starting off with fixed wing aircraft, the first helicopters followed in 1973.

[edit] Aircraft inventory

Aircraft	Origin	Type	Versions	In service^[1]	Notes
Aérospatiale SA 316 Alouette III	France	utility helicopter	SA 316B	2
Airbus A320	France Germany Spain	passenger transport	A320-200	2	operated by TAME
Avro 748	United Kingdom	transport	HS.748	4
BAC Strikemaster	United Kingdom	attack	Mk 89A	7
Beechcraft T-34 Mentor	United States	trainer	T-34C-1	15
Bell TH-57 Sea Ranger	United States	training helicopter	TH-57 Sea Ranger	9
Bell UH-1N Twin Huey	United States	utility helicopter	UH-1N	26
Boeing 727	United States	transport special mission	727-200	8	operated by TAME
Cessna 150	United States	utility	A150L	5
Cessna A-37 Dragonfly	United States	attack	A-37B	20	some armed with Shafrir air to air missile
Dassault Mirage F1	France	fighter	F.1JA F.1JE	11 1	armed with Python 3 air to air missile
de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter	Canada	utility transport	DHC-6-300	3
Eurocopter AS 555 Fennec	France Germany Spain	utility helicopter	AS-555AN	4
Eurocopter SA 310 Ecureuil	France Germany Spain	utility helicopter	SA 310	5
Fokker F28 Fellowship	Netherlands	passenger transport	F28-4000	1
IAI Arava	Israel	utility transport	IAI-201	2
IAI Kfir	Israel	fighter	Kfir C.2/C.10 Kfir TC.2	12 2
Lockheed C-130 Hercules	United States	tactical transport	C-130B C-130H	1 1
North American Sabreliner	United States	VIP	Sabreliner 40 Sabreliner 60	1 1
SEPECAT Jaguar	United Kingdom	attack	Jaguar EB Jaguar ES	2 5	all stored, non-flying