Fábrica Argentina de Aviones

Coordinates: 31°26′35.6″S 64°16′20.9″W / 31.443222°S 64.272472°W

Fábrica Argentina de Aviones "Brigadier San Martín" S.A.
Sociedad Anónima
Industry Aerospace, Defense
Founded 1927
Headquarters Córdoba, Argentina
Key people
 Matías Julián Savoca (chairman)[1]
Products Aircraft, aircraft components, aircraft maintenance and services
Number of employees
 1,600 (as of June 2014)
Website www.fadeasa.com.ar

The Fábrica Argentina de Aviones SA (FAdeA), officially Fábrica Argentina de Aviones "Brigadier San Martín" S.A., is Argentina's main aircraft manufacturer. Founded on 10 October 1927 and located in Córdoba, for most of its existence it was known as Fábrica Militar de Aviones (FMA), until its privatization in the 1990s to Lockheed Martin. In 2010 the concession ended and is now wholly owned by the Argentine government.

History

Late 1940s view of the FMA/IAe "Hangar 90" production line: I.Ae.22 DL (back) and I.Ae.24 Calquín (front)
1930s view of the FMA workshop

Formed on October 10, 1927 and on July 18, 1928 ends the construction and testing begins on the track the first domestically produced aircraft: the license built Avro 504 Gosport training aircraft equipped with a 100 hp (75 kW) Gnome engine. It had a speed of 140 km/h with a flying endurance of 2 hours.

The factory is known for producing the first jet fighter aircraft in Latin America: the Pulqui I (1947) and the Pulqui II (1950) under the direction of engineers Emile Dewoitine (French) and Kurt Tank (German) respectively.

Privatization (1995)

FMA was closed in 1995 and was privatized by the government of Carlos Menem and from 1995 until March 2009 it belonged concession to LMAASA (Lockheed Martin Aircraft Argentina SA, a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation). Under the terms of the privatization agreement LMAASA would operate it for 25 years and could be renewed for two 10 year periods.

Nationalization (2010)

During the government of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner the factory was nationalized in August 2009 after paying ARS $67 million. The text of the expropriation law provides that "the State shall not return to get rid of a majority stake in the power or decision-making factory." [2][3]

It was renamed after Argentine Air Force Brigadier es:Juan Ignacio San Martín a military engineer who laid the foundations of the aeronautics industry at Córdoba when he directed the Instituto Aerotécnico, the forerunner of the FMA, in the 1940s.

The United States Department of State announced that effective December 18, 2009, Lockheed Martin Aircraft Argentina would be renamed to Fábrica Argentina de Aviones "Brigadier San Martin" S.A. and divested to the Government of Argentina.[4]

Aircraft design and production

AeMB.2 Bombi bombers in flight
Pulqui I prototype in flight (c.1951)
I.Ae. 33 Pulqui II
DINFIA IA 35 Huanquero, utility aircraft designed in the early 1950s
Prototype IA 38 Naranjero under construction, early 1960s
IA 46 ‘’Super Ranquel’’ at San Justo airfield (Buenos Aires), April 1975
I.A. 50 Guarani II
I.A. 58 Pucará
I.A. 63 Pampa II

The FMA has produced numerous innovative aircraft prototypes, but the state of the Argentine economy has usually prevented most of them from entering large-scale production. Nevertheless the FMA has managed to put several aircraft types of more conventional designs into full productions. It also engaged in production of licensed aircraft from other countries.

The prefixes used for the aircraft locally developed (and produced) are:

List of aircraft manufactured or projected

Year Model Built Obs
Started as Instituto Aerotécnico
1928 Avro 504K "Gosport" 31 Biplane basic trainer, license-built. First aircraft produced by FMA.
1930 Dewoitine D.21 35 Monoplane fighter, license-built.
1931 FMA AeC.1 1 Civil tourism aircraft prototype (initial version); basic trainer (later version). First national design.
1932 FMA AeC.2 2 Civil tourism aircraft
1932 FMA AeME.1 7 basic military trainer
1933 FMA AeT.1 3 Transport/commercial aircraft
1934 FMA AeMO.1 41 Observation monoplane
1934 FMA AeMOe.1 6 Derivative of the AeMO.1, observation and training
1934 FMA AeMOe.2 61 Variant of the AeMOe.1, observation and training
1934 FMA AeC.3 16 Civil aircraft.
1935 FMA AeMB.1 1 First bomber aircraft built by FMA
1935 FMA AeMB.2 14 First bomber aircraft built by FMA
1935 FMA AeMS.1 1 Ambulance aircraft
1936 FMA AeC.3G 1 Tourism aircraft.
1936 FMA AeC.4 1 Improved prototype version of the C.3G
Name changed to Fabrica Militar de Aviones
1940 Curtiss Hawk 75O 20 License built version of the US monoplane fighter Curtiss Hawk 75[5]
1940 Focke-Wulf Fw 44J Stieglitz 190 License built version of the German biplane trainer
1940 FMA I.Ae.20 El Boyero 130 Tourism aircraft, series built by "Industrias Petrolini"
1943 FMA I.Ae.21 1 Advanced trainer aircraft prototype, based on the North American NA-16-1P fuselage.
1943 FMA I.Ae.22 DL 206 Advanced trainer aircraft
1945 FMA I.Ae.23 1 Basic trainer prototype, based on the Focke-Wulf Fw44J
1945 FMA I.Ae.25 Mañque 1 Assault/Transport glider.
1946 FMA I.Ae.24 Calquín 100 Attack/Light bomber
1947 FMA I.Ae.27 Pulqui 1 Jet fighter prototype, first of its kind built in Latin America.
1947 FMA I.Ae.31 Colibrí 3 Two-seat Trainer aircraft
1948 FMA I.Ae.30 Ñancú 1 Fighter/Attack prototype
1949 FMA I.Ae.32 Chingolo 1 Tourism/Trainer aircraft
1949 FMA I.Ae.34 Clen Antú 3+1+3 Glider, flying wing. Designed by Reimar Horten, also known as the Horten XVa and XVb
1950 FMA I.Ae.33 Pulqui II 5 First swept-wing jet fighter designed in Latin America
1953 DINFIA IA35 Huanquero 2+3+20+9(+1+1) Transport aircraft; variants "Constancia" and "Pandora" executive aircraft.
1953 FMA I.Ae.41 Urubú 4 Flying-wing glider, designed by Reimar Horten, also known as the Horten XVc.
1953 FMA I.Ae. 43 Pulqui III 0 Project, swept-wing supersonic jet fighter
FMA I.Ae.36 Cóndor 0 Civil passenger transport, designed by Kurt Tank. Project cancelled, no prototypes built.
1954 FMA I.Ae.37 1 Supersonic delta-wing interceptor, designed by Reimar Horten. Glider, unpowered prototype only.
1960 I.Ae. 38 Naranjero 1 Flying-wing transport/cargo, designed by Reimar Horten.
1953 FMA IAe.44 DL.II 0 Advanced trainer (project, none built)
1959 DINFIA IA 45 Querandí 2 Executive transport, prototypes only (NOTE: some sources mention "1957" and "1" built)
1957 FMA I.Ae. 46 Ranquel 101+116 2-seat utility aircraft. Second series, enhanced variant "Super Ranquel".
1960 FMA I.Ae. 48 Cancelled Fighter aircraft
1960 DINFIA IA 35 Guaraní I 1 Approximate date, transport derived from the I.Ae. 35 "Huanquero"
1963 DINFIA IA 50 Guaraní II 1+2+18+14 Transport aircraft, derived from the IA 35 Guaraní I
Beechcraft T-34 Mentor 75 Trainer, licence built
1965 IA 53 Mamboretá 2 Agricultural aircraft
1960 Morane-Saulnier MS.760 Paris 48 Trainer, licence built
1975 FMA IA 58 Pucará 120 Counter-insurgency/light attack aircraft
1978 FMA IA 62 0 military trainer aircraft. none built
1983 FMA IA 66 Pucará II 1 After the 'Malvinas/Falkland' war a revised version of Pucara was designed. It used an IA-58 as base with more powerful engines, single seat design, and better IR protection. The program was cancelled after the prototype was homologated.
1984 FMA IA 63 Pampa 20+12 Advanced trainer. AT-63 currently under production
1990 (IA 70)
Embraer/FMA CBA 123 Vector 		2 Turboprop 19-passenger regional airliner, only prototypes built before being cancelled [6]
IA 67 Córdoba Light attack bomber project, none built (mid-1980s)
FMA SAIA 90 Cancelled Supersonic air superiority jet fighter project, none built (mid-1980s)
Name changed to Lockheed Martin Aircraft Argentina SA
1999 Lockheed Martin A-4AR Fightinghawk 18 other 18 by Lockheed Martin in Pasadena, California.
2003 Beechcraft T-34 Mentor Refurbishment of Argentine and Bolivia Air Forces
2006 Lockheed C-130 Hercules Refurbishment of Argentine Air Force and Colombian Air Force aircraft.
Name changed to FAdeA S.A.
2009 FMA IA 63 Pampa Changing power plant
2010 FMA IA 58 Pucará Changing power plant and avionics
2013 FAdeA IA 73 basic trainer to replace T-34 [7]

Gallery

Local designs

Manufactured under license

See also

Other aircraft manufacturers in Argentina

References

Notes

  1. ↑ "FAdeA AUTORIDADES". Retrieved 11 July 2014.
  2. ↑ Back at the hands of the state
  3. ↑ (Spanish)Ministerio de Defensa - República Argentina
  4. ↑ Lockheed Martin Aircraft Argentina SA to Fábrica Argentina de Aviones “Brigadier San Martin” S.A.
  5. ↑ Padin 1999, pp. 9, 15
  6. ↑ CBA123/IA 70
  7. ↑ La Fábrica Argentina de Aviones fabricará un nuevo avión de entrenamiento para pilotos

Bibliography

Further reading

External links

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