Argentine Army Aviation

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Direccion de Aviación de Ejército
Argentine Army Aviation
200px
Active 1912 – 1945
1956 - present
Country  Argentina
Branch Argentine Army
Type Army aviation
Part of Army
Ministry of Defense
Engagements Operativo Independencia
Falklands (Malvinas)
Commanders
Commander-in-Chief President
Chief of Staff of the Army General
Chief of AvEjer Colonel
Insignia
Roundel 75px

The Argentine Army Aviation (Spanish: Comando de Aviación Ejército Argentino, AvEjer) is the army aviation branch of the Argentine Army. Their members have the same rank insignia and titles as the rest of the Army.

Along with its primary role of supporting Army operations, the Army Aviation is highly involved in humanitarian aid missions, emergency relief, medical evacuations and forest firefighting.[citation needed]

History

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Military aviation in Argentina traces back to the Paraguayan War when on 8 July 1867, Staff Sargeant Roberto A. Chodasiewicz used an Observation balloon during the battle of Humaitá. Since then, the army was the main driving force behind national aeronautical development. The use of enthusiastic students who relied on the selfless support of civil institutions and airclubs, saw the creation of the Military Aviation School at El Palomar in 1912.

The establishment of the Army Aviation Service saw a great expansion of Argentine air power in the 1912–1945 period. The creation of the first aviation units and foundation of Fabrica Militar de Aviones lead to the creation of the Argentine Air Force in 1945, to which the Army had given most of its aircraft and installations. The Army retained a number of Cessna and SNJ-4 aircraft for observation and training purposes. Army SNJ aircraft attacked government troops in Buenes Aires during the 1955 Revolución Libertadora, one of which was lost to an Argentine Air Force Gloster Meteor.[citation needed]

Re-establishment

In 1956, Army Aviation was re-established within the Army and began a major expansion, incorporating new types of aircraft and opening new bases around the country. In 1965, using a Cessna U-17 they performed their first expedition to the South Pole.[citation needed]

During the 1970s the service consolidated itself as an important branch of the Army receiving aircraft such as the Aeritalia G.222 transport which caused no little differences with the Air Force. The expansion plans continued in the early 1980s with the incorporation of the Boeing CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift helicopter.[citation needed]

The dictatorship that took power in 1976 increased tensions with Chile which reached their highest point during the 1978 Operation Soberanía where the Army Aviation performed major deployments.

Falklands War

UH-1H Iroquois "Huey" helicopters, at Port Stanley Airport; after transport to the islands by C-130H "Hercules", had not had their rotors reattached yet

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Main article: Argentine air forces in the Falklands War

In 1982, the Military Junta invaded the Falkland Islands (Spanish: Islas Malvinas) triggering a ten-week-long war against the United Kingdom. The Argentine Army Aviation deployed CH-47 Chinooks, Agusta A109, SA330 Pumas and UH-1Hs to the islands, where they performed 796 general support flights under harsh operating conditions. Their helicopters were also extensively used in Patagonia and the Army also took over police MBB Bo 105s during the conflict.[1]

Six Army aviation members died in the war.[2] Two army helicopters were shot down, six destroyed on the ground, and ten were captured.[citation needed]

Present Day

UAV Lipan Indigenous design

After the war, the Aerospatiale Super Puma was incorporated, mainly for Antarctica support duties operating from Navy's icebreaker ARA Almirante Irizar.[citation needed] In 1998, Argentina was granted Major Non-NATO ally status by United States President Bill Clinton[3] and the Army Aviation began an expansive program that included the reception of OV-1 Mohawks and surplus UH-1H from the US Army. The US also authorized the delivery of 12 AH-1F Cobra gunships[4][5] but the operation was halted by the Argentine Government.

In the 1990s, the Aviation Army began its Unmanned aerial vehicle program, the Lipan series.picture In 2007, the Ministry of Defense evaluated the Chinese Changhe Z-11 (Argentine index AE-350)[6] and 40 are to be built.[7] Also in 2007, the Army unveiled the indigenous Cicaré CH-14 Aguilucho scout prototype video. A major update program is currently[when?] underway refitting the Hueys to the Huey II variant. On March 2010 it was announced the purchase of five Bell 206 for the Joint armed forces school [8]

File:UH-1H Huey EA.JPG
Bell UH-1H Huey during the Exhibition of the Argentine Army in May 2008

Army aircraft with tactical camouflage have adopted high-visibility yellow markings Ejército (Spanish for "Army")[9][10] in order to encourage the national press to stop referring to them as belonging to the air force.[citation needed]

In the 2014 celebration of the Argentine Army Aviation day, the following actions to improve capabilities were confirmed:[11]

  • purchse of 1 Cessna Citation and 4 Grand Caravan aircraft
  • purchase of 2 Casa 212 aircraft
  • replacement of Mohawk by Diamond 42 aircraft
  • purchase of Italian AB206 helicopters
  • upgrade of remaining UH-1 helicopters to Huey II standard
  • refurbishing of Super Puma helicopters

Organisation

Units and bases

File:Fiat G222 dados de baja y a la espera de su destino final..jpg
Campo de Mayo airbase, the 3 Aeritalia G.222 can be seen in front of the hangars

The main airbase is located at Campo de Mayo where training and maintenance is done. The units based there are[when?] as follows:[citation needed]

The service has also permanent forward location bases assigned to both division and brigade HQ levels.

  • 1st Army Division
    • 121st Army Aviation Section (Rosario)
    • 2nd Army Aviation Section (Parana)
    • 12th Army Aviation Section (Posadas)
  • 2nd Army Division

Pilot recruitment and training

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An Argentine Army Cessna T-41D Mescalero AE-054, in 2009

The Argentine Army gets its pilots from two main sources. One is the officers who graduate from the Military Academy and then volunteer for the Army Aviator Course. This course lasts one year and takes place at either the Air Force Academy, in Cordoba (for fixed wing aircraft), or the Army Aviation School (for helicopters), in Campo de Mayo, outside Buenos Aires. Since 2009, these two schools are the only training centers for pilots from the three armed services. The other source is civilian pilots who, after a ten month course at the Military Academy, join the Army Aviation as 2nd lieutenants. While Academy-graduated officers are called "Army Aviators" and those coming from civilian life are "Army Pilots", there are no specific technical differences between them. However, "Army Pilots" can only reach the rank of colonel. Also, "Army Aviators" retain their original branch (i.e. Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery, Engineers, Signals or Ordnance) and can be posted to their branch's units in case of need. "Army Pilots", instead, can only serve in Army Aviation units or related positions, as they have no other capability.

Aircraft inventory

The following aircraft are in the Army Aviation inventory, either in active service or in storage.

Rotary wing

Aircraft Origin Type Versions In service

[12]

 Notes
Aérospatiale SA 315 Lama  France Search and rescue Andes Mountains SA 315B August 2
Agusta A109  Italy Scout/attack helicopter A109A 3 Withdrawn from active service. Stored at Campo de Mayo.[13]
UH-1 Iroquois  United States Utility helicopter UH-1H 49
Eurocopter AS 332 Super Puma  France
 Germany
 Spain		 Antarctic support helicopter AS 332B 3
Bell 206  United States joint armed forces trainer B206B3 5
Cicaré CH-14  Argentina Utility helicopter In develoment

Fixed wing

Aircraft Origin Type Versions In service

[14]

 Notes
Beechcraft Queen Air 65  United States Staff transport 65-B80 2 [citation needed]
CASA C-212 Aviocar  Spain Transport C-212-200 2
Cessna 208  United States Utility T208 2
Cessna 550 Citation  United States VIP transport Citation I 1
de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter  Canada Utility DHC-6-200
DHC-6-300		 1
1[15]
Fairchild SA-226 Merlin  United States Staff transport Merlin IIIB
Merlin IVA		 1
3 [16]
Grumman OV-1 Mohawk  United States Intelligence & Electronic Warfare OV-1D 7 Being retired
Rockwell Sabreliner 75  United States VIP transport Sabreliner 75A 3 [citation needed]

In addition to army aviation, a small air fleet is maintained by the border guard Gendarmeria Nacional Argentina.

See also

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Puma AE-505 shot down by SAM Sea Dart (crew Roberto Fiorito, Juan Buschiazo, Raul Dimotta) UH-1H AE-419 crash near Caleta Olivia, Santa Cruz (crew Marcos Fassio, Roberto Campos, Nestor Barros. Additional 7 infantry troops were killed in this accident)
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ http://beriat.org/2011/10/21/chinas-largest-export-orders-helicopters-the-argentine-purchase-of-11-straight-assembly-line/
  8. ↑ mindef: AMPLIOS ANUNCIOS DE GARRE SOBRE EQUIPAMIENTO Y SERVICIOS PARA LAS FUERZAS ARMADAS
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ http://img.en25.com/Web/flightglobal/%7B05ceef25-b72e-4bea-9a83-a7ab7d02e55a%7D_FC078_PREM_201412.pdf?elq=8e3c4206740f421b841b936ec1262a5a
  16. ↑ http://img.en25.com/Web/flightglobal/%7B05ceef25-b72e-4bea-9a83-a7ab7d02e55a%7D_FC078_PREM_201412.pdf?elq=8e3c4206740f421b841b936ec1262a5a

Sources

Portions based on a translation from Spanish Wikipedia.

Further reading

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External links

es:Anexo:Unidades del Ejército Argentino#Unidades de la Especialidad de Aviación del Ejército

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