Chilean Air Force

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The Chilean Air Force (Fuerza Aérea de Chile, FACH) is the national Air Force or aviation branch of the armed forces of Chile.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Commanders-in-chief 2 Industry 3 Order of Battle (2006-2007) 3.1 Future Programmes 4 Aircraft Inventory 5 External links 6 References

[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 officer's 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 M1C, 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 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 Iensen 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 and upgrades on F-5E aircraft for example, the industry is of significant importance to the air force.

[edit] Order of Battle (2006-2007)

Personnel = 10600 (including 700 conscripts)

[edit] Future Programmes

The delivery of six new F-16 Peace Puma aircraft from the United States to Chile kicks off a promising era of interoperability between the two nations. Over the next months, the Chilean air force will receive four additional F-16 C and D model (Block 50) aircraft from the contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. The 10 aircraft sale, munitions and maintenance -- all part of the “Peace Puma” program -- is worth $547 million.

The 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, Air Force deputy undersecretary for international affairs.

Included in the purchase are joint direct attack munitions, or JDAMs, AIM-9 heat-seeking missiles, and advanced medium range air-to-air missiles, or AMRAAMs.

The Air Force will conduct F-16 flying training with Chilean pilots. In addition, “train-the-trainer” instruction will enable the Chileans to train their own pilots. The Air Force and contractor will also provide maintenance training, Mr. Lemkin said.

“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 F-16As from the RNAF. 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 block 5, 10 and 15 stock from where they come. These aircraft will replace the aging Mirage 5 Elkan (Mirsip). A further 10 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).

The Chilean Air Force have also showed interest in the JAS 39 Gripen Attack Fighter by Swedish company Saab and are seriously looking for an attack fighter role to go along with the F-16.

Chilean Air Force is evaluating the HAL Dhruv helicopter. The helicopter completed trials in the Andes mountains. The Chilean Air Force chief General Ricardo Ortega Perrier flew in the HAL Dhruv during the Aero-India 2007. ^[1]

[edit] Aircraft Inventory

[edit] External links

• Fuerza Aérea de Chile website (Spanish)

[edit] References

Aircraft	Origin	Type	Versions	In service[2]	Notes
Beechcraft 99	United States	transport/patrol	99A	6
Beechcraft King Air	United States	utility	B100 200 300	1 1 1
Bell 205	United States	utility helicopter	UH-1H	10
Bell 206	United States	utility helicopter	206B	3
Bell 412	United States	transport helicopter	412EP	4
Boeing 707	United States	airborne early warning tanker/transport	IAI Phalcon (707-385C) 707-330B	1 1	Israeli AWACS modification modified airliner
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	United States	utility		2
Cessna 337	United States	liaison	O-2A	2
Cessna A-37 Dragonfly	United States	attack reconnaissance	A-37B OA-37B	7 7
Cessna Citation	United States	VIP transport	CitationJet CJ1	4
Dassault Mirage 5	France	fighter reconnaissance fighter lead-in trainer fighter	Mirage 5 total Mirage 5BR Mirage 50C Mirage 50DC Mirage 50FC	18 3 5 2 8	upgraded by ENAER to Pantera standard
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
Eurocopter Bo 105	Germany	utility helicopter		1
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
Lockheed F-16 Fighting Falcon	United States	fighter fighter lead-in trainer fighter lead-in trainer	F-16 total F-16A-20MLU F-16B-20MLU F-16C-50 F-16D-50	28 6 4	11 F-16A and 7 F-16B to be delivered
MBB/Kawasaki BK117	Germany  Japan	utility helicopter	BK117B-1	1
Northrop F-5	United States	fighter lead-in trainer	F-5E F-5F	13 3	Upgraded in Israel
Piper PA-28	United States	utility	PA-28-236 Dakota	10
Pitts Special	United States	aerobatic	S-2S	1
Sikorsky S-70	United States	transport helicopter	S-70A	1