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Argentine Army Aviation
The Argentine Army Aviation 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.
Army aircraft with tactical camouflage have adopted high-visibility yellow markings Ejercito (Spanish for "Army") in order to encourage the national press to stop referring to them as belonging to the air force.
History
Military aviation in Argentina traces back to the War of the Triple Alliance when on 8 July 1867, Staff Sargeant Roberto A. Chodasiewicz used a Observation balloon during the battle of Humaita. 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, which the Army had given most of its aircraft and installations.
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. In 1978, tensions with Chile reached their highest point and the Army Aviation performed major deployments during Operation Soberania.
Falklands War
In 1982, the Military Junta that was ruling the country invaded the Falklands Islands 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. Six Army aviation members died in the war.
Present Day
After the war, the Aerospatiale Super Puma was incorporated, mainly for Antarctica support duties operating from Navy's icebreaker ARA Almirante Irizar. In 1998, Argentina was granted Major Non-NATO ally status by United States President Bill Clinton 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 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 Recently, the Ministry of Defense has evaluated the Russian Mil Mi-17 and Chinese Changhe Z-11 helicopters but no offers were accepted. In 2007, the Army unveiled the indigenous CIcare CH-14 Aguilucho scout prototype. video A major update program is currently underway refitting the Hueys to the Huey II variant.
Structure / Air bases
The main airbase is located at Campo de Mayo where all the training and maintenance is done
Army Aviation Group 601
* 601st Assault Helicopter Battalion
* 601st Aviation Maintenance Battalion
* 601st Intelligence Support Aviation Squadron
* 602nd Attack/Scout Aviation Squadron
* 603rd General Support Aviation Squadron
* 604th Support Aviation Squadron
The service has also permanent forward location bases assigned to both HQ and brigade levels.
II Army Corps
* 121st Army Aviation Section (Rosario)
* 2nd Army Aviation Section (Parana)
* 12th Army Aviation Section (Posadas)
III Army Corps
* 141st Army Aviation Section (Cordoba)
* 6th Army Aviation Section (Neuquen)
* 8th Army Aviation Section (Mendoza)
V Army Corps
* 181st Army Aviation Section (Bahia Blanca)
* 9th Army Aviation Section (Comodoro Rivadavia)
* 11th Army Aviation Section (Rio Gallegos)
Aircraft inventory
! style="text-align: left; background: aacccc;"|Aircraft
! style="text-align: left; background: aacccc;"|Origin
! style="text-align: left; background: aacccc;"|Type
! style="text-align: left; background: aacccc;"|Versions
! style="text-align: left; background: aacccc;"|In serviceAviation Week & Space Technology 2009, 26 JAN 2009 Web.25 Jul 2009. .
! style="text-align: left; background: aacccc;"|Notes
|----- ! style="align: center; background: lavender;" colspan="7" | Helicopters |----- | Aerospatiale SA 315 Lama | | Search and rescue Andes Mountains | SA 315B | 4 | |----- | Agusta A109 | | Scout/attack helicopter | | 6 | |----- | Bell 205 | | Utility helicopter | 205A1 | 6 | |----- | UH-1 Iroquois | | Utility helicopter | UH-1H | 66 | |----- | Eurocopter AS 332 Super Puma || Antarctic support helicopter | AS 332B | 3 | |----- | Mil Mi-17 | | Antarctic support helicopter | | 0 | 2 on order |----- | Bell 206 | | joint armed forces trainer | | 0 | 5 on order |----- ! style="align: center; background: lavender;" colspan="7" | Trainers |----- | Cessna T-41 Mescalero | | Trainer | T-41D | 8 | |----- ! style="align: center; background: lavender;" colspan="7" | Transports |----- | Alenia G.222 | | Transport | | 3 | |----- | Beechcraft Queen Air 65 | | Staff transport | 65-B80 | 2 | |----- | CASA C-212 Aviocar | | Transport | C-212-200 | 2 | |----- | Cessna 207 | | Utility | T207 | 6 | |----- | Cessna 550 Citation | | VIP transport | Citation I | 2 | |----- | de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter | | Utility | DHC-6-200
DHC-6-300 | 1
1 | |----- | Fairchild SA-226 Merlin | | Staff transport | Merlin IIIA
Merlin IIIB
Merlin IVA | 2
1
3 | |----- | Grumman OV-1 Mohawk | | Intelligence & Electronic Warfare | OV-1D | 20 | Additional 6 in storage for spares |----- | Rockwell Sabreliner 75 | | VIP transport | Sabreliner 75A | 3 | |-----
|}
In addition to army aviation, a small air fleet is maintained by the border guard Gendarmeria Nacional Argentina.
See also
Argentine air forces in the Falklands War
References
Portions based on a translation from Spanish Wikipedia.
official site
External links
Argentine Army Aviation official site
Argentine Army official site
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Argentine Army Aviation
