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Peruvian Air Force

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The Peruvian Air Force is the branch of the Peruvian Armed Forces tasked with defending the nation and its interests through the use of air power. Additional missions include assistance in safeguarding internal security, conducting disaster relief operations and participating in international peacekeeping operations. It celebrates on July 23 the anniversary of the death of Captain Jose Quinones Gonzales in the war against Ecuador (1941).

History

On May 20, 1929, the aviation divisions of the Peruvian Army and Navy were merged into the Cuerpo de Aviacion del Peru . During the Colombian-Peruvian War of 1933, its Vought O2U Corsair and Curtiss F11 Hawk planes fought in the Amazon region. The corps was renamed Cuerpo Aeronautico del Peru on March 12, 1936. In 1941, the CAP participated in the Peruvian-Ecuadorian War. At that time, the CAP were equipped with Caproni Ca.114 and North American NA.50 Torito fighters, Douglas 8A-3P attack fighters and Caproni Ca.310 Libeccio bombers, among others. During this war, Captain Jose Quinones Gonzales died in action and later became the principal hero of the Air Force of Peru.

During the presidency of Manuel A. Odria the corps was reorganized again and on July 18, 1950 it became the Fuerza Aerea del Peru . The service underwent a period of considerable expansion through out the 1970s and early 1980s which included the introduction of an important number of soviet-made aircraft. In 1982, during the Falklands War, the Peruvian Air Force transferred ten of their Mirage 5P to the Argentine Air Force as a measure of solidarity. The economic crisis of the later 1980s forced reductions in the fleet size as well as cuts in training and general readiness.

Under those conditions the FAP fought the Cenepa War against Ecuador in 1995 and lost nine planes and helicopters. After the war, the FAP acquired new material, including MiG-29 fighters and Su-25 attack fighters which, along with Mirage 2000 fighters, are currently the main combat elements of the FAP.

Organization

The current Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force of Peru is General Miguel Angel Gomez Vizcarra. Aerial forces are subordinated to the Ministry of Defense and ultimately to the President as Commander-in-Chief of the Peruvian Armed Forces. Operational units are organized as follows:

Ala Aerea N1

1st Air Wing, headquarterd at Piura

Grupo Aereo 6 (6th Air Group - Fighter Squadron N611 "Cock Fighters") based at Chiclayo

*Escuadron Aereo 612 - operating MiG-29S/SE/UB

Grupo Aereo 7 (7th Air Group - Fighter Squadron N711 "Scorpions") based at Piura

*Escuadron Aereo 711 - operating A-37B and OA-37B Dragonfly

Grupo Aereo 11 (11th Air Group - Fighter Squadron N111 "Tigers") based at Talara

*Escuadron Aereo 111 - operating Su-22M-3/UM-3

*Escuadron Aereo 112 - operating Su-25/UB

Ala Aerea N2

2nd Air Wing, headquarterd at Callao

Grupo Aereo N3 (3rd Air Group - Medium-Airlift Helicopter Squadron N311) based at Callao

*Escuadron Aereo 332 - operating Mi-17

Grupo Aereo N8 (8th Air Group - Transport Squadron N811) based at Callao

Ala Aerea N3

3rd Air Wing, headquarterd at Arequipa

Grupo Aereo N2 (2nd Air Group - Attack Helicopter SquadronN211 ) based at Vitor

Grupo Aereo N4 (4th Air Group - Fighter Squadron N411 "Hawks") based at La Joya

Grupo Aereo N51 (51st Training Group - Basic Training Squadron N513, Intermediate Training Squadron N512 & Advance Training Squadrons N511 based at Pisco

Ala Aerea N5

5th Air Wing, headquarterd at Iquitos

Grupo Aereo N42 (42nd Air Group - Transport Squadron) based at Iquitos

Equipment

Numbers shown below are derived from open sources, they should be regarded as estimates due to lack of confirmation from official sources and the fact that undetermined quantities of equipment are non-operational due to lack of fundsAlejo Marchessini, "La Fuerza Aerea del Peru". Defensa 295: 30-42 (November 2002)..

! 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 service

! style="text-align: left; background: aacccc;"|Notes

|----- | English Electric Canberra | | bomber aircraft | B.Mk.12/56
T.Mk.4 | 4
1 | In storage, awaiting disposal |----- | Dassault Mirage 5 | | attack aircraft | Mirage 5P4
Mirage 5DP4 | 10
2 | In storage, awaiting disposal |----- | Sukhoi Su-22 | | attack aircraft | Su-22M3
Su-22UM3 | 10
1 | In storage |----- | Dassault Mirage 2000 | | multirole fighter | Mirage 2000P
Mirage 2000DP | 10
2 | |----- | Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29 | | tactical fighter | MiG-29S
MiG-29SE
MiG-29UB | 14
3
2 | |----- | Sukhoi Su-25 | | attack aircraft | Su-25
Su-25UB | 10
8 | |----- | Cessna A-37 Dragonfly | | light attack aircraft | A-37B | 10 | |----- | Aermacchi MB-339 | | trainer aircraft | MB-339AP | 14 | |----- | Embraer EMB 312 Tucano | | trainer aircraft | EMB-312 | 18 | |----- | Zlin Z 142 | | trainer aircraft | Zlin 242L | 17 | |----- | C-26 Metroliner | | ELINT | C-26B | 3 | |----- | Boeing 707 | | aerial refueling/transport | 707-323KC | 1 | Grounded, awaiting disposal |----- | Boeing 737 | | transport
transport
VIP transport | 737-200
737-300
737-500 | 2
3
1 | |----- | Douglas DC-8 | | transport | DC-8-62CF | 1 | Grounded, awaiting disposal |----- | Lockheed C-130 Hercules | | transport | L-100-20 | 5 | 2 in storage |----- | Antonov An-32 | | transport | An-32B | 5 | |----- | Harbin Y-12 | | transport | Y-12 II | 5 | |----- | Dassault Falcon 20 | | VIP transport | Falcon 20F | 1 | |----- | Fokker F-28 Fellowship | | transport | F-28 | 1 | |----- | de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter | | utility aircraft
seaplane | DHC-6 | 5 | |----- | Lear Jet 25 | | light transport
reconnaissance | Lear Jet 25B | 2 | |----- | Lear Jet 36 | | light transport
reconnaissance | Lear Jet 36A | 2 | |----- | Pilatus PC-6 Porter | | liaison | PC-6 | 9 | |----- | Bell 212 Twin Huey | | transport helicopter | Bell 212 | 6 | |----- | Bolkow Bo 105 | | transport helicopter | Bo-105LS | 5 | |----- | Mil Mi-17 | | transport helicopter | Mi-17 | 14 | 5 under major overhaul in SPARC, Russia |----- | Mil Mi-24 | | attack helicopter | Mi-25D | 16 | At least 2 operational |----- | Schweizer 300 | | utility helicopter | Schweizer 300C | 6 | |-----

Sources

Cobas, Efrain, Las Fuerzas Armadas Peruanas en el Siglo XXI. CESLA, 2003.

Marchessini, Alejo, "La Fuerza Aerea del Peru".
Defensa 295: 30-42 (November 2002).

Marchessini, Alejo, "La aviacion de combate de origen ruso de la FAP".
Defensa 342: 34-36 (October 2006).

Marchessini, Alejo, "El Servicio de Material de Guerra de la FAP" Defensa 355: 48-50 (November 2007).

External links

Official Air Force of Peru Website

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Peruvian Air Force