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23-561: While the formal beginning of Paraguayan military aviation is often traced to the end of the 1920s, when the First Fighter Squadron and the First Reconnaissance Squadron were formed with French Wilbaut 72s and Potez 25 A.2s respectively, the airplane had already been used in combat in limited numbers in the 1922 Civil War , mostly flown by foreign pilots. The Paraguayan Air Force (then called

46-606: A 3D picture of the controlled airspace. Wibault 72 The Wibault 7 was a 1920s French monoplane fighter designed and built by Société des Avions Michel Wibault . Variants were operated by the French and Polish military and built under licence for Chile as the Vickers Wibault . Developed from the earlier Wib.3 the Wibault 7 was a C.I category single-seat high-wing braced parasol monoplane fighter powered by

69-548: A 480  hp (360  kW ) Gnome-Rhone 9Ad radial engine . The main difference from earlier aircraft was the use of an all-metal construction system which was patented by Wibault. The first prototype flew in 1924, and was followed by two more prototypes. Despite being placed only third in the competition (behind the Nieuport-Delage NiD 42 and the Gourdou-Leseurre GL.32 ), an order for 25 Wib.7s

92-567: A concession to LAASA (Lockheed Aircraft Argentina SA, a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation ). Under the terms of the privatization agreement LAASA would operate it for 25 years, which could be renewed for two 10 year periods. During this period the activity was mostly focused in maintenance and upgrades of existing aircraft in service with the Argentine Air Force. During the government of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner

115-681: A series of new planes to reequip the Paraguayan Air Force, including five Fiat CR.32 fighters and seven Caproni AP.1 light attack aircraft, which were used to equip the two fighter squadrons. In 1945, some planes were also donated by the United States as the Second World War wound down. In the following decades, the Air Force had practically no combat-ready planes, though it had many foreign-trained pilots. It

138-534: 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 2009 the concession ended and the company is now wholly owned by the Argentine government . Formed on 10 October 1927 and on 18 July 1928 ends the construction and testing begins on

161-490: The International Airport of Asunción . When, in 1989, a coup was started against long-standing dictator Alfredo Stroessner , fighter pilots 1st Lts. Juan Antonio Rojas Duré and Gerardo Miguel Ángel Maldonado Gómez, piloting Xavantes, made a series of aggressive flyovers above the loyalist forces, a deeply demoralizing action, for the latter had no way to defend themselves against the combat jets. The action of

184-743: The KT-1P . In 2019, a delegation was sent to Argentina to discuss the purchase of helicopters and the IA-63 Pampa . In the same year, a Paraguayan company started to produce under license the Brazilian RQ-17 ION UAV. In April 2021, the PAF did flight-tests of the Wega 180 , and in November, of the first prototypes of Paraguayan-made UAVs. In December 2022, a delegation from the PAF evaluated

207-750: The RPA-240 radar, which it planned to use against the Narcotráfico . In the same year, its T-35 Pillán were sent back to ENAER for an overhaul. In April 2023, the PAF C-in-C signed a declaration of interest with the Fabrica Argentina de Aviones for the acquisition of the IA-100 trainer. In December 2023, Arturo Javier González Ocampo, who had been the PAF's Commander in Chief until November,

230-697: The Aerial Regions Command; the latter has nominal jurisdiction over twelve landing strips and airports, six of which are air bases. The Paraguayan Air Force operates from around 7 air bases, together with 4 civilian international airports and 3 civilian national airports: The EMB 314 Super Tucano and Embraer EMB 312 Tucano fighters can carry Mk 81 and Mk 82 bombs, 70mm aerial rockets and .50 machine guns. The Helibras HB350 helicopter can also carry 70 mm aerial rockets , and pods with .50 machine guns or cannons. Paraguay employs approximately 3 Israeli made EL/M 2106 NG radars which provide

253-904: The Aerial Transport Group (GTA) which includes a paratrooper brigade, the Aerial Helicopter Group (GAH) and its SAR squadron, a utility squadron, a ground attack squadron, the Aerial Instruction Group (GAI), the Aerial Photogrammetric Group (GAF) and the Aerial Maintenance Group Sector (SEMAER). The last three units have no aircraft assigned to them. Besides these, there exist the Instruction Institutes Command and

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276-469: The Air Force, together with coup leader General Andrés Rodríguez 's artillery superiority, led to a hasty surrender by Stroessner's forces. In 1990 the Taiwanese government donated six T-33 Shooting Star jets to the Air Force, of which the first few arrived in 1991. The Taiwanese had also announced they would donate twelve F-5E/F fighter jets to Paraguay, with provisions for supplies, maintenance and

299-797: The Instituto Aerotécnico, the forerunner of the FMA, in the 1940s. The United States Department of State announced that effective 18 December 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. The FMA has produced innovative aircraft prototypes, but the state of the Argentine economy has usually prevented most of them from entering large-scale production. Nevertheless

322-736: The Military Aviation) played an important part in the Paraguayan victory in the Chaco War , being present from the first to the last actions of the conflict. In 1932, the Second Reconnaissance and Bombing Squadron, with Potez 25 aircraft, and in 1933, the Eleventh Fighter Squadron «Los Indios», with Fiat CR.20bis , were formed. After the war, until the end of the 1930s, the government acquired

345-934: The Polish military. One or two of them were fitted with Wright Cyclone engine. The next variant was the Wib.73 , with seven built for Paraguay. The French Navy bought some carrier-capable Wib.74 s with a strengthened fuselage and arrestor hook. Re-engined with a 400 hp (298 kW) Hispano 12 Jb engine but redesignated Wib.9 before completion. Data from The Complete Book of Fighters General characteristics Performance Armament Related development Related lists Fabrica Argentina de Aviones 31°26′35.6″S 64°16′20.9″W  /  31.443222°S 64.272472°W  / -31.443222; -64.272472 The Fábrica Argentina de Aviones SA (mostly known for its acronym FAdeA , officially Fábrica Argentina de Aviones "Brigadier San Martín" S.A. ),

368-670: The Pulqui II (1950) under the direction of engineers Emile Dewoitine (French) and Kurt Tank (German) respectively. In the 1960s produced the Guarani light transport and the Pucara COIN aircraft, followed by the Pampa jet trainer in the 1980s; the last two still in service with the Argentine Air Force as of early 2016. In 1995, FMA was privatized by the government of Carlos Menem and from that year until March 2009 it operated as

391-420: The acquisition process for a parachuting simulator, and for drone interception equipment. - The acquisition of different flight simulators. - The creation of a federal program for the research and development of UAVs. Besides this, studies have been made for the acquisition of Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano planes, and also a delegation sent to the scene of the negotiations between Peru and South Korea for

414-537: The factory was nationalized in August 2009, with compensation of ARS $ 67 million paid. The text of the expropriation law provides that "the State cannot divest itself of majority shareholdings or the power to make decisions at the factory." 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

437-531: 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. A series of indigenous and foreign designs followed, mostly for military use. The factory is known for producing the first jet fighter aircraft in Latin America: the Pulqui I (1947) and

460-595: The training of ground crew and pilots, but due to international issues this movement didn't go through. The AT-26 Xavante were deactivated permanently in 2004, after twenty five years of service in the Air Force. From circa 2014/2015 onwards, plans were started to modernize the branch, through strong licitations, law projects in the Congress and contracts with multinational corporations. A few achievements were noted in specialized news sources: - The acquisition and unveiling of ELTA EL/M 2106 NG radar sets. - The start of

483-613: Was arrested by the Federal Police of Brazil amidst an investigation on arms trafficking. Overall, as it stands, due to many budgetary and political issues, the PAF's equipment can be considered mostly obsolete. The Paraguayan Air Force participates and has participated in various humanitarian missions headed by the UN , namely: The Air Force is composed of the Aerial Tactical Group (GAT) with three fighter squadrons,

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506-472: Was only in the 1970s that the Air Force received a dozen outdated but still armed T-6 Texan planes and started again training pilots in its own soil. By the end of the 1970s though most of the aircraft inventory was still World War II vintage. The government decided to buy ten AT-26 Xavante from Brazil in order to be able to defend the Paraguayan airspace; the first three aircraft arrived in December 1979 at

529-712: Was placed in January 1927. These were followed in production by 60 aircraft for the Aéronautique Militaire as the Wib.72 which entered service in 1929. 26 Wib.7s were built for Chile under licence by Vickers in England. Plans to sell the aircraft to Poland did not come about, but the PZL company bought a licence and manufactured 25 aircraft with Bristol Jupiter engines, designated in Poland as Wibault 70C1, to

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