Argentine Navy Aviation

It was founded in 1910. During World War I, Washington invited Buenos Aires to send 10 Argentinean naval cadets to the US to train and navigate naval bases and ships. Three of them - Ricardo Fitz-Simon ( Spanish Ricardo Fitz Simon ), Seferino Pouchan ( Spanish Ceferino Pouchan ) and Marcos Antonio Sar ( Spanish Marcos A. Zar ), were trained at the aviation school in Pensacola . In addition, French and Italian instructors trained the Argentinean pilots, who presented the fleet with Macchi M.7 and M.9 seaplanes (two units each ).

Argentina’s “baptism” of naval aviation took place on May Square in Buenos Aires, during the long reign of Juan Peron . In the summer of 1955 , before the beginning of the September Liberation Revolution , the fleet revolted, and on June 16 at 12:40 hours airplanes of the naval aviation and the Air Force began to bombard the May Square , adjacent to the presidential palace of Casa Rosada , on which supporters of President Peron gathered. As a result, 364 people died - the largest bombing ever carried out in Argentina.

In 1958, a light aircraft carrier was bought from Britain, which received the name Independencia ( V-1 ) ( Spanish Independencia - independence) in the Argentinean fleet, which radically increased the capabilities of naval aviation. Thus, Argentina became one of the countries possessing aircraft carriers. The V-1 was armed with F4U Corsair , SNJ-5Cs Texan and Grumman S2F-1 (S-2A) Tracker aircraft . The F9F Cougar Naval Aviation was the first aircraft in Argentina to break the sound barrier ^[3] .

In 1968, the second aircraft carrier was acquired from the Netherlands. The ship received the name Veyntisinko de Mayo and tail number V-2 .

In 1978, during the alleged start of Operation Sovereignty , Skyhawk attack aircraft with Veintisinko de Mayo intercepted Chilean patrol aircraft in the Beagle Channel .

With the outbreak of the Falkland War, naval aviation actively participated in the fighting in the South Atlantic.

The Argentine Navy Aviation Officer was Adolfo Silingo , a Dirty War operative and a participant in Death Flights .

Argentina Naval Aviation Base:

• Comandante Espora ( Bahia Blanca )
• Almirante Sar ( Trelew )
• Punta Indio ( La Plata )
• Almirante Quihada ( Rio Grande )
• Ezeiza

The data on the equipment and weapons of the Argentine Navy Aviation are taken from the page of Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine . ^[four]

Since the mid -1990s, the Argentinean Navy has repeatedly considered projects for the construction of a new aircraft carrier ^[5] , however, due to the country's economic problems, the project remains unrealized. In the 2000-10s, the Government of Argentina announced plans to modernize and purchase military equipment for the country's armed forces, including naval aviation. It is planned to re-equip the fleet of aviation of the Navy not only with foreign models of equipment, but with national developments, such as IA-63 Pampa and IA-73 Unasur I manufactured by FAdeA ^[6] . In 2013, Minister of Defense Agustin Rossi announced an increase in the country's military budget in 2014 ^[7] . Foreign observers suggest that the construction of an aircraft carrier is possible as part of the procurement of weapons ^[8] .

Anchor is an identification mark of the Argentine Navy. Anchors are applied with light paint on a dark surface and vice versa. In addition to identification marks, aircraft and helicopters of aviation of the Argentine Navy have the inscription ARMADA (from the Spanish - “ Navy ”). On larger aircraft, the inscription ARMADA ARGENTINA - Argentine Navy ( ARA ) is applied. An earlier version of the inscription was, respectively, NAVAL and AVIACIÓN NAVAL - Naval Aviation .

•  

  Identification mark

•  

  Sign on keel

•  

  Former identification mark

• Argentine Air Force
• Argentine Army Aviation
• Death flights
• Uprising of the Argentine Navy (1963)

• Argentina Maritime Aviation Official Website (Spanish)
• Photos of aircraft of the Argentine Navy Aviation (inaccessible link )
• Escuadrillas Aeronavales de Ataque y Combate // Historia y Arqueologia Marítima (Spanish)