"With full speed to the stars" , colours =

Indigo Indigo is a deep color close to the color wheel blue (a primary color in the RGB color space), as well as to some variants of ultramarine, based on the ancient dye of the same name. The word "indigo" comes from the Latin word ''indicum'', ...

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, colours_label = , march =

Alte Kameraden "" ("Old Comrades") is the title of a popular German military march. It is included in the ''Armeemarschsammlung'' as HM II, 150. History The march was written around 1889 in Ulm, Germany, by military music composer Carl Teike. Teike wrote man ...

, mascot = , anniversaries = 21 March (Air Force Day) , equipment = 180 aircraft , equipment_label = , battles = *

Chilean naval mutiny of 1931 The Chilean naval mutiny of 1931 ( es, Sublevación de la Escuadra) was a violent rebellion of Chilean Navy enlisted men against the government of Vice President Manuel Trucco. Background In 1931 Chile was bankrupt. The situation had caused the ...

1973 Chilean coup d'état The 1973 Chilean coup d'état Enciclopedia Virtual > Historia > Historia de Chile > Del gobierno militar a la democracia" on LaTercera.cl. Retrieved 22 September 2006. In October 1972, Chile suffered the first of many strikes. Among the par ...

Beagle conflict The Beagle conflict was a border dispute between Chile and Argentina over the possession of Picton, Lennox and Nueva islands and the scope of the maritime jurisdiction associated with those islands that brought the countries to the brink of war i ...

, decorations = , battle_honours = , battle_honours_label = , flying_hours = , website = , commander1 = General del Aire Hugo Rodríguez González , commander1_label = Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force , commander2 = , commander2_label = , commander3 = , commander3_label = , commander4 = , commander4_label = , commander5 = , commander5_label = , notable_commanders = Arturo Merino Benítez

Marmaduke Grove Marmaduke Grove Vallejo (; July 6, 1878 – May 15, 1954), his name erroneously spelled Marmaduque Grobeh, was a Chilean Air Force officer, political figure and member of the Government Junta of the Socialist Republic of Chile in 1932. Early lif ...

Gustavo Leigh

Fernando Matthei Fernando Matthei Aubel (11 July 1925 – 19 November 2017) was a Chilean Air Force general who was part of the military junta that ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, replacing the dismissed Gustavo Leigh as commander-in-chief of the Chilean Air ...

, identification_symbol = Roundel of Chile

Roundel of Chile – Low Visibility – Type 1

, identification_symbol_label =

Roundel A roundel is a circular disc used as a symbol. The term is used in heraldry, but also commonly used to refer to a type of national insignia used on military aircraft, generally circular in shape and usually comprising concentric rings of dif ...

, identification_symbol_2 = Fin Flash of Chile

, identification_symbol_2_label =

Fin flash Military aircraft insignia are insignia applied to military aircraft to identify the nation or branch of military service to which the aircraft belong. Many insignia are in the form of a circular roundel or modified roundel; other shapes such as ...

, identification_symbol_3 = Flag of the Chilean Air Force

, identification_symbol_3_label = Flag , aircraft_attack = , aircraft_bomber = , aircraft_electronic = 707 Cóndor AEW&C , aircraft_fighter =

F-16 The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved into a successf ...

, F-5 , aircraft_helicopter = , aircraft_helicopter_attack = , aircraft_helicopter_cargo = , aircraft_helicopter_multirole = , aircraft_helicopter_observation = , aircraft_helicopter_trainer = , aircraft_helicopter_utility = , aircraft_interceptor = , aircraft_patrol = , aircraft_recon = , aircraft_trainer = T-35 Pillán,

Super Tucano The Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano (English: ''Super Toucan''), also named ALX or A-29, is a Brazilian turboprop light attack aircraft designed and built by Embraer as a development of the Embraer EMB 312 Tucano. The A-29 Super Tucano carries a wi ...

, T-36 Halcón , aircraft_transport =

C-130 Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally desi ...

UH-1H Huey The Bell UH-1 Iroquois (nicknamed "Huey") is a utility military helicopter designed and produced by the American aerospace company Bell Helicopter. It is the first member of the prolific Huey family, as well as the first turbine-powered helico ...

Bell 412 The Bell 412 is a utility helicopter of the Huey family manufactured by Bell Helicopter. It is a development of the Bell 212, with the major difference being the composite four-blade main rotor. Design and development Development began in the ...

UH-60 Black Hawk The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is a four-blade, twin-engine, medium-lift utility military helicopter manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft. Sikorsky submitted the S-70 design for the United States Army's Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft System ( ...

, aircraft_tanker = , aircraft_general = The Chilean Air Force ( es, Fuerza Aérea de Chile (FACh) is the

Air force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

and branch of the Chilean military.

History

The first step towards the current FACh is taken by Teniente Coronel training as a pilot in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Although a local academy was created, the first officers were sent to France for their training as well. One of them,

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Manuel Ávalos Prado, took command over the Chilean military aviation school, which was officially established in February 1913, and remained in command until 1915. The Military Aviation School () 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 The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

was one of the main targets as well as long distance flights. Typical aircraft of that era were

Avro 504 The Avro 504 was a First World War biplane aircraft made by the Avro aircraft company and under licence by others. Production during the war totalled 8,970 and continued for almost 20 years, making it the most-produced aircraft of any kind tha ...

, Bleriot XI, Bristol M.1C, DH.9, and SE5a. In the following decade, the Airmail Line of Chile () was created on 5 March 1929 as a branch of the military aviation. This postal airline later developed into the 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 Department of the Air Force () effectively creating the current independent Air Force. It was initially named National Air Force (). The international airport of Chile carries the name of Lan's founding father and first commander of the air force, Air Commodore Arturo Merino Benítez. Its baptism of fire was in the 1931 sailors' rebellion in Coquimbo, where Air Force attack aircraft and bombers and 2 transport planes converted into bombers contributed to its failure. The first outlines of the organization of the current air force were visible in 1945 with the inception of Transport Group 1, later renumbered Group 10, with two C-45s and a single

T-6 Texan The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is an American single-engined advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force and other air force ...

at Los Cerrillos. Two years later the first FACh flight to

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

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 The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. The American supply consisted of Lockheed F-80,

Lockheed T-33 The Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star (or T-Bird) is an American subsonic jet trainer. It was produced by Lockheed and made its first flight in 1948. The T-33 was developed from the Lockheed P-80/F-80 starting as TP-80C/TF-80C in development, then d ...

, Beech T-34 Mentor,

Cessna T-37 The Cessna T-37 Tweet (designated Model 318 by Cessna) is a small, economical twin-engined jet trainer type which flew for decades as a primary trainer for the United States Air Force (USAF) and in the air forces of several other nations. The ...

Cessna A-37 Dragonfly The Cessna A-37 Dragonfly, or Super Tweet, is an American light attack aircraft developed from the T-37 Tweet basic trainer in the 1960s and 1970s by Cessna of Wichita, Kansas. The A-37 was introduced during the Vietnam War and remained in pe ...

and Northrop F-5E/F for example, whereas the British supplied

Hawker Hunter The Hawker Hunter is a transonic British jet-powered fighter aircraft that was developed by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly developed Rolls-Ro ...

s and the French delivered various helicopters and Dassault Mirage 50 aircraft. During the military coup d'état on September 11, 1973, the Chilean Air Force conducted Operation Silence, Hunters from the 7th Aviation Squadron destroyed several transmission antennas belonging to pro-government radio stations. After accomplishing their mission, the aircraft performed attack runs on the presidential residence at Las Condes and the presidential palace, a pilot mistakenly opened fire on the Air Force Hospital when attacking the residence, no casualties were reported. The Chilean air force hosted the joint exercise Salitre with other friendly nations in 2014. It also participated in several United Nations peacekeeping missions overseas in 5 occasions. The Chilean Air Force reported one of its C-130 Hercules transport aircraft carrying 38 people en route to

missing Missing or The Missing may refer to: Film * ''Missing'' (1918 film), an American silent drama directed by James Young * ''Missing'' (1982 film), an American historical drama directed by Costa-Gavras * ''Missing'' (2007 film) (''Vermist''), a Bel ...

on December 9, 2019. The aircraft was on its way to Antarctica’s King George Island to provide logistic support to a military base when radio contact was lost. On 11 December 2019, aircraft debris was located 18 miles South of where the plane last made contact and no survivors were found. The cause of the crash is unknown.

Commanders-in-chief

Order of battle

Personnel = 10,600 (including 700

conscripts Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day und ...

) Office of the Commander in Chief

Combat Command of the Air Force

First Air Brigade with headquarters in Los Cóndores Air Base (Base Aérea Los Cóndores) in

Iquique Iquique () is a port city and commune in northern Chile, capital of both the Iquique Province and Tarapacá Region. It lies on the Pacific coast, west of the Pampa del Tamarugal, which is part of the Atacama Desert. It has a population of 191, ...

* 1st Aviation Squadron * 2nd Aviation Squadron * 3rd Aviation Squadron * 24th Air Defense Squadron * 34th Telecommunications Squadron * 44th Aviation Infantry Squadron Second Air Brigade with headquarters in Pudahuel Air Base () in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

* 9th Aviation Squadron * 10th Aviation Squadron * Air Defence and Special Forces Regiment () * 32nd Telecommunications Squadron Third Air Brigade with headquarters in El Tepual Air Base () in

Puerto Montt Puerto Montt (Mapuche: Meli Pulli) is a port city and commune in southern Chile, located at the northern end of the Reloncaví Sound in the Llanquihue Province, Los Lagos Region, 1,055 km to the south of the capital, Santiago. The commune ...

* 5th Aviation Squadron * 25th Air Defense Squadron * 35th Telecommunications Squadron Fourth Air Brigade with headquarters in Chabunco Air Base () in

Punta Arenas Punta Arenas (; historically Sandy Point in English) is the capital city of Chile's southernmost region, Magallanes and Antarctica Chilena. The city was officially renamed as Magallanes in 1927, but in 1938 it was changed back to "Punta Are ...

* 6th Aviation Squadron Chilean F-16 Fidae 2006

* 12th Aviation Squadron * 23rd Air Defense Squadron * 33rd Telecommunications Squadron * 19th Antarctic Exploration Squadron Fifth Air Brigade with headquarters in Cerro Moreno Air Base () in

Antofagasta Antofagasta () is a port city in northern Chile, about north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. According to the 2015 census, the city has a population of 402,669. After the Spanish American wars ...

* 7th Aviation Squadron * 8th Aviation Squadron * 21st Air Defense Squadron * 31st Telecommunications Squadron * 41st Aviation Infantry Squadron

Personnel Command

Education Division * Air Force School "Captain Manuel Ávalos Prado" * Air Force NCO School "Flight Sergeant Adolfo Menadier Rojas" * Advanced NCO School * Air War Academy * Air Force Polytechnical Academy * Air Photographic Surveying Service Health Division
General Hospital of the Air Force
Air Force High Command Prefecture

Logistics Command

Maintenance Division
Administration Division
Infrastructure Division The Air Force also maintains the Air Force Special Forces (), comparable to a

United States Air Force Combat Control Team United States Air Force Combat Control Teams, singular Combat Controller (CCT) ( AFSC 1Z2X1), are an elite American special operations force (specifically known as "special tactics operators") who specialize in all aspects of air-ground communi ...

. They may be up to 350 strong, and their roles include assault, reconnaissance,

Air Traffic Control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airsp ...

Fire Support Fire support is defined by the United States Department of Defense as " Fires that directly support land, maritime, amphibious, and special operations forces to engage enemy forces, combat formations, and facilities in pursuit of tactical and ope ...

, and

Command, control, and communications Command and control (abbr. C2) is a "set of organizational and technical attributes and processes ... hatemploys human, physical, and information resources to solve problems and accomplish missions" to achieve the goals of an organization or en ...

Equipment

Aircraft

Chile Air Force Northrop F-5E Tigre III Lofting-2 (cropped)

EB-707 Condor, Chilean Air Force (FACh) v2

Air defense

Armament

Industry

Chile also maintains its own aviation industry, ENAER. The design of the T-35 Pillán trainer, based on the Piper PA-28 Dakota, is the best known example, seeing some export success as well. Furthermore, the assembly of the A-36/T-36 Halcón (CASA C-101) was achieved as well. Performing maintenance on most types in the current inventory, such as minor modifications on F-5E aircraft for example, the industry is of significant importance to the air force. ENAER is reported to be in talks with Embraer of Brazil to codesign the first indigenous South American military transport plane. Also, under the Pacer Amstel programme, with initial Dutch support, and later locally ENAER upgraded an F-16 combat jet, which for the Chilean Air Force is an advance for their maintenance of the F-16 fleet (becoming the 5th country to modify their jets under authorization).

Ranks

;Officers ;Enlisted

Badges

Officers

Non-commissioned officers and airmen

Officers' cap badges

Chilean Air Force officers wear the following cap badges in their peaked caps.

Notes

Bibliography

External links

Fuerza Aérea de Chile
official website
Fuerza Aérea de Chile
at Chilean Defense Ministry, official website
Fuerza Aérea de Chile website
old at Archive.org
Ranks of Fuerza Aérea de Chile website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chilean Air Force Military units and formations established in 1930 1930 establishments in Chile 1930 in Chilean law