The Paraguayan Air Force () is a branch of the

Armed Forces of Paraguay The Armed Forces of Paraguay () officially the Armed Forces of the Nation () consist of the Paraguayan Army, Paraguayan army, Paraguayan Navy, Paraguayan navy (including naval aviation and marine corps) and Paraguayan Air Force, air force. The c ...

, in charge of the defense of

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

's skies. Its interim commander is Air Division General Julio Rubén Fullaondo Céspedes. Its headquarters are located in Ñu Guazu,

Luque Luque () is a city in Central Department of Paraguay, part of the Gran Asunción metropolitan area. Both 1635 and 1750 have been recorded as dates of its founding. It was temporarily the capital of Paraguay in 1868 during the Paraguayan War ...

, a city which belongs to

Gran Asunción Greater Asunción () is the metropolitan area of the capital city of Paraguay, Asunción. It consists of twenty cities: Asunción itself, the capital, and the surrounding cities in Central Department. One in three Paraguayans live in this metrop ...

History

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 the Military Aviation) played an important part in the Paraguayan victory in the

Chaco War The Chaco War (, Fiat CR.20bis, were formed. After the war, until the end of the 1930s, the government acquired 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 The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

as the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

wound down. In the following decades, the Air Force had practically no combat-ready planes, though it had many foreign-trained pilots. It 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 the International Airport of Asunción. When, in 1989, a coup was started against long-standing dictator

Alfredo Stroessner Alfredo Stroessner Matiauda (; 3 November 1912 – 16 August 2006) was a Paraguayan politician, army general and Military dictatorship, military dictator who ruled as the 42nd president of Paraguay from 15 August 1954 until his overthrow in 19 ...

, 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 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

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

ese government donated six

T-33 Shooting Star 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 ...

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 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 A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

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 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 The Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano (English: ''Super Toucan''), also named ALX or A-29, is a Brazilian turboprop light attack aircraft, attack and Counter-insurgency_aircraft, counter-insurgency aircraft designed and built by Embraer as a developm ...

planes, and also a delegation sent to the scene of the negotiations between

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

for 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 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, 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.

Peacekeeping

The Paraguayan Air Force participates and has participated in various humanitarian missions headed by the UN, namely: *

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

(

MINUSTAH The United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (), also known as MINUSTAH, an acronym of its French name, was a UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti from 2004 to 2017. It was composed of 2,366 military personnel and 2,533 police, supported by int ...

) *

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

( UNFICYP) *

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

(

MONUC The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or MONUSCO (an acronym based on its French name ), is a United Nations peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A planned withdraw ...

) *

Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...

and the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...

( MINURCAT) *

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

( ONUCI) *

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

( UNMIS) *

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

( UNMIL) *

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo), is a country located on the western coast of Central ...

(

MONUSCO The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or MONUSCO (an acronym based on its French name ), is a United Nations peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A planned withdraw ...

)

Structure

The Air Force is composed of the Aerial Tactical Group (GAT) with three fighter squadrons, 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 the Aerial Regions Command; the latter has nominal jurisdiction over twelve landing strips and airports, six of which are air bases.

First Aerial Brigade

* Aerial Tactical Group ** 1.º Fighter Squadron «Guaraní» (Escadrilles «Orion» y «Centauro»), deactivated ** 2.º Fighter Squadron «Indios» (Escadrilles «Taurus» y «Scorpio»), deactivated ** 3.º Fighter Squadron «Moros» (Escadrilles «Gamma» y «Omega»): EMB-312 * Aerial Instruction Group «Fénix Squadron»: T-25A ** «Antares» / «Pantera» / «Halcón» Squadrons: T-35A/B * Aerial Transport Group: ** Aerial Transport Escadrille: C-212 (

Asunción Asunción (, ) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of Asunción in the north ...

/Ñu Guasú air base) ** Presidential Escadrille: DHC-6 * Aerial Helicopter Group:

UH-1H The Bell UH-1 Iroquois military helicopter, first introduced in 1959, is the first production member of Bell Helicopter's prolific Huey family of helicopters, and was itself developed in over twenty variants, which are listed below. XH-40 and Y ...

, HB-350 * Special Aerial Transport Group: C-208, CE u206, Ce 210N, Ce 402B, PA 32R, PZL 104 * Aerial Photogrammetric Group

Airmobile Brigade

* Paratrooper Battalion * Support and Services Battalion * Paratrooper Squadron * Airmobile Infantry Battalion * Security Battalion

Aerial Regions Command

* Western Regional Command * Eastern Regional Command * Environmental Directory * PAF Environmental Fire Marshal Corps * Communications and Meteorology Directory * Forestry and Agriculture Directorate * Workshops and Transportation Directory * Infrastructure and Engineering Group

Logistics Brigade

* Quartermaster Directory * Land Transport Directory * Weaponry Directory * Health Services Directory * Aerial Supply Group * Aerial Maintenance Group * PAF Mobilization and Recruitment Directory

Instruction Institutes Command

* Air Force Command and General Staff School * Air Force Officer Improvement School * Air Force Non-Commissioned Officer Formation School * Specialized Instruction Center * Air Force Language Studies Center * Reserve Officers Formation Center

Air bases

The Paraguayan Air Force operates from around 7 air bases, together with 4 civilian international airports and 3 civilian national airports:

Equipment

Aircraft

Current inventory

Retired

Armament

The EMB 314 Super Tucano and

Embraer EMB 312 Tucano The Embraer EMB 312 Tucano (English: ''Toucan'') is a Monoplane#Low, low-wing, tandem-seat, single-turboprop, basic trainer (aircraft), trainer and light attack aircraft developed and produced by Embraer in Brazil. The Brazilian Air Force sponso ...

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.

Radar

Paraguay employs approximately 3

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i made EL/M 2106 NG

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

s which provide a 3D picture of the controlled airspace.