Chile has just celebrated the 200th anniversary of its first government out of Spanish colonial rule and its armed forces played a key role in “nation-long” ceremonies. While Army and Navy hosted the main “Fiestas Patrias” (patriotic festivities), military (mainly Air Force) flying elements captured a fair share of the show in the capital and elsewhere.
Coinciding with the exhibition of a C-17A Globemaster III in Chile’s air and space fair in March 2010, Boeing was reported as talking to prospective customers about the creation of a South American consortium to operate the type following a “time-sharing” scheme already developed by several NATO air forces. Aeromilitaria Argentina has been following the story and got exclusive comments on the subject from Boeing Integrated Defense Systems.
A busy month in other fields has prevented Aeromilitaria Argentina staff from delving into more elaborate research and edition chores. Thanks to individual reports and other searches, though, a selection of traffic movements recorded throughout Argentina during the month of June was compiled and is listed inside.
A collection of interesting foreign military movements through Argentine airports and air bases were recorded in the first few months of year 2010 and we found it worthwhile to summarize in a short descriptive log.
STOP PRESS! Fresh news coming in from a variety of sources point out that a number of Argentine Air Force aircraft are to take part in a “federal parade” celebrating Argentina’s Bicentennial in the weekend prior to 25 May 2010. Read-on for a preview of what to expect if you’re touring 9 de Julio Avenue.
Argentina’s Air Force has spent decades planning to replace its dwindling inventory of Delta-fighters. The most recent solo flight ceremony was a good opportunity to check official sources as to the present status of this “never ending story” kind of project.
STOP PRESS! The Argentine Air Force is about to celebrate a new anniversary of the 1982 Malvinas War with a formal ceremony and a two-day air fest at Morón Air Base, in the outskirts of Buenos Aires.
Following a protracted rebuilding process and a 15,000 km ferry flight, Air Force DHC-6 Twin Otter “Tango 85” returned to its home base in Comodoro Rivadavia (Chubut) on 23 April. Read on to learn more about Argentina’s first successful DHC-6-350 conversion in Canada.
Close to 25 aircraft and 250 service men and women from different Air Force and Army units were involved in the first large-scale joint exercise of year 2010. For little more than a week, combat search and rescue operations took place in and around Mendoza/El Plumerillo airport.
Freshly nationalized, Argentine aircraft and maintenance firm FAdeA (Fábrica Argentina de Aviones) has started making it into the news following its international debut in FIDAE, Chile’s air, space a security fair, held in Santiago in March 2010.
