The Fábrica Argentina de Aviones SA (FAdeA), officially Fábrica Argentina de Aviones "Brigadier San Martín" S.A., 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 The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace, arms, defense, information security, and technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It ...

. In 2009 the concession ended and the company is now wholly owned by the

Argentine government The government of Argentina, within the framework of a federal system, is a presidential representative democratic republic. The President of Argentina is both head of state and head of government. Executive power is exercised by the President. ...

History

Fábrica Militar de Aviones de Córdoba - 1940-1950

Formed on 10 October 1927 and on 18 July 1928 ends the construction and testing begins on the track the first domestically produced aircraft: the license built Avro 504 Gosport training aircraft equipped with a 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 the Pulqui II (1950) under the direction of engineers Emile Dewoitine (French) and

Kurt Tank Kurt Waldemar Tank (24 February 1898 – 5 June 1983) was a German aeronautical engineer and test pilot who led the design department at Focke-Wulf from 1931 to 1945. He was responsible for the creation of several important Luftwaffe aircraft of ...

(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.

Privatization (1995)

In 1995, FMA was privatized by the government of

Carlos Menem Carlos Saúl Menem (2 July 1930 – 14 February 2021) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. Ideologically, he identified as a Peronist and supported economically liberal policies. H ...

and from that year until March 2009 it operated as 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.

Nationalization (2010)

During the government of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner the factory was nationalized in August 2009 after paying ARS $67 million. 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 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.Lockheed Martin Aircraft Argentina SA to Fábrica Argentina de Aviones “Brigadier San Martin” S.A.
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Aircraft design and production

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 the FMA has managed to put several aircraft types of more conventional designs into full productions. It also engaged in production of licensed aircraft from other countries. The prefixes used for the aircraft locally developed (and produced) are: * Ae, for "Dirección General de Aerotécnica", on the first period (1927–1936); * F.M.A., for "Fábrica Militar de Aviones", on the second period (1938–1943); * I.Ae., for "Instituto Aerotécnico", on the third period (1943–1952); * IA, meaning not specified, on the fourth (current) period (1952 to present).

List of aircraft manufactured, projected, or upgraded

Gallery

Local designs

FMA Ae. C.1 Prototipo.jpg, Prototype AeC.1 (1931) FMA Ae. C.2 (Ae. M.E.1).jpg, AeC.2 (1932) Aet1-1.jpg, AeT.1 (1933) FMA Ae. M.Oe. 1.jpg, AeMOe.1 AMS 1.jpg, AeMS.1 prototype FMA 20 EL BOYERO.jpg, FMA 20 ''El Boyero'' (1940) FMA 21.jpg, Prototype FMA 21 trainer (1943) IAeDl22.jpg, I.Ae. 22 DL advanced trainer (1944) IA23.jpg, I.Ae. 23 trainer prototype, based on the FW-44J ''Stieglitz'' (1944) I.Ae. 24 Calquin.jpg, I.Ae. 24 ''Calquin'' attack aircraft, c.1950 IAe25.gif, Prototype I.Ae. 25 ''Mañque'' glider (1945) IAe30.jpg, I.Ae. 30 ''Ñancú'' (1948) IA31.jpg, IAe.31 ''Colibrí'' (1947) IA32.jpg, I.Ae.32 ''Chingolo'' (1949) Tecnopolis2012-003.JPG, I.Ae.33 ''Pulqui'' II prototype 5 (1959), preserved, Tecnópolis show, 2012 Ia34.jpg, I.Ae. 34 ''Clen Antú'', tailless glider designed by

Reimar Horten Walter Horten (born 13 November 1913 in Bonn; died 9 December 1998 in Baden-Baden, Germany) and Reimar Horten (born 12 March 1915 in Bonn; died 14 March 1994 in Villa General Belgrano, Argentina), sometimes credited as the Horten Brothers, were G ...

, late 1940s Ia 36.jpg, Model I.A. 36 ''Cóndor'', airliner designed by

, early 1950s Ia 37 I.jpg, FMA I.Ae. 37 fighter prototype (1953) IA41.jpg, IAe.41 ''Urubú'' flying wing glider (1953) I.Ae. 45 Querandí.jpg, IA 45 ''Querandi'' light transport prototype (1957) Guarani i.jpg, IA 50 ''Guaraní'' I (1962) FMA Dinfia Guarani TX-01 LEB 19.06.65 edited-3.jpg, Prototype Guarani II, 1965 Paris Air Salon FMA-IA-53.jpg, IA 53 ''Mamboretá'' agricultural aircraft prototype (mid-1960s) FMA-IA.X59.jpg, IA-59, prototype Unmanned aerial vehicle, early 1970s FMA IA 63 Pampa 1991.jpg, FMA IA 63 ''Pampa'', Paris Air Show, 1991 Embraer-FMA CBA-123 Vector (IA-70 Parana) (PT-ZVE).jpg, CBA 123 / IA 70 prototype, Farnborough 1990 Unasur I.jpg, FAdeA I.A. 73 Unasur I mock-up IA-100 despegando (cropped).jpg, FAdeA I.A. 100, August 2016

Manufactured under license

Dewotine D.21 Argention.jpg, Dewotine D.21 FMA CURTISS HAWK 75-0.jpg, Curtiss Hawk 75O FMA FOCKE WULF FW 44-J STIEGLITZ.jpg, FW-44J Stieglitz Argentina Air Force Morane-Saulnier (FMA) MS-760 Paris Lofting-2.jpg, Morane-Saulnier MS-760 Paris, Mendoza, 2005

Engines

Motor I.Ae. 16 El Gaucho y hélice I.Ae. 2M-B-30.jpg, I.Ae. R-16 ''El Gaucho'' Motor I.Ae. R-19 El Indio.jpg, I.Ae. R-19 ''El Indio''

References

Notes

Bibliography

* *

External links

*
FAdeA Mulls Major Changes" - Jane's IHS

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fabrica Argentina de Aviones Government-owned companies of Argentina Aircraft manufacturers of Argentina Argentine Air Force Defense companies of Argentina Former Lockheed Martin companies