The Salvadoran Air Force ( es, Fuerza Aérea Salvadoreña, abbreviated FAS) 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 ...

component of the

Armed Forces of El Salvador The Armed Forces of El Salvador ( es, Fuerza Armada de El Salvador) are the official governmental military forces of El Salvador. The Forces have three branches: the Salvadoran Army, the Salvadoran Air Force and the Navy of El Salvador. Histor ...

, and is an independent branch from the army and navy.

Early history

The Salvadoran Army Air Force ('' es, Fuerza Aérea de El Salvador'', abbreviated FAS) was formed on 20 March 1923 during a period of heavy interest in aviation in El Salvador. In 1947, after signing the treaty of Rio (which was a mutual defense treaty among the states of America including the

U.S. 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 primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

), El Salvador gained a new US air mission and the United States increased transfers of aircraft to the nation.

Recent operations

IAI Arava 201 FAS-804 4X-IAQ Salvador LBG 07

The Salvadoran Air Force first saw action in the 1969

Football War The Football War ( es, La guerra del fútbol; colloquial: Soccer War), also known as the Hundred Hours' War or 100 Hour War, was a brief military conflict fought between El Salvador and Honduras in 1969. Existing tensions between the two countr ...

against Honduras equipped with

F4U Corsair The Vought F4U Corsair is an American fighter aircraft which saw service primarily in World War II and the Korean War. Designed and initially manufactured by Chance Vought, the Corsair was soon in great demand; additional production contracts ...

s and P-51 Mustangs. From the late 1970s, isolated guerilla actions rapidly developed into a

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. US aid to El Salvador in 1980 consisted of six

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

s and four in 1981; they were used as gunships. Other deliveries brought that number of UH-1Hs in service up to 40. In February 1982 onwards the United States delivered eight A-37B Dragonflies, 12 UH-1Hs, four

O-2A The Cessna O-2 Skymaster (nicknamed "Oscar Deuce") is a military version of the Cessna 337 Super Skymaster, used for forward air control (FAC) and psychological operations (PSYOPS) by the US military between 1967 and 2010. Design and developm ...

s and three

C-123K The Fairchild C-123 Provider is an American military transport aircraft designed by Chase Aircraft and then built by Fairchild Aircraft for the U.S. Air Force. In addition to its USAF service, which included later service with the Air Force Rese ...

s. On 6 May 2013, in celebration of the 189th anniversary of the Armed Forces of El Salvador, the Salvadoran Government announced the planned purchase of 10 A-37 aircraft from Chile. A four-engined

Douglas DC-6 The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, it was reworked after the war to compete with t ...

B provided long-range logistical capability between 1975 and its retirement in 1998. It was used on supply flights to and from the United States. In December 1984, two AC-47s were delivered to be in service with the other three C-47s in use. The civil war ended in mutual exhaustion in 1990 and the Air Force was geared for internal security. In September 2016 it was reported that the Salvadoran Air Force in cooperation with the

Colombian Air Force , "We are the Force" , colours = , colours_label = , march = Colombian Air Force Hymn , mascot = Capitan Paz , anniversaries = 8 November , ...

was finalizing negotiations on modernizing The Bell UH-1H helicopters to the Huey 2 standard.

Aircraft

Current inventory

Cessna A-37 Dragonfly, El Salvador - Air Force JP6008311

Retired aircraft

Some notable aircraft, previous operated by the Air Force were the

Dassault Ouragan The Dassault M.D.450 Ouragan (french: Hurricane) is a French fighter-bomber developed and produced by Dassault Aviation. It has its origins in a private venture by Dassault to produce an all-French aircraft which would make use of jet propulsion ...

, CM.170 Magister,

Cessna O-2 Skymaster The Cessna O-2 Skymaster (nicknamed "Oscar Deuce") is a military version of the Cessna 337 Super Skymaster, used for forward air control (FAC) and psychological operations (PSYOPS) by the US military between 1967 and 2010. Design and develo ...

, Douglas AC-47, SOCATA R235 Guerrier, and the Hughes 300C.

References

Bibliography

* Eastwood A.B. and Roach J.R., ''Piston Engined Airliner Production List'', 2007, The Aviation Hobby Shop *''World Aircraft information files'' Brightstar publishing London File 342 sheet 2

External links

*http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/waf/americas/el_salvador/El_Salvador-af-EscCazaBomb.htm *http://www.armyrecognition.com/Amerique_du_nord/El_Salvadore/El-Salvadore_index_equipement.htm *http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_158.shtml *http://flotilla-aerea.com/ *https://web.archive.org/web/20190318183227/http://www.fas.gob.sv/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Air Force Of El Salvador Military of El Salvador El Salvador