The 2da Escuadrilla Aeronaval de Caza y Ataque (EA32) (Second Naval Fighter/Strike squadron) is the main strike unit of the

Argentine Naval Aviation ) Gulf War , anniversaries = , decorations = , battle_honours = , commander1 = President , commander1_label = Commander-in-Chief , commander2 ...

, the air branch of the

Argentine Navy The Argentine Navy (ARA; es, Armada de la República Argentina). This forms the basis for the navy's ship prefix "ARA". is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the ...

Badge

The insignia is nicknamed ''La Lora'' (female parrot) and was created in 1956 and inspired by

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

fighter squadron VF-884/VF-144 ''Bitter Birds''s Jayhawk, a mythological

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from the

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

state, but painted green instead of blue.

History

In 1944 the two naval aviation Reconnaissance units were converted to ''Attack Squadrons'', receiving their Vought V-65F & V-142A; in 1945 the 2nd was converted into a ''Bomber Squadron''. The 2nd squadron was re-established in 1949 as a ''Combat Squadron'' flying

AT-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 forces ...

, and finally received its current name in August 1956 on receiving Vought F4U-5 Corsairs for use on the ARA ''Independencia'' aircraft carrier. United States President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

imposed an arms embargo, including spare parts and personnel training, on the military government of Argentina in 1977 in response to

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

abuses; Argentina turned mainly to France for military supplies. In 1980 the Naval Aviation, unable to source spare parts for their US A-4Q Skyhawks, ordered 14 Super Etendards from France. Argentine pilots used French flight trainers between November 1980 and August 1981 in France including operations from the aircraft carrier '' Clemenceau'' but, although all A-4Q veterans, they had received only 45 hours of flight time in the new aircraft when in April 1982 the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...

( es, Guerra de Malvinas) began.

Falklands War

Five Super Étendards, or ''Sue'' () as they are called, and five

Exocet The Exocet () is a French-built anti-ship missile whose various versions can be launched from surface vessels, submarines, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. Etymology The missile's name was given by M. Guillot, then the technical director ...

missiles had already been shipped to Argentina in November 1981, when an arms embargo by the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...

—of which France was a member—imposed in response to the

1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands The Invasion of the Falkland Islands ( es, Invasión de las Islas Malvinas), code-named Operation Rosario (), was a military operation launched by Argentine forces on 2 April 1982, to capture the Falkland Islands, and served as a catalyst for ...

by Argentina halted deliveries. More problematically, the French technicians working at Bahía Blanca on the integration of the Exocet into the Super Etendard received orders to leave the country. Nevertheless, the Squadron managed to complete the work. Additionally, Britain took actions that prevented Argentina from acquiring more Exocets. The carrier ARA ''25 de Mayo'' had not yet having been modified to allow the aircraft to operate on board, so they were deployed south to the naval air base at

Rio Grande, Tierra del Fuego Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

. One aircraft—SUE serial number ''3-A-201''—was dismantled to be cannibalized for spare parts. while the others used

aerial refuelling Aerial refueling, also referred to as air refueling, in-flight refueling (IFR), air-to-air refueling (AAR), and tanking, is the process of transferring aviation fuel from one aircraft (the tanker) to another (the receiver) while both aircraft a ...

from KC-130 Hercules tankers of the

Argentine Air Force "Argentine Wings" , mascot = , anniversaries = 10 August (anniversary) 1 May (Baptism of fire during the Falklands War) , equipment = 139 aircraft , equipment_label = , battles = * Operation Independence * Operation Soberanía * Falklan ...

to perform the following missions (showing aircraft used): : May 2 Cpt Colombo and Lt Machetanz : May 4 Cpt Bedacarratz and Lt Mayora (3-A-202 & 3-A-203) sank destroyer . Two Exocets fired. : May 15 The retirement of the last of the maritime patrol SP-2H Neptunes due to airframe attrition affected the Squadron reconnaissance support. : May 23 Cpt Agotegaray and Lt Mariani did not find targets at the designated location. : May 25 Cpt Curilovic and Lt Barraza (3-A-203 & 3-A-204) sank MV ''Atlantic Conveyor'', carrying helicopters and supplies. Two Exocets fired. : May 30 Cpt Francisco and Lt Collavino (3-A-202 & 3-A-205) were joined by four Air Force A-4C Skyhawks of ''Grupo IV'' for an attack on carrier . Two of the Skyhawks were shot down by

Sea Dart missile Sea Dart, or GWS.30 was a Royal Navy surface-to-air missile system designed in the 1960s and entering service in 1973. It was fitted to the Type 42 destroyers (United Kingdom and Argentina), Type 82 destroyer and s of the Royal Navy. Originally ...

s from during their final approach, and while they were following the wake of the last AM 39 Exocet missile available, fired by one of the two SUEs (Collavino).

Present

Argentine Navy Dassault Super Etendard jet on USS Ronald Reagan

Once the conflict was over, the rest of the Super Etendards shipment was delivered and the squadron performed qualifications on aircraft carrier ARA ''25 de Mayo'' Video
/sup>. After the retirement of their last carrier, Argentina cooperated with the

Brazilian Navy ) , colors= Blue and white , colors_label= Colors , march= "Cisne Branco" ( en, "White Swan") (same name as training ship ''Cisne Branco'' , mascot= , equipment= 1 multipurpose aircraft carrier7 submarines6 frigates2 corvettes4 amphibious warf ...

, allowing the naval air wing to continue to operate from the deck of Brazilian carrier NAe São Paulo during ''ARAEX'' exercises video
/sup>, and to carry out touch-and-go landings on

carriers when they are in transit within Argentine coastal waters during ''Gringo-Gaucho'' manoeuvres video
/sup> Super Etendard 3-A-203 was lost in a fatal crash on 29 May 1996 while attempting to land on Punta Indio airstrip. In March 2010, during 's tour around South America, the squadron performed Gringo-Gaucho / Southern Seas 2010 manoeuvres with the US aircraft carrier. As of 2010, the Squadron was still using Super Étendards, and French cooperation to upgrade the aircraft was announced. Five refurbished Super Etendard aircraft were delivered to the Navy in 2019. However, as of 2022 these aircraft await the delivery of key spare parts and may not be in operational service for a further years.

References

histarmar.com.ar
Escuadrillas Aeronavales de Ataque y Combate

External links