The Ecuadorian Air Force (; FAE) is the air branch of the

Armed Forces of Ecuador The Ecuadorian Armed Forces () is the national military force of Ecuador. The commander-in-chief is the President of Ecuador. The military is generally under Civilian control of the military, civilian control, specifically the Ministry of Nation ...

Mission

To develop the military air wing, in order to execute institutional objectives which guarantee sovereignty and contribute towards the nation's security and development.

Vision

To be a dissuasive Air Force, respected and accepted by society, pioneering within the nation's air-space development.

History

The FAE was officially created on October 27, 1920. However, like in many other countries, military flying activity started before the formal date of birth of 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 army aviati ...

. The history of

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

is marked by many skirmishes with its neighbour

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 ...

. As a direct result of the 1910 Ecuador-Peru crisis the members of decided to expand their sporting activities into aviation as well. Renamed , they started an aviation school. Cosme Rennella Barbatto, an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

living in

Guayaquil Guayaquil (), officially Santiago de Guayaquil, is the largest city in Ecuador and also the nation's economic capital and main port. The city is the capital (political), capital of Guayas Province and the seat of Guayaquil Canton. The city is ...

, was one of the first members of . In 1912 Barbato was sent to his native

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

for training where he graduated as a pilot. He later returned to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

a second time in 1915, where he participated in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In 152 combat sorties he scored 18 victories, although only 7 were confirmed. When he returned to Ecuador, his experiences served as motivation for a reduced group of Ecuadorian pilots, who moved to the Aviation School in Turin,

, with the objective of graduating as the first Ecuadorian pilots of the nascent Ecuadorian Military Aviation. By 1939 the Ecuadorian Air Force was still limited to about 30 aircraft and a staff of about 60, including 10 officers. Military aviation did not start in earnest until the early forties when an Ecuadorian mission to 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 ...

resulted in the delivery of an assortment of aircraft for the Aviation school at Salinas. Three

Ryan PT-22 The Ryan PT-22 Recruit, the main military version of the Ryan ST, is a military trainer aircraft that was used by the United States Army Air Corps during WWII for primary pilot training. Design and development The PT-22's fuselage is a simple ...

Recruits, six

Curtiss-Wright CW-22 The Curtiss-Wright CW-22 is a 1940s American general-purpose advanced Trainer (aircraft), training monoplane aircraft built by the Curtiss-WCurtiss-Wright Corporation. It was operated by the United States Navy as a Scout plane, scout trainer with ...

Falcons, six Fairchild PT-19A Cornells and three North American AT-6A Harvards arrived in March 1942, considerably boosting the capacity of the at Salinas. The 1950s and 1960s saw a further necessary buildup of the air force, gaining more units and aircraft. Meanwhile, efforts were made in enhancing the facilities at various airbases. In May 1961 the First Air Zone with its subordinate unit was founded. The Second Air Zone controlled the units in the southern half of

, , at

and at

Manta Manta or mantas may refer to: * Manta ray, large fish belonging to the genus ''Mobula'' Arts and entertainment App & Website * Manta (platform), a Korean digital comics provider Fictional entities * Manta (comics), a character in American Marve ...

as well as the (ESMA) at Salinas. The has its own commercial branch, like in many other South American countries, the (TAME). Besides military transport aircraft, it also uses commercial airliners. Flying to locations off the beaten track, TAME provides an additional service to the people of

The FAE saw action on several occasions. A continuous border dispute with

flared up in 1981 and 1995. Today the FAE faces the war on drugs as well as many humanitarian and logistic missions into the Amazon-region of the country.

Structure

This is the current structure of the Ecuadorian Air Force: *21 Combat Wing () - Taura Air Base **2112 Combat Squadron Cheetah () - Used to operate until July 28, 2024

Atlas Cheetah The Atlas Cheetah is a South African fighter aircraft designed and produced by the aviation company Atlas Aircraft Corporation (later Denel Aeronautics). It was primarily designed and developed to be operated by the South African Air Force (S ...

*22 Combat Wing () - Simon Bolivar Air Base **2211 Combat Squadron () - operating

Cessna 206 The Cessna 205, 206 and 207, known primarily as the Stationair (and marketed variously as the Super Skywagon, Skywagon and Super Skylane), are a family of single-engined, general aviation aircraft with fixed landing gear, used in commercial air ...

**2212 Combat Squadron () - operating TH-57 *23 Combat Wing () - Eloy Alfaro Air Base **2311 Combat Squadron Dragons () - operating

A-29 Super Tucano The Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano (English: ''Super Toucan''), also named ALX or A-29, is a Brazilian turboprop light attack and counter-insurgency aircraft designed and built by Embraer as a development of the Embraer EMB 312 Tucano. The A-29 S ...

*11 Transport Wing () - Cotopaxi Air Base **1111 Transport Squadron Hercules () - operating C-130H/L100-30 **1112 Transport Squadron Avro () - operating CASA 295 **1113 Transport Squadron Twin Otter () - operating

DHC-6 Twin Otter The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada in the mid-1960s and still in production today. Built by De Havilland Canada from 1965 to 1988, Viking Ai ...

**1114 Transport Squadron Sabreliner () - operating

Sabreliner The North American Sabreliner, later sold as the Rockwell Sabreliner, is an American mid-sized business jet developed by North American Aviation. It was offered to the United States Air Force (USAF) in response to its Utility Trainer Experimen ...

* Air Force Academy Cosme Rennella () -

Salinas Air Base Salinas Municipal Airport , commonly referred to as Salinas Airport, is an airport in Monterey County, California, United States, three miles (4.8 km) southeast of Downtown Salinas. It is included in the 2017–21 National Plan of Integr ...

- operating

Diamond DA20 The Diamond DV20/DA20 Katana is an Austrian-designed two-seat general aviation light aircraft. Developed and manufactured by Diamond Aircraft, it was originally produced in Austria as the DV20. The DV20 shares many features from the earlier ...

Aircraft

Current inventory

Retired

Previous notable aircraft flown included the

Gloster Meteor The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies' only jet aircraft to engage in combat operations during the Second World War. The Meteor's development was heavily reliant on its ground-breaking turbojet engines, pioneere ...

English Electric Canberra The English Electric Canberra is a British first-generation, jet-powered medium bomber. It was developed by English Electric during the mid- to late 1940s in response to a 1944 Air Ministry requirement for a successor to the wartime de Havilla ...

SEPECAT Jaguar The SEPECAT Jaguar is a British-French supersonic jet attack aircraft originally used by the British Royal Air Force and the French Air Force in the close air support and nuclear strike role. As of 2025, the Jaguar remains in service with the ...

BAC Strikemaster The BAC 167 Strikemaster is a jet-powered training and light attack aircraft designed and produced by the British Aircraft Corporation. It was a development of the Hunting Jet Provost trainer, itself a jet engined version of the Percival Provo ...

, Republic P-47,

PBY Catalina The Consolidated Model 28, more commonly known as the PBY Catalina (U.S. Navy designation), is a flying boat and amphibious aircraft designed by Consolidated Aircraft in the 1930s and 1940s. In U.S. Army service, it was designated as the O ...

Hawker Siddeley HS 748 The Hawker Siddeley HS 748 (formerly Avro HS 748) is a medium-sized turboprop airliner originally designed and initially produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Avro. It was the last aircraft to be developed by Avro prior to its absorptio ...

Lockheed T-33 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 ...

T-28 Trojan The North American Aviation T-28 Trojan is a radial-engine military trainer aircraft manufactured by North American Aviation and used by the United States Air Force and United States Navy beginning in the 1950s. Besides its use as a trainer, ...

H-13 Sioux The Bell H-13 Sioux is an American single-engine light helicopter built and produced by Bell Helicopter for the military and licence-produced by Westland Aircraft for the British military as the Sioux AH.1 and HT.2. It was the first helicopter ...

, and the

HAL Dhruv The HAL Dhruv () is a utility helicopter designed and developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in November 1984. The helicopter first flew in 1992; its development was prolonged due to multiple factors including the Indian Army's requ ...

helicopter(Order terminated) ,

IAI Kfir The Israel Aircraft Industries Kfir (, "Lion Cub") is an Israeli all-weather multirole combat aircraft based on the French Dassault Mirage 5, with Israeli avionics and an Israeli-built version of the General Electric J79 turbojet engine. Develop ...

, Atlas Cheetah C

Air defense

References

External links

* {{Authority control Air forces by country

Aviation in Ecuador Military units and formations established in 1920 1920 establishments in South America