Airforces - Typhoon school

even Quintero air

base – located

due west of the

capital Santiago,

and inaugurated

five years earlier –

became part of the

newly founded Fuerza

Aérea Nacional (National

Air Force). This would ultimately

become today’s Fuerza Aérea de

Chile (FACh, Chilean Air Force).

Resurgence

Although limited operations with

Fairey IIIFs continued aboard

the battleship Almirante Latorre,

after 1930 the Armada de Chile

concentrated on conventional

maritime activities. However,

many within the service were

convinced of the importance of a

dedicated maritime air arm under

navy control and support increased

throughout the 1930s and ’40s.

The course of naval operations

during the Second World War,

particularly those of the US, served

to demonstrate

that air power

was essential to

the effectiveness

of a modern navy

and, in 1945, ten

Chilean naval officers

were sent to receive

instruction in the US where

they qualified as naval aviators. On

their return, the High Command of

the Navy lobbied the government

to create a new air arm. This

became reality in 1953 when

President Ibáñez del Campo (once

again) signed Supreme Decree

No 149 creating the Servicion

Aeronaval (Naval Aviation Service)

and authorised the acquisition

of both fixed- and rotary-wing

aircraft for the new force.

The Servicion Aeronaval quickly

began evaluating aircraft. It

acquired four Beechcraft D18S

and four Bell 47s, which spent

most of their operational life at the

newly established Base Aeronaval

(Naval Aviation Base) El Belloto,

62 // APRIL 2018 #361 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com

Chilean Naval Aviation

Force

Report

Aviación Naval – order of battle

Unit Equipment Headquarters

HQ Chilean Navy Santiago

Comandancia de Aviación

Naval

Base Aeronaval Concón

• Viña del Mar
  Fuerza Aeronaval 1 Base Aeronaval
  Concón - Viña del Mar
  Escuadrón de Exploración
  Aeromarítima VP-1

P-3ACH Orion, P-295

Persuader

Base Aeronaval Concón

• Viña del Mar
  Escuadrón de Propósitos
  Generales VC-1

P68 Observer 2,

P-111 Bandeirulha

Escuadrón de Helicópteros

de Ataque HA-1

SH-32 Cougar,

HH-32 Super Puma

Escuadrón de Helicópteros de

Propósitos Generales HU-1

HH-65 Dauphin,

UH-05, SH/UH-57

Deployed helicopters Talcahuano

Deployed helicopters Puerto Montt

Deployed helicopters Iquique

Fuerza Aeronaval 2 Base Aeronaval

Chabunco - Punta Arenas

Escuadrón de Instrucción

VT-1

PC-7 Turbo Trainer Base Aeronaval Concón

• Viña del Mar
  Deployed patrol
  aircraft

Base Aeronaval

Chabunco - Punta Arenas

Deployed aircraft Puerto Williams