Page 50 - AirForces - Monthly (February 2020)

Force
Report Peruvian Air Force

It was a conflict which, for the Workshops) were established
most part, was fought in the skies at Las Palmas to provide repair
above the Amazon rainforest. The and maintenance services for
CAP, equipped with a small force of the growing number of aircraft
biplanes, including ten Vought O2U- in Peruvian military service.
1E Corsair and six Douglas O-38 In early 1935, as an extension of
observation/attack aircraft and the CAP reorganisation process,
three Curtiss 35A Hawk II fighters, military air bases and airfields
faced a numerically superior were opened at strategic locations
Colombian air arm reinforced across the country, at that time
with experienced crews, including divided into five air regions,
German World War One veterans. each provided with a main
Su-25 serial 070 (c/n 10058) over the Pacific. In early 2017, Rosoboronexport
signed a contract for the overhaul of the ‘Frogfoot’ fleet. To date, five single- Nevertheless, the CAP crews fought military air base and a number
seaters and five two-seaters have undergone the work, which involves a limited bravely during the nine months of support airfields, allowing
upgrade. The remaining aircraft are now in storage. of this almost-forgotten conflict. the flexible detachment of air
With a ceasefire with Colombia units stationed in the region.
agreed in May 1933, the CAP The first airfield to be opened
underwent an extensive expansion was Arequipa, located in the city
and reorganisation programme of the same name, around 620
the following summer, including miles (1,000km) south of Lima, on
improving and restructuring April 26, 1935. This was followed
the Escuela de Aviación Militar by Pucallpa airfield on September
(EAM, Military Aviation School). 28 the same year; the Escuela
Experience gained during the de Vuelo de Altura (High-Altitude
conflict with Colombia led to several Flight School) at Huancayo on
changes in aircrew training, the April 19, 1936; the ‘Mayor Guillermo
most important being the division Protzel del Castillo’ air base at Vítor,
of training for cadet and officer Arequipa province, on June 18, 1936,
students. While the former covered and, finally, the ‘Teniente Coronel
the training of civilians admitted to Pedro Ruiz Gallo’ air base at
the EAM via the regular process, Chiclayo on September 21 that year.
the latter was intended to improve On October 13, 1936, a secret
the flight training skills of officers set of regulations under the name
from the Army’s Military Aviation Estrategia y Logística del Cuerpo
Service and Naval Aviation Corps. Aeronáutico del Perú (CAP
The same year, by means of Strategy and Logistics) was
Supreme Decree No 5, dated June issued and approved via
13, 1933, the Talleres Centrales Supreme Decree.
1 de Aviación (Aviation Central This set

2
1: A pilot hard at work in the decidedly antiquated cockpit of a Peruvian Air Force OA/A-37B. Last July, the FAP began looking at options for overhauling eight A-37Bs,
with a view to extending their service life by up to three years. 2: MiG-29SM-P serial 038 with a full load of dummy air-to-air missiles. Sixteen single-seat MiG-29s
were acquired secondhand from Belarus in 1996 and the air force set out plans to upgrade 13 survivors to MiG-29SM-P standard. The first batch of six modernised jets
was handed over to the FAP in July 2012. 3: Float-equipped DHC-6-400 serial 305 (c/n 879) leads a three-ship formation of Twin Otters. A total of 16 DHC-6 Series 300
aircraft were received from May 1971, and three are thought to remain in service with Escuadrón Aéreo 421, where they have been supplemented by a dozen Series 400
aircraft produced by Viking Air under an order announced by the company in June 2011. These aircraft are configured with both standard landing gear and floats for
missions in remote areas of the country. 4: A C-27J tactical airlifter of Escuadrón de Transporte 844 over the Andes. Peru’s plan to acquire two Spartans was announced
in November 2013 and a follow-on order for another pair was confirmed in January 2015. The first example was accepted at Santiago de Surco in March 2015, while the
second was handed over in June that year and the third arrived in December. The fourth and final example began its delivery flight in December 2017.

50 // February 2020 #383 www.Key.Aero

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48-55 PeruAF AFM Feb2020.indd 50 06/01/2020 11:47:00