X-Nico

9 unusual facts about Argentine Air Force


Alas Building

The building was transferred to the Argentine Air Force after the 1955 coup, and renamed ALAS ("wings").

Benavidez rail disaster

Air Force helicopters were used to bring medical supplies.

Bluff Cove

It was the site of secondary landings of the Falklands War of 1982, which resulted in a successful attack of the Argentine Air Force, which came to be known as the Bluff Cove Disaster.

CITER 155mm L33 Gun

A total 4 guns were captured by the British, these were flown in via Argentine Air Force C-130 Hercules during the conflict last weeks in order to repel British naval gun fire.

Colt Mk 12 cannon

As of 2013, the Mk 12 cannon is still in use in Skyhawks of the Argentine Air Force and the Brazilian Navy.

Prevot Island

Named in memory of First Lieutenant Prevot, commander of the mobile detachment in the operations of the Argentine Air Force unit for Antarctica.

SS Canberra

Although her size and white colour made her an unmissable target for the Argentine Air Force, Canberra, if sunk, would not have been completely submerged in the shallow waters at San Carlos.

Tierra del Fuego

Chilean radar supplied the British with information on Argentine jet movements in Tierra del Fuego, where the Argentine Air Force launched raids on targets in the Falklands.

Vectoring nozzles

Viffing was used to great effect during the Anglo-Argentinian Falklands War, where 28 Royal Navy and 6 RAF jets did not incur any losses in dogfighting against a force of more than 200 Argentine Air Force jets.


AGM-45 Shrike

The main target was a Westinghouse AN/TPS-43 long range 3D radar that the Argentine Air Force deployed during April to guard the Falklands' surrounded airspace.

Ciudad Evita

A second addition, Barrio Alas, was opened in 1974 for Argentine Air Force officers stationed at the Morón Air Base.

FMA I.Ae. 27 Pulqui I

The restored prototype is currently displayed at the Museo Nacional de Aeronáutica de Argentina of the Argentine Air Force ("Fuerza Aérea Argentina"), initially at Buenos Aires Aeroparque Airport and later at Morón, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Fort Rosalie-class replenishment ship

Both ships saw service in the Falklands War, the then Fort Grange being shadowed by Argentine Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft while still 1,000 nm from the combat area and Fort Austin being attacked while sitting in San Carlos Water.

Grupo VYCEA, Argentine Air Force

Grupo VYCEA is a group of the Argentine Air Force, headquartered at Parque San Martín, Merlo since 1952.

I.Ae. 41 Urubú

A surviving aircraft has been restored, and is displayed at the Argentine Air Force’s Museo Nacional de Aeronáutica de Argentina, located at Morón Airport.

Isabel Martínez de Perón

The appointment of General Héctor Fautario, a loyalist of Perón, to the branch's high command, fueled broader support in the Air Force for action against her administration, and on 18 December, General Jesús Capellini attempted a coup d'état by seizing the Morón Airport and Air Base.

Morane-Saulnier MS.760 Paris

Argentine Air Force MS.760s were used in combat to suppress the 1963 Argentine Navy Revolt, bombing a rebel-held radio station as well as the Punta Indio naval airfield, destroying several aircraft on the ground.


see also

Dewoitine D.332

The three D.333s were used on the Toulouse-Dakar sector of the Air France South American route for several years.Two of these planes were transferred to the Argentine Air Force after WWII and usde along with two 338s.