Salvadoran Air Force

Early history

The Salvadoran Air Fleet (Flotilla Aérea Salvadoreña, abbreviated FAS) was established on 20 March 1923 by Salvadoran president Alfonso Quiñónez Molina twenty days after assuming office. He established the Military Aviation Course on 27 June 1923 with Italian pilot Enrico Massi as its flight instructor. Massi was killed later that year when the Caudron G.3 he was in crashed in Ilopango while teaching Juan Ramón Munés. On 19 February 1924, the Salvadoran government created the Salvadoran Aviation Headquarters and appointed General Carlos Carmona Tadey as Chief of Salvadoran Aviation.^[2]

On 12 July 1924, Munés and Ricardo Aberle graduated from the Military Aviation School as El Salvador's first military pilots.^[2] In 1927, the air fleet consisted of fifteen aircraft; fourteen were named after El Salvador's fourteen departments and its sole Breguet 14 bomber was named after former president Gerardo Barrios. Carmona resigned as the air fleet's chief on 7 December 1927 after a failed coup and was replaced by General Antonio Claramount Lucero.^[2]

Military dictatorship

On 8 December 1931, Munés became the chief of the air fleet six days after the 1931 coup d'état that established a military dictatorship. In January 1932, air fleet helped suppress a rebellion in western El Salvador by conducting reconnaissance missing and bombing runs of rebel positions. President General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez bought several new aircraft for the air fleet including Curtiss-Wright CW-14 Osprey trainers, Fairchild M-62 trainers, and four Caproni AP.1 bombers.^{[2][3]: 155–157} During World War II, the air fleet patrolled El Salvador's coastline. The air fleet supported the 2 April 1944 Palm Sunday Coup that attempted to overthrow Martínez. North American AT-6 Texan bombers attacked loyalist positions in San Salvador but the coup failed and many pilots were executed.^[2]

El Salvador signed the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance in 1947 and the air force acquired American aircraft.^[4]: 223 During the 1950s, the air force used two Douglas C-47 Skytrains as the presidential transporters.^[2]

The Salvadoran Air Force first saw action in the 1969 Football War against Honduras equipped with F4U Corsairs and P-51 Mustangs.^{[citation needed]} The Salvadoran Air Force attacked Honduran Air Force positions early, but the Honduran Air Force eventually retaliated and destroyed much of the Salvadoran Air Force.^[4]: 26 After the war, the Salvadoran Air Force acquired newer aircraft.^[4]: 202 After the 1972 presidential election, Colonel Benjamín Mejía attempted to overthrow the Salvadoran government in support of José Napoleón Duarte, the election's loser. The air force remained loyal to the government and bombed rebel positions in San Salvador. The coup ultimately failed.^[4]: 29

Salvadoran Civil War

The Salvadoran Air Force acquired its first jet aircraft in 1974 when it acquired the Fouga CM.170 Magister.^[5] From the late 1970s, isolated guerrilla actions rapidly developed into a civil war. US aid to El Salvador in 1980 consisted of six UH-1Hs and four in 1981; they were used as gunships. Other deliveries brought that number of UH-1Hs in service up to 40.^{[citation needed]} In January 1982, the rebel Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) launched an attack of the Ilopango International Airport. Minister of Defense General José Guillermo García described the attack as a "terrorist attack".^[6] Following the attack, the United States sent the Salvadoran government $55 million and new Bell UH-1H helicopters.^[7] During the civil war, the air force did not bomb targets indiscriminately.^[4]: 198

On 23 October 1984, the FMLN bombed a FAS UH-1H in Joateca killing all fourteen people onboard including Colonel Domingo Monterrosa. The bombing occurred when the FMLN booby trapped a radio transmitter disguised as the primary transmitter for the FMLN's Radio Venceremos. The FMLN coaxed Monterrosa into capturing the rigged transmitter and claiming it as a war trophy leading to the bomb inside detonating after takeoff.^{[8]: 214–215 [9]}

A FAS Douglas DC-6B transporter crashed after departing Ilopango International Airport on 1 May 1986. The accident killed all 37 military personnel onboard.^[10] The Salvadoran government did not rule out sabotage, but the FMLN never claimed responsibility for the crash.^[11]

A four-engined Douglas DC-6B provided long-range logistical capability between 1975 and its retirement in 1998. It was used on supply flights to and from the United States.^[12] In December 1984, two AC-47s were delivered to be in service with the other three C-47s in use. The civil war ended in mutual exhaustion in 1990 and the Air Force was geared for internal security.^{[citation needed]} The air force support demining operations conducted by the Belgian company IDAS after the civil war.^[2]

Post-civil war

On 6 May 2013, in celebration of the 189th anniversary of the Armed Forces of El Salvador, the Salvadoran government announced the planned purchase of 10 A-37 aircraft from Chile.^[13]

In September 2016 it was reported that the Salvadoran Air Force in cooperation with the Colombian Aerospace Force was finalizing negotiations on modernizing its Bell UH-1H helicopters to the Huey 2 standard.^[14]

In 2023, the United States donated twelve MD Helicopters MD 530Fs to the Salvadoran Air Force.^[15] On 8 September 2024, an air force Bell UH-1H crashed in poor weather near Pasaquina killing all nine people onboard including Mauricio Arriaza Chicas, the chief of the National Civil Police, and Manuel Coto, a former bank manager.^[16] In 2025, air force personnel were deployed to Haiti as part of the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti to combat organized gangs there.^[17]

Current inventory

The following is a list of all aircraft in the Salvadoran Air Force's inventory as of 2025^[update].^[18][19]

More information Aircraft, Origin ...

Aircraft	Origin	Type	Variant(s)	Inventory
Combat aircraft
Cessna A-37 Dragonfly	United States	Attack	A-37B	15
Transport
Cessna 208 Caravan	United States	Transport		1[α]
IAI Arava	Israel	Transport		3
Helicopters
Bell 412	United States	Combat		3
Bell UH-1 Iroquois	United States	Combat	UH-1H, UH-1M, UH-1N	15
Hughes 269	United States	Trainer		5
McDonnell Douglas MD 500 Defender	United States	Combat	500E, 530F	7
Trainer aircraft
Cirrus SR22	United States	Trainer		2
ENAER T-35 Pillán	Chile	Trainer		2

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Notes:

Retired aircraft

The following are some aircraft that the Salvadoran Air Force formerly operated.

More information Aircraft, Origin ...

Aircraft	Origin	Type	Variant(s)	Inventory	Ref.
Combat aircraft
Breguet 14	France	Bomber	A.2	1	[2]
Caproni AP.1	Italy	Bomber		4	[2]
Cavalier Mustang	United States	Ground attack	F-51D, II	25	[20]
Dassault Ouragan	France	Fighter-bomber		18	[2]
Dassault Super Mystère	France	Fighter-bomber		4	[21]: 29
Douglas B-26 Invader	United States	Ground attack	B-26B	5	[20]
Douglas AC-47 Spooky	United States	Ground attack	AC-47D	7	[4]: 268
Vought FG Corsair	United States	Fighter-bomber	1D	20	[2]
Transport
Beechcraft Model 18	United States	Transport	AT-11	1	[4]: 268
Cessna 170	United States	Utility		1	[2]
Cessna 180 Skywagon	United States	Utility		1–2	[22]
Cessna 185 Skywagon	United States	Utility	U-17	1–2	[22]
Cessna 210 Centurion	United States	Utility		1	[2]
Dornier Do 28	West Germany	Transport		12	[22]
Douglas C-47 Skytrain	United States	Transport	C-47D	6	[4]: 268
Douglas DC-6	United States	Transport	DC-6B	2	[2]
Fairchild C-123 Provider	United States	Transport		2	[4]: 268
Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner	United States	Transport	III	1	[2]
Piper PA-23	United States	Utility	250 Aztec
Rockwell Commander 114	United States	Transport		1	[2]
Waco 10	United States	Transport		2	[2]
Surveillance aircraft
Cessna Skymaster	United States	Forward air control	O-2A	5–9	[4]: 268
Helicopters
Aérospatiale Alouette III	France	Transport		3	[4]: 268
Aérospatiale SA 315B Lama	France	Utility		3	[4]: 268
Canadair North Star	Canada	Transport	DC-4M	1	[2]
Fairchild Hiller FH-1100	United States	Utility		1	[4]: 268
Hughes 300	United States	Trainer	300C	1	[22]
Hughes 500D	United States	Attack		9	[4]: 268
Trainer aircraft
Beechcraft T-34 Mentor	United States	Trainer		1	[4]: 268
Caudron G.3	France	Trainer			[2]
Cessna T-41 Mescalero	United States	Trainer	A, C	7	[4]: 268
Curtiss JN Jenny	United States	Trainer	4D		[2]
Curtiss-Wright CW-14 Osprey	United States	Trainer			[2]
Fairchild PT-19	United States	Trainer	PT-19B	6	[2]
Fouga CM.170 Magister	France	Trainer/light strike		12	[2]
Hanriot HD.32	France	Trainer	HD.320	5	[2]
Lincoln Standard L.S.5	United States	Trainer			[2]
Luscombe 8	United States	Trainer	A	2	[2]
North American T-6 Texan	United States	Trainer	AT-6C, AT-6D, SNJ-4, SNJ-5		[20]
SOCATA Rallye 230	France	Trainer	235GS	16	[2]
Vultee BT-13 Valiant	United States	Trainer	A	21	[2]
Waco F	United States	Trainer		2	[2]

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