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Colombia The Colombian Air Force
The Colombian Air Force (Fuerza Aérea Colombiana--FAC)
had some
6,700 personnel in 1988, including approximately 1,900
conscripts,
about 8 percent of the country's military forces. Members
of the
air force reserve were estimated at approximately 1,900.
In 1988
the commanding general of the FAC was General Alfonso
Amaya
Maldonado. He was assisted by an air force chief of staff,
an
office of air operations, and an inspector general.
Headquartered
in Bogotá, the service consisted of three combat air
commands, one
tactical air support command, one military air transport
command,
and one training command.
The principal units assigned to the FAC's commands
included two
fighter squadrons, three squadrons dedicated to
counterinsurgency
missions (including a squadron of helicopters under the
tactical
air support command), a reconnaissance squadron, and a
transport
squadron. The two fighter squadrons were assigned to the
First Air
Combat Command, with headquarters at the country's
principal air
base, the Germán Olano Military Air Base at Palanquero in
Cundinmarca Department. These squadrons were composed
exclusively
of the fifteen Mirage 5 jet fighters that Colombia had
acquired
from France during the early 1970s following United States
refusal
to supply Colombia with advanced fighter aircraft. The FAC
relied
on the Skyguard air defense system, which was installed at
three
sites and equipped with some 240 AIM-7F Sparrow missiles.
The air
force also reportedly had an undetermined number of R-530
antiaircraft missiles. In addition to the base at
Palanquero,
Colombia's major air bases included the FAC's facility at
the El
Dorado International Airport at Bogotá, the Luis Gómez
Niño
Military Air Base at Apiay, the Ernesto Cortissoz Military
Air Base
at Barranquilla, and the Marco Fidel Suárez Military Air
Base at
Cali.
The counterinsurgency units were composed of fifteen
aging
AT-33 and two RT-33 ground attack aircraft and eighteen
A-37 Cessna
Dragonfly light attack aircraft, most of which were
acquired in
1980. Two of the counterinsurgency units made up the
Second Air
Combat Command and the Third Air Combat Command. The
helicopter
squadron consisted of ten Hughes 500M OH-6A Cayuse and six
Hughes
500-MG Defenders. The reconnaissance squadron was equipped
with
three RT-33 aircraft and seven Hughes 300C and eight
Hughes 500C
helicopters. Aircraft assigned to military air transport
included
a squadron composed of C-130s, a C-54, C-47s, HS-748s,
F-28s,
DHC-2s, IAI-201s, and PC-6s. The helicopter squadron was
equipped
with seventeen Bell UH-1B/Hs, most of which were purchased
during
the early 1980s, and eleven Bell 205 A-1s. The training
command was
equipped primarily with twenty-one Cessna T-41D and
twenty-one
T-34A/B aircraft; its helicopters included eight Bell 47s,
seven
Hughes 300Cs, and fourteen Hughes 500Cs.
In 1984 the FAC acquired an additional fifteen A-37s.
The A-37s
reportedly were intended to reinforce the country's
coastal
surveillance capabilities and were to be used in
patrolling the San
Andrés and Providencia archipelago. Colombia's military
industry
manufactured a number of the FAC's smaller aircraft, many
of which
reportedly were employed in counterinsurgency.
A highlight of the FAC's efforts at modernizing its
force came
with the announcement in early 1988 of its plans to
purchase
thirteen C-7 Kfir fighters from Israel. In part, FAC
concerns over
its capabilities were spurred by Venezuela's acquisition
of some
two dozen United States-built F-16 fighters in the
mid-1980s. The
contract for the Kfirs, valued at about US$200 million,
included a
supply of spare parts and pilot training in addition to
the
aircraft.
Data as of December 1988
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