Lockheed Martin Aircraft Argentina

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Late 1940s historical photo of the FMA: production line of I.Ae.22 DL (back) and I.Ae.24 Calquín (front), "Hangar 90" of the FMA/IAe (photo: "Instituto Aerotécnico").

I.Ae. 30 Ñancú

I.Ae. 33 Pulqui II

The Fábrica Militar de Aviones (FMA, or Military Aircraft Factory) is Argentina's main manufacturer of military aircraft. Formed on October 10, 1927 it is owned by the Argentine government. It was privatized in 1995 with Lockheed Martin given its concession for 25 years with two additional ten-year options. It is currently known as Lockheed Martin Aircraft Argentina SA. On October 23 2008 agreements were signed to revert the concession back to the Argentine state on 31 December 2008.^[1]

[edit] Background

The FMA has produced numerous innovative aircraft prototypes, but the state of the Argentine economy has prevented most of them from entering large-scale production. Nevertheless the FMA has managed to put several aircraft types of more conventional designs into full productions. It also engaged in production of licensed aircraft from other countries.

The prefixes used for the aircraft locally developed (and produced) are:

• Ae, for "Dirección General de Aerotécnica", on the first period (1927-1936);
• F.M.A., for "Fábrica Militar de Aviones", on the second period (1938-1943);
• I.Ae., for "Instituto Aerotécnico", on the third period (1943-1952);
• IA, meaning not specified, on the fourth (current) period (1952 to 2007).

[edit] Aircraft and Projects

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Lockheedmartin.com
• FMA history
• (Spanish) FMA History
• (Spanish) FMA's 75 years
• (Spanish) Aeromilitaria.com.ar