FMA IA 58 Pucará
| IA 58 Pucará | |
|---|---|
| Role | Counter-Insurgency aircraft |
| Manufacturer | FMA |
| First flight | 20 August 1969 |
| Introduction | 1975 |
| Status | Active |
| Primary users | Argentine Air Force Colombian Air Force Sri Lankan Air Force Uruguayan Air Force |
| Produced | 1976-1986 |
| Number built | 150-160 |
The FMA IA 58 Pucará (Quechua: Fortress) is an Argentine ground-attack, counter-insurgency (COIN) aircraft. A low-wing monoplane of all-metal construction, with a retractable landing gear, it was manufactured by the Fábrica Militar de Aviones.
Development
Development began in August 1966, with the construction of an unpowered test vehicle. The first prototype, called AX-2 Delfin, first flew on 20 August 1969, powered by 674-kW (904-shp) Garrett TPE331I/U-303 turboprops. The IA-58 was designed to be able to operate from small front-line airfields. It has a tandem cockpit arrangement; the crew of two is seated under the upward opening clamshell canopy on Martin-Baker Mk 6AP6A zero/zero ejection seats. Dual controls are provided for the crew. In the following prototypes, and the production models that followed, the engines were switched to Turbomeca Astazou XVIG turboprops. The first production model first flew on 8 November 1974, and deliveries began in early 1976.
Operational history
The first units were delivered in 1975 to the Argentine Air Force (Spanish: Fuerza Aérea Argentina, FAA), 3rd Air Brigade (Spanish: III Brigada Aérea) in northern Reconquista, Santa Fe province with almost 100 airframes delivered by 1982. The unit was deployed south during the Falklands War (Spanish: Guerra de las Malvinas), performing coastal surveillance from the Patagonia airfields. As the only aircraft available in substantial numbers for deployment on the islands (the paved runway at Port Stanley Airport was not long enough for FAA Skyhawks and Mirages to be deployed).
Three Pucarás were destroyed at Goose Green by Cluster bombs dropped by 800 NAS Sea Harriers on the 1st of May 1982. Six Pucarás were destroyed in the SAS Raid on Pebble Island on the 15th May 1982. [1]
The aircraft which did see combat were usually armed with unguided bombs, 2.75-in (70-mm) rocket pods, or 7.62 mm machine gun pods. Apart from Port Stanley airport, Pucarás were also operated from two small grass improvised airfields at Goose Green and Pebble Island. They were used in the reconnaissance & light-attack role and shot down a Royal Marines Scout helicopter on May 28, the only confirmed Argentine air-to-air victory of the war.[2]
On the 21st of May two more Pucarás were lost, one to a Stinger SAM fired by D Squadron SAS (The first Stinger fired in combat) [3] and another to a AM9L Sidewinder, fired by Cmdr Sharky Ward RN.
On the 28th of May 1982 2 Para shot down a third with small arms fire.
Earlier on the same day and after shooting down the Scout Helicopter at Goose Green one of the two aircraft involved flew into Blue Mountain when returning to Port Stanly & was destroyed. The Pilot (Lt. Giminez) body was not found until 1986 and was buried with military honours at Goose Green by his family, the first Argentine relatives to visit the Falklands since the End of the War. [4]
After the Argentine Surrender, Eleven Pucarás (4 of them in flying condition) were captured by British forces. Two were taken back to the United Kingdom. One is displayed at the Imperial War Museum Duxford. The second (serial number A-515) was taken to MoD Boscombe Down, returned to flying condition and assessed by the RAF; it is now on display at the RAF Museum Cosford.
Pucarás were used in Sri Lanka counter-insurgency operations from 1993 to 1999; three were destroyed during combat sorties.[5]
In the 1990s FAA Pucarás received several minor upgrades, known as IA-58D, and as of 2007[update] they remain in service with the 3rd Air Brigade and with the Uruguayan Air Force.
In 2007 an IA-58 of the Fuerza Aérea Argentina was converted to carry a modified engine operating on soy-derived bio-jet fuel. The project, financed and directed by the Argentine Government (Secretaría de Ciencia Tecnología e Innovación Productiva de la Nación), made Argentina the second nation in the world to propel an aircraft with biojet fuel. The project intends to make the FAA less reliant on fossil fuels.[6]
Variants
- AX-2 Delfin : Prototype.
- IA-58A : Two-seat counter-insurgency, close-support, attack aircraft. Main production version.
- IA-58B Pucara Bravo : One prototype aircraft, with advanced aviaonics and armed with two 30-mm DEFA cannons.
- IA-58C Pucara Charlie : One single-seat prototype aircraft.
- IA-58D Pucara Delta : Upgraded IA-58A with minor revisions [7]
- IA-66 : One prototype aircraft, powered by two 1,000-ehp (746-kW) Garrett TPE331-11-601W turboprop engines.
Military operators
Current Operators
Former Operators
- Sri Lanka Air Force (1993-1999, 2 shot down, 1 crashed, 1 retired)
Specifications
Data from [8]
General characteristics
- Crew: 2
- Capacity: 2
Performance
See also
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
References
- ^ "List of Argentine Aircraft Destroyed". Retrieved 2009-November-06.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ www.naval-history.net: Argentine aircraft and successes against British ships
- ^ San Carlos Air Battles - Falklands War 1982
- ^ "One of their aircraft is missing". Retrieved 2009-November-06.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_336.shtml
- ^ http://www.lanacion.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=895673
- ^ Es la actualizacion del modelo "A" del IA-58, que posee materiales compuestos (en algunas partes de la aeronave) nuevos equipos en cabina, recorrida de la estructura y reemplazo de componentes internos del avion extendiendo su vida util. Pero fisicamente se lo distingue por llevar un esquema de pintura en gris de baja visivilidad y lleva en la cola un triangulito que simboliza la letra Delta de su nombre.
- ^ Donald, David, ed. (1997). The Encyclopedia of World Aircraft. Prospero Books. pp. pg 379-380. ISBN 1-85605-375-X.
{{cite encyclopedia}}:|pages=has extra text (help); Missing or empty|title=(help)
External links
