South America air forces maneuvers
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/00/A-4AR_Fightinghawk_%2816126730153%29.jpg/220px-A-4AR_Fightinghawk_%2816126730153%29.jpg)
The South American air forces performs several joint aerial combat training exercises. Among the more important are Cruzex (Portuguese: Exercício Cruzeiro do Sul) which is hosted by the Brazilian Air Force, salitre (English: Saltpeter) hosted by the Chilean Air Force and ceibo (English: Erythrina crista-galli flower) hosted by the Argentine Air Force. The goal is to train together in order to respond to a crisis or integrate into United Nations peacekeeping operations as a unified team; the United States Air Force and the Royal Canadian Air Force have also participated in some of these exercises in recent years.
The exercises include combat search and rescue, aerial refueling and combined air operations center training opportunities focused on interoperability.[1]
List of operations
[edit]All helicopters are normally provided by the host nation and all the participants include different types of support aircraft.
Operation | Date | Air bases | Participants | Observers | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cruzex I | 2002 May | Canoas | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
65 aircraft | ||
Cruzex II | 2004 Nov | Natal | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
85 aircraft | ||
Salitre I | 2004 26 Sep/10 Oct | Cerro Moreno Iquique |
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57 aircraft | [2] | |
Ceibo 2005 | 2005 Nov | El Plumerillo Villa Reynolds |
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45 aircraft | [3] | |
Cruzex III | 2006 Aug/Sep | Anapolis Campo Grande Uberlandia Brasilia Jatai |
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103 aircraft and helicopters. Peru withdrew due to a crash of an A-37B Dragonfly at Porto Velho on the way to Anapolis which killed both pilots. | [citation needed] |
Cruzex IV | 2008 Nov | Natal | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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98 aircraft. Argentina withdrew at last minute due to the Congress not authorizing the Air Force's aircraft to leave the country in time. | [4][5] |
Salitre II | 2009 19-30/Oct | Cerro Moreno Iquique |
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59 aircraft and helicopters. The exercise was criticized by Peru | [1][6] |
Cooperación I | 2010 4-15/Oct | Chile | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Natural disasters relief training official video | [7] |
Cruzex V | 2010 28oct/19nov | Natal | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
98 aircraft | [8] | |
Cruzex VI | 2013 2-15/Nov | Natal | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
91 aircraft and helicopters | ||
Cooperación III | 2014 23 Apr/1 May | Perú | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Natural disasters relief training | [9] |
Salitre III | 2014 6-17/Oct | Cerro Moreno Iquique |
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51 aircraft | ||
Cruzex 2018 | 2018 18-30/Nov | Natal | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
100 aircraft and helicopters |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b AFSOUTH Airmen participate in Exercise SALITRE II
- ^ Ejercicio Salitre 2004 Archived 2007-10-29 at archive.today (in Spanish)
- ^ saorbats.com.ar CEIBO 2005 Archived 2007-10-28 at archive.today
- ^ FAB In CRUZEX IV Coalition Force's backstage
- ^ FAB CRUZEX IV Archived 2011-07-19 at the Wayback Machine (in Portuguese)
- ^ Empezó el ejercicio militar chileno 'Operación Salitre II' pese a críticas (in Spanish)
- ^ Cooperacion I at fach site
- ^ Cruzex V official site Archived 2010-08-17 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ http://www.fap.mil.pe/wrdp/?p=8460 [dead link]
External links
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)