Dominican Air Force
Dominican Air Force | |
---|---|
Fuerza Aérea de República Dominicana | |
Founded | 15 February 1948 |
Country | Dominican Republic |
Type | Air force |
Role | Aerial warfare |
Size |
|
Part of | Dominican Armed Forces |
Engagements | |
Website | www |
The Air Force of the Dominican Republic (Spanish: Fuerza Aérea de República Dominicana), is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic, together with the Army and the Navy.
History
At the end of the
The service was renamed Compaña de Aviación del Ejército Nacional on 26 October 1942. Whilst granting base facilities to the
The Air Force underwent several name changes during the 1950s, being known as the Dominican Military Aviation during 1952-55 and 1957–62 and as the Dominican Air Force during 1955–57. In 1962 it again became known as the Dominican Air Force, the name is still in use today.
In 1952, 25
were again blocked by the United States. By 1956 the Dominican Air Force had about 240 aircraft. During the next years most of the post-war equipment was at the end of its useful life. After the assassination of President Trujillo in 1961 funds for the Air Force decreased and in 1963 the Air Force had only 110 aircraft.During the next 15 years the number of aircraft in the Air Force declined again and only second-line material, such as training aircraft or helicopters, were acquired. In the early 1980s the Dominican Air Force had about 80 aircraft in five operational squadrons with most of the aircraft and helicopters operating out of San Isidro Air Base in Santo Domingo.
On 22 September 1998 Hurricane George struck San Isidro, the main air force base, and destroyed one hangar and severely damaged another, destroying the aircraft in both hangars. After this new aircraft entered service, including eight ENAER T-35 Pilláns delivered in November 1999-January 2000. During the same period three CASA 212-400 transport planes were ordered.
Air Bases
- San Isidro Air Base
- Puerto Plata Air Base
- Barahona Air Base
Equipment
The Dominican Air Force was offered 3 Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King helicopters by its U.S allies, but turned the offer down due to that it could not afford the maintenance. In 2007 the Dominican Air Force announced that it would purchase 8 Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano aircraft from Brazil. By the end of 2008 the purchase was approved with the first two aircraft were delivered in 2009. In January 2015 the president of the Anti-narcotics agency announced that a
On May 11, 2020, the
Aircraft
Retired
Previous aircraft operated by the Air Force consisted of the P-51D Mustang, P-47D Thunderbolt, de Havilland Mosquito, de Havilland Vampire, PBY Catalina, Boeing B-17, A-37 Dragonfly, C-47, BT-13 Valiant, T-6 Texan, Alouette II / III, Sikorsky H-19, and the Hughes OH-6.[7][8]
References
- ISBN 9781032508955.
- ^ "Dominican Republic Plans to Acquire ten ex-US Navy T-34Cs - Warnesy's World". Archived from the original on 15 August 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Hoyle, Craig (2023). "World Air Forces 2024". FlightGlobal. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
- ^ "N4018G used by Fuerza Aerea Dominican". helis.com. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
- ^ "AW169s for the Dominican Republic". Scramble - Dutch Aviation Society. 17 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
- ^ "Dominican Tucano-Replica". Scramble - Dutch Aviation Society. 23 February 2023. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
- ^ "World Air Forces 1973 pg. 145". flightglobal.com. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
- ^ "World Air Forces 1955 pg. 623". flightglobal.com. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
Bibliography
- Hagedorn, Daniel P. (September–October 1996). "Talkback". Air Enthusiast (65): 80. ISSN 0143-5450.
- This article incorporates public domain material from The World Factbook (2024 ed.).
- World Aircraft information files Brightstar publishing London File 342 Sheet 1
External links
- Fuerza Aérea de República Dominicana Archived 24 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine (in Spanish)