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Mexico
Air Force
Title: Fuerza Aerea Mexicana (Mexican Air Force)
Brief History:
The Mexican Air Force was born in 1915, during the Mexican revolutionary period. Before that, aerial reconnaissance and dropping bombs on ships had been undertaken by the different revolutionary factions.
The first naval air combat on the American continent occurred in 1914 in Mexico. The Air Service, later to be known as the Mexican Air Force, participated in many campaigns throughout the 1920's and 1930's, supporting the army in putting down many rebel factions and armed bandits.
During World War II the air force undertook anti-submarine patrols and fielded a fighter Squadron that was trained in the United States. The 201st Mexican fighter squadron of the Mexican Expeditionary Air Force fought in the liberation of the Philippines in 1945. In the post-war period the air force went through a number of changes, being re-equipped with the majority of the lend-lease aircraft it had received during the war years.
In recent years the Air Force has under-gone a major reorganisation to meet its needs in the war against the drug cartels and to support the government and population in humanitarian roles, not only in Mexico but other countries as well.
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T-33A serial JE-042 (photo, Sr.Mardonio Islas Perez) |
Mi-17 (photo, Santiago A. Flores) |
National Markings:
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PC-7 serial 572 (photo, Santiago A. Flores) |
F-5F serial 4502 (photo, Ing.Enrique Velasco) |
Main Headquarters:
Mexico City
Aircraft Inventory:
Current service types
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A pair of F-5Es (photo, Sr. Mardonio Islas Perez) |
UH-60 Black Hawk (photo, Sr. Mardonio Islas Perez) |
Organisation:
Today the Mexican Air Force is under the control of the Secretary of National Defense
(Secretaria de la Defensa Nacional: SEDENA) and is organized as the following:
Order of Battle-
Squadron |
Type |
Base |
REGION AEREA DEL CENTRO (RAC) |
EAM Colonia Federal, Mexico D.F. |
|
|
ALA DE COMBATE |
BAM Santa Lucia, Estado de Mexico |
1/o. Grupo Aéreo |
BAM
Santa Lucia, Estado de Mexico |
Escuadrón Aéreo 101 |
Bell 412, S-70A, CH-53E |
BAM
Santa Lucia, Estado de Mexico |
Escuadrón Aéreo
112 |
MDD 530F/MG |
BAM
Santa Lucia, Estado de Mexico |
Escuadrón Aéreo 401 |
F-5E/F |
BAM
Santa Lucia, Estado de Mexico |
Escuadrón Aéreo 402 |
PC-7 |
BAM Ixtepex, Oaxaca |
Sistema Integral de Vigilancia Aérea |
BAM
Santa Lucia, Estado de Mexico |
Grupo de Detección y Control |
|
BAM
Santa Lucia, Estado de Mexico |
Escuadrón de Vigilancia Aérea |
EMB-145RS, C-26B, SA2-37A/B |
BAM
Santa Lucia, Estado de Mexico |
|
|
|
ALA DE RECONOCIMIENTO Y TRANSPORTE |
BAM
Santa Lucia, Estado de Mexico |
2/o. Grupo
Aéreo |
BAM
Pie de la Cuesta, Guerrero |
Escuadrón Aéreo
102 |
Bell 212 |
BAM
Pie de la Cuesta, Guerrero |
Escuadrón Aéreo
201 |
PC-7 |
BAM
Cozumel, Q.R. |
Escuadrón Aéreo
202 |
PC-7 |
BAM
Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas |
Escuadrón Aéreo
203 |
PC-7 |
BAM La
Paz, BCS |
Escuadrón Aéreo
203/Dest |
PC-7 |
BAM Hermosillo, Sonora |
Escuadrón Aéreo
203/Dest |
PC-7 |
EAM Mexicali, BCN |
Escuadrón Aéreo
204 |
PC-7 |
BAM
Pie de la Cuesta, Guerrero |
3/o. Grupo Aéreo |
BAM
Santa Lucia, Estado de Mexico |
Escuadrón Aéreo
301 |
Arava, CASA 295M |
BAM
Santa Lucia, Estado de Mexico |
Escuadrón Aéreo
302 |
C-130A/H/K |
BAM
Santa Lucia, Estado de Mexico |
Escuadrón Aéreo
303 |
Mi-17, Mi-26T |
BAM
Santa Lucia, Estado de Mexico |
Escuadrón Aéreo
502 |
Boeing 727 |
BAM
Santa Lucia, Estado de Mexico |
4/o. Grupo
Aéreo |
BAM
Zapopan, Jalisco |
Escuadrón Aéreo
105 |
Cessna 182S |
BAM
Zapopan, Jalisco |
Escuadrón Aéreo
111 |
Bell 206B/L |
BAM
Zapopan, Jalisco |
5/o. Grupo
Aéreo |
BAM
Culiacan, Sinaloa |
Escuadrón Aéreo
103 |
Bell 212 |
BAM
Oaxaca, Oaxaca |
Escuadrón Aéreo
104 |
Bell 212, CH-53E |
BAM
Merida, Yucatan |
Escuadrón Aéreo
106 |
Cessna 182S |
BAM
El Cipres, BCN |
Escuadrón Aéreo
106/Dest |
Cessna 182S |
EAM
Guerrero Negro, BCS |
Escuadrón Aéreo
107 |
Cessna 182S |
BAM
Hermosillo, Sonora |
Escuadrón Aéreo
108 |
Cessna 182S |
BAM
Monterrey, Nuevo Leon |
Escuadrón Aéreo
109 |
Cessna 182S |
BAM
Culiacan, Sinaloa |
Escuadrón Aéreo
110 |
Cessna 182S |
BAM
Chihuahua, Chihuahua |
EMAATFA |
PC-7 |
BAM
Santa Gertrudis,
Chihuahua |
|
|
|
COLEGIO DEL AIRE - Escuela Militar de Aviación |
BAM
Zapopan, Jalisco |
Escuadrón
Preparatorio |
SF-260EU |
BAM
Zapopan, Jalisco |
Escuadrón
Primario |
F-33C |
BAM
Zapopan, Jalisco |
Escuadrón
Avanzado |
PC-7 |
BAM
Zapopan, Jalisco |
Escadrilla de Instrucción |
Stearman PT-13/17 |
BAM
Zapopan, Jalisco |
|
|
|
UTAPEF |
B-737/757,Learjet 35A,Gulfstream III |
EAM
Col. Federal, Mexico D.F.
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FRACD - Fuerza
de Reaccion Aeromovil para Caso de Desastres |
BAM
Santa Lucia, Estado de Mexico |
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MD-530, S-70A, Mi-8/17/26T, An-32B C-130A/H, B-727 |
BAM
Santa Lucia, Estado de Mexico |
EMAAFTA = Escuela Militar de Aplicacion Aerotactica de la Fuerza Aerea
FRACD = Rapid Air Reaction Force in Case of Disasters
UTAPEF = Unidad de Transporte Aéreo
del Poder Ejecutivo Federal
BASES AEREA MILITARES (BAM):
No. |
Location |
1 |
Santa Lucia, Estado de Mexico |
2 |
Ixtepec, Oaxaca |
3 |
El Cipres, Baja California Norte |
4 |
Cozumel, Quitana Roo |
5 |
Zapopan, Jalisco |
6 |
Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas |
7 |
Pie de la Cuesta, Guerrero |
8 |
Merida, Yucatan |
9 |
La Paz, Baja California Sur |
10 |
Culiacan, Sinaloa |
11 |
Santa Gertrudis, Chihuahua |
12* |
Tijuana, Baja California Norte |
13 |
Chihuahua, Chihuahua |
14 |
Monterrey, Nuevo Leon |
15 |
Oaxaca, Oaxaca |
16* |
Cuidad Pemex, Tabasco |
17* |
Copalar, Chiapas |
18 |
Hermosillo, Sonora |
19* |
Atlangatepec, Tlaxcala |
* = Bases without any permanently stationed squadrons.
ESTACIONES AEREAS MILITARES (EAM):
No. |
Location |
1 |
Colonia Federal, Mexico D.F. |
2 |
Guerrero Negro, Baja California Sur |
3 |
Torreon, Coahuila |
4 |
Tampico, Veracruz |
5 |
Puerto Vallarta, Sinaloa |
6 |
Irapuato, Guerrero |
7 |
?, Oaxaca |
8 |
Loma Bonita, Oaxaca |
Note: EA.105,106,107, 109 and 110 were orginally equipped with the 73 Bell UH-1H Huey helicopters that the US gave to Mexico to fight the drug-cartel, they were replaced later with the Cessna 182S.
Bibliography:
- Web page SEDENA 1999
- Flap International No.334, Julio 2000
- America Vuela (various issues of the year 2000)
- America Vuela No.66 Dec.2000/Jan.2001
- JP-4 Agosto 2000
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