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Further Reading

Chilean Navy

Chile's long coast contributed to the development of a distinguished maritime tradition. The Chilean Navy accordingly has enjoyed an unusual primacy among the nation's armed forces, despite the army's formal status as the senior service. From its earliest days, the navy has operated under strong British influence.

The navy, with a strength in the mid-1990s of 25,000--including conscripts and the Navy Infantry Crops (Marines), Naval Aviation, and Coast Guard)--divides the long Chilean coastline into four naval zones, headquartered in Iquique, Punta Arenas, Talcahuano, and Valparaíso. The First Naval Zone (Valparaíso) corresponds approximately to the coastal portions of AM 1 and AM 2 and contains most of the training establishments. These include the Arturo Prat Naval School, the Hydrographic Institute (Instituto Hidrográfico), the Naval War Academy (Academia de Guerra Naval), and the Supplies and Services School (Escuela de Abastecimientos y Servicios), all in Valparaíso, as well as the School of Operations (Escuela de Operaciones), the Armaments School (Escuela de Armamentos), the School of Naval Engineering (Escuela de Ingeniería Naval), and the Marine Corps School (Escuela de Infantería de Marina), all in Viña del Mar.

The Second Naval Zone (Talcahuano) corresponds approximately to the coastal portions of AM 3 and AM 4 and contains the main naval base, the Submarine School (Escuela de Submarinos), the Seamen's School (Escuela de Hombres de Mar), and the Naval Artisans' School (Escuela de Artesanos Navales), all at Talcahuano. It also includes the Chiloé Naval District (Puerto Montt). The Third Naval Zone (Punta Arenas) corresponds to the coastal portion of AM 5 and includes the Beagle Channel Naval District, which is headquartered at Puerto Williams. In the early 1990s, a new naval dockyard was under construction at Bahía Catalina. The Fourth Naval Zone (Iquique) corresponds to the former Northern Naval District, which until 1991 formed part of the First Naval Zone and covered an area corresponding to the coastal portion of AM 6.

The major operational command is the fleet, which in the mid-1990s included four missile destroyers, two of which had been converted to helicopter carriers. The Submarine Command (La Fuerza de Submarinos) forms a separate operational command, with four submarines, a depot ship, and a subordinate group of frogmen commandos. The Transport Force (La Fuerza de Transportes) also forms an operational command. In addition, some minor patrol vessels, auxiliaries, and service craft are distributed among the naval zones and districts.

Naval Aviation, with 750 personnel in the mid-1990s and a total of forty-five aircraft and forty-two armed helicopters, is organized into four squadrons: the General Purpose Squadron VG-1, the Helicopter Squadron VH-1, the Maritime Reconnaissance Squadron VP-1, and the Training Squadron VT-1. Naval Aviation began a modernization process in 1990 with the acquisition of new French and German helicopters and United States patrol aircraft. The principal naval air base is at Torquemada, twenty kilometers north of Viña del Mar. The Torguemada Aeronaval Base has an efficient airport of 1,750 meters and is supported by the Naval Aviation Repair Center (Centro de Reparaciones de la Aviación Naval--CRAN). There are minor bases at Punta Arenas and Puerto Williams.

The Coast Guard, a component of the General Directorate of the Maritime Territory and Merchant Marine (Dirección General del Territorio Marítimo y de la Marina Mercante), is an integral part of the navy and has 1,500 personnel. The Chilean coastline is segmented into thirteen maritime administrations (gobernaciones marítimas), comprising a total of forty-six port captaincies (capitanías de puerto). The seagoing elements of the service consist of two converted fishing vessels (employed primarily as buoy tenders), four coastal patrol craft, and ten high-speed cutters. There are also eleven inshore patrol craft, in addition to numerous small surface skimmers and Zodiac craft used for inshore patrol and rescue. The service also operates a floating medicaldental clinic, mainly in the coastal waters off the Isla de Chiloé, and an air-sea rescue launch, based at Easter Island.

Chile assumes responsibility for maritime search and rescue in an area extending approximately 4,000 kilometers west of its coastline. It maintains search-and-rescue coordination centers at Iquique, Valparaíso, Talcahuano, Puerto Montt, and Punta Arenas. As none of its vessels is suitable for deep-sea patrol or rescue work, the Coast Guard may call on the ships and aircraft of the navy proper, in particular its helicopters, for support when necessary. The various port captains also maintain and staff lifeboats for inshore rescue.

The Navy of Chile is planning to construct an LPD amphibious ship [Buques de proyeccion de la armada] with 9,000 ton displacement and capacity of transporting up to 500 Marines with combat team armored vehicles. The ship is part of the renewal and expansion plan of the Chilean armed forces. The ship in question would be the largest built until now by Asmar and is destined to provide support in all types of naval vessel including natural catastrophe. The Chilean project is based on the Dutch Enforcer LPD 8000 concept class.

Forces of Projection are counted on as part of a balanced force, consequent with the strategic lines that they have settled down, allows to face other plans of renovation. The next efforts of renovation of materiel concentrate in the Amphibian and Strategic Transport. To equip the Marine Infantry force with greater operative flexibility, with its own mobility of high speed, with capacity to accede to distant scenes and that it makes possible to them to operate in places with little infrastructure support. Also, they serve as it bases of a quick cargo capacity strategic and as good autonomy. In addition, that constitutes a capacity to concur quickly to the zones of catastrophes, to mitigate its effects in the population. Logistical support in the sea must offer an integral, versatile logistical support and of the high mobility; so that they give to persistence and credibility to the capacity of the Expeditionary Marine Force. They must constitute an effective Force multiplication factor.

The ARIES system of light artillery for light boats (patrol, OPV, corvettes) has been delivered aboard vessels OPV-81 "Piloto Pardo" and OPV-82 "Comandante Toro" of the Chile navy. Both systems approved port and sea tests satisfactorily in September and October of this year. Chile Navy OPV were built in the shipyards and Asmar (ASMAR) based on a design of Fassmer GmbH. The vessels are equipped with Northrop Grumman system "integrated Bridge system" (IBS) and a montage of artillery 40 mm Bofors 40 L70.