Fuerza Aerea del Peru - Modernization
The government's allocation to the Air Force is within low margins, due to the process of increasing the cost of services and having a very reduced budget, which reduces the action of the institution to being only an operational entity and not far-sighted without greater capacity for action and therefore for administrative and operational management.
Like the Peruvian navy, the FAP underwent a substantial modernization during the 1968-80 military government that continued into the elected civilian administrations of the 1980s. Unlike the navy, however, much of the modernization involved the acquisition of Soviet equipment, the extension of a long-standing air force policy of diversifying material sources rather than relying primarily on a single country.
Peru received the first batch of T-33 in the 1950s and a second batch of eleven T-33As in 1962. Some 6 Sabre F-86F were purchased in 1963. A total fo 16 Mirage 5P were purchased in 1968, the first supersonic aircraft in South America. The first of 32+4 Su-22 Fitter-F arrived in July 1977, and were almost immediately "upgraded" with Western avionics. The second batch of 16 Su-22M/UM devices (with enlarged spine) was commissioned in 1979. They were the first aircraft with variable geometry wings in South America. Both lots came with the AA-2-2 Atoll's firing capability. The A-37B Dragonfly was first purchased in 1974.
Peru purchased 16 Aermacchi MB-339A in 1981. The FAP entered into an agreement with Italy's Aermacchi (Aeronàutica Macchi--Macchi Aviation Company) in 1980 to assemble in Peru sixty-six MB-339 AB trainers and MB-339K light attack planes, with the wings, rear fuselage, and tail unit manufactured in Peru. Construction began in November 1981 of an Aeronautics Industry Public Enterprise (Empresa Pública de la Industria Aeronáutica--Indaer-Perú) factory at Collique with Aermacchi assistance, but financial problems forced its cancellation in late 1984.
Peru purchased 10 Mirage-2000P and 2 two-seat Mirage-2000DP, which were received between 1986 and 1987. Peru bought 18 Su-25 fighters in 1996, of which 8 were Su-25 UB two-seaters, it is considered the most specialized AIRCRAFT in CAS in Latin America. In addition, it allowed faP to be the pioneer in Latin America in the use of anti-war missiles, through Raduga Kh-58 missiles in the Su-25 UB. The MiG-29 Fulcrum-C were delivered in 1996 after the government of Alberto Fujimori, they were for a short time, the best fighter in South America, being also the first to use BVR missiles, with the R-27 and R-77.
In addition, the FAP made substantial purchases of planes and helicopters from other countries. Although this remarkable diversity posed major logistical and maintenance challenges, by the late 1980s Peru had the third largest air force in Latin America and the most advanced equipment of them all.
The 'Strategic Plan to 2021' of the Air Force, known by the officers as 'Plan Quiñones', was prepared in 2003. It is not a war plan or an operational plan, but it represents a long-term projection of what the FAP was pursuing with a view to 2021, when the country's 200 years of independence will be completed.
In 2006, the execution of the Basic Defense Core was approved, which includes the recovery of the operation of a part of the combat aircraft fleet: 12 Mirage-2000, 19 Mig-29 and 18 Sukhoi-25. In response , Chile added to the 10 F-16s it bought from the US, another 28 F-16 units from the Netherlands. After the revelation in 2009 of the espionage carried out by the non-commissioned officer of the Peruvian Air Force, Víctor Ariza Mendoza, in favor of Chile, the FAP Intelligence Directorate began an investigatio It is obvious that after learning about the characteristics of the Basic Defense Core, most likely with information sold by Ariza, Chile doubled its arms purchases.
By 2015 Peru’s modernization policy also included the Air Force, which was co-manufacturing KT1s and acquiring C27 cargo planes, in addition to 24 helicopters to help in transportation and monitoring duties within the VRAEM.
The brand new Commander General of the Peruvian Air Force (FAP), Dante Antonio Arévalo Abate, on 26 December 2015 stressed that the Air Force had a great responsibility with "defense and national development", and therefore will continue with the implementation of the Quiñones Plan, which seeks to modernize the institution to respond to the expectations and demands of the country. "Our compatriots expect a lot from our institution, therefore we will demand ourselves, to respond to these expectations by doing much more for our country and the Air Force, driven by the authentic desire to form a just, fraternal, inclusive and supportive nation," he added.
At Las Palmas Air Base, the 79th anniversary of the immolation of Captain FAP José Quiñones Gonzales, Peruvian Air Force Day, was conmemorized 23 July 2020. In his order speech, the Commander General of the Air Force, General of the Air Force Rodolfo García Esquerre, stated that "the Peruvian Air Force, as a fundamental pillar of aerospace military power, represents an amalgam of capabilities, which together with the professionalism of its men are permanently at the service of the demands of the state, aimed at meeting the needs of our compatriots". He indicates that "the institution has taken on its challenge in the development of the aerospace industry, having made significant progress through the co-production of the KT-1s and in the assembly of the CH-2000 Alarus. These two types of instructional aircraft have been used in the formation of new pilots. For the same purpose, we have been working on aircraft maintenance and electronic components, in the manufacture of flight and shooting simulators, in the manufacture of braking parachutes for combat aircraft and for cargo launch, and in the production of unmanned aerial vehicles."
Finally, General García Esquerre stated that "the use of aerospace power and cyberspace in favor of defense, security and national development is and should always be our main contribution. For this to be feasible, it is necessary to have a number of operational and logistical capabilities that are reflected or projected through a certain magnitude and structure of force", adding that "in that sense, thinking about the future, is that we have an Institutional Plan that implies clear and quantifiable strategic objectives.
"This is the Plan Quiñones. In order to achieve these medium- and long-term institutional objectives each year, we establish a set of priority activities through which we adequately guide our efforts and the use of budgetary resources, having recently managed to increase our capacities with the acquisition of 8 CH-2000 Alarus primary education aircraft, 4 Instruction helicopters Enstrom F-280FX and a Boeing 737-300 aircraft, to which is added the effort of the defense sector to be able to have in a short time a Boeing 737 (fast change of cargo to passengers), as well as two KC-130 hercules aircraft and ambulance aircraft. At the same time, efforts in the area of maintenance and modernization are helping to maintain our means, highlighting the digitization of the cabins of two of our L-100-20 Hercules (one completed and the other in process), the maintenance of 3 Bell 212 helicopters, the major maintenance of Mi-17 (4 completed and two in process), the repair of an Antonov An-32B aircraft, the continuity in the repair of our Sukhoi Su-25s, the digitization of our radars, as well as the logistical support for the Learjet 45, DHC-6-400 Twin Otter and Leonardo C-27J Spartan aircraft."
Important in the sphere of the Air Force, there is currently no adequate logistics and technology, both on the ground and in the air, to maintain equipment and support systems in the face of natural disasters.
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