Every war and operation Brazilian Army Aviation has flown in
The Contestado War and the Constitutionalist Revolution of 1932 were flown by the army’s first aviation branch, whose story is shared with the Brazilian Air Force. The re-created arm’s baptism of fire was Operation Traíra in 1991, against FARC guerrillas who had attacked an army post; guerrilla casualty figures are Brazilian-sourced and the FARC’s position was not found. The Ecuador–Peru observer mission of 1997 and the Rio de Janeiro intervention of 2018 are included as operations, not wars. Where a consolidated sortie or loss figure exists in the official record it is given here; where accounts disagree, the range is shown and the disagreement named. Blank cells are blank because no figure could be verified, not because the fighting was small.
From the Contestado in 1915 to the Traíra river in 1991.
| Conflict | Years | Against | Main aircraft | Sorties | Aircraft lost | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Contestado Warthe first military flying in BrazilBrazilian Army aviation | 1914–1915 | Contestado rebels | Three monoplanes | 1 | ||
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Reconnaissance for the army against the rebels of the Contestado. The Contestado was a rebellion of settlers in the disputed border region between Paraná and Santa Catarina. The army brought in Lieutenant Ricardo Kirk, licensed as a pilot in France in 1912, to fly reconnaissance for the land campaign, together with the Italian civilian pilot Ernesto Darioli, from União da Vitória, with three monoplanes. On 1 March 1915 Kirk crashed near General Carneiro and was killed; Portuguese Wikipedia calls it the first fatal accident of a Brazilian aviator. Brazilian Army Aviation has since made him its patron. The same episode is told on the Brazilian Air Force page, which shares this lineage. Outcome The air detachment ended with Kirk’s death; the war ended in 1916. |
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| The Constitutionalist Revolutionthe Paulista WarArmy aviation (federal government) | 1932 | São Paulo state forces | Waco CSO, Potez 25 TOE | |||
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Reconnaissance and bombing for the federal government against the forces of São Paulo. English Wikipedia’s article on Army Aviation says the arm was used on a large scale for the first time in the Constitutionalist Revolution, the revolt of São Paulo against Getúlio Vargas’s provisional government from 9 July to 2 October 1932. The federal side, army and navy together, had about 58 aircraft against nine or ten Paulista machines. The army’s share of sorties and losses is not separated in the sources checked; the combined figures are on the Brazilian Air Force page. The campaign showed both the value and the weakness of separate army and naval air arms, part of the case for the single air force of 1941. Outcome São Paulo surrendered on 2 October 1932. Type list follows the combined federal figures; army-only details not confirmed. |
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| Operation Traírathe FARC raid on the Traíra riverBrazilian Army Aviation, with the Air Force | 1991 | FARC | HA-1 Esquilo, HM-1 Pantera | |||
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Troop transport and support for the army’s response to a FARC attack on a border detachment. On 26 February 1991 FARC guerrillas crossed into Brazil and attacked an army detachment on the Traíra river, killing three soldiers, wounding nine and taking weapons. The response, coordinated with Colombia, was what English Wikipedia calls the ‘baptism of fire’ of the re-created Army Aviation: HA-1 Esquilo and HM-1 Pantera helicopters, with supply and maintenance teams, flew alongside the air force’s H-1H helicopters and AT-27 Tucanos. Some of the army’s helicopters stayed in the north and in 1992 formed the Amazônia detachment at Manaus, the origin of the 4th Battalion. Outcome Brazilian sources, cited by Portuguese Wikipedia, report 12 guerrillas killed and most of the stolen weapons recovered. Guerrilla casualty figures are Brazilian-sourced and were not independently confirmed; the FARC’s position was not found.
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| Military Observer Mission Ecuador–PeruMOMEPBrazilian Army Aviation | 1997 | UH-60L Black Hawk | 0 | |||
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Helicopter support for the multinational military observers on the Ecuador–Peru border. The arm’s first international mission, according to English Wikipedia, was the Military Observer Mission between Ecuador and Peru in 1997, with four helicopters. Wikipedia’s Black Hawk article says the army’s four UH-60Ls were bought to operate on the Peruvian–Ecuadorian border and later moved to the Amazon with the 4th Battalion. Outcome The arm’s first international deployment; no incidents found. An observer mission, not combat. The date of the Black Hawks’ arrival is given as 1994 or 1997 in different Wikipedia articles. |
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| Federal intervention in Rio de Janeirolaw-and-order operationsBrazilian Army Aviation | 2018 | Army helicopters (types not specified) | ||||
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Command and control, reconnaissance and troop insertion. English Wikipedia records that in the federal intervention in the security of Rio de Janeiro in 2018 the army’s helicopters were used for command, control and reconnaissance and to insert troops. Wikipedia also lists the arm among the forces used in law-and-order (GLO) missions inside Brazil; its specific part in them is not detailed in the sources checked. Outcome Not detailed in the sources checked. Internal security operation, not war; no figures found.
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Every figure, checked
Figures verified 2026-10-01. Back to the Brazilian Army Aviation.