Argentine Army Aviation
Argentine Army Aviation, re-established in 1956 at Campo de Mayo with a lineage reaching back to an 1867 observation balloon, lost almost all its helicopters on the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) in 1982, carries the court-proven stain of the dictatorship’s death flights, and today flies about 50 Hueys, light helicopters and a few transports while still waiting for the medium helicopters it has lacked for more than 40 years.
The Argentine Army Aviation story: a balloon at Humaitá, Tucumán, the death flights and the helicopters lost in 1982
1867–1945: a balloon at Humaitá and the army’s own air service
Argentine Army Aviation (Aviación de Ejército) traces its line further back than any other Argentine air arm. Wikipedia records that on 8 July 1867, in the war against Paraguay, Staff Sergeant Roberto Chodasiewicz went up in an observation balloon at Humaitá. The Military Aviation School opened at El Palomar in 1912 as an army school, and the army’s air service flew until 1945, when the new Air Force took its aircraft and airfields; the Air Force today dates its own origin to that same 1912 school. A Fairchild 82-D was already flying survey work for the army in 1937, Zona Militar notes. The loss of 1945 shaped everything after: the army has had to argue for every fixed-wing aircraft since, and Wikipedia records that its purchase of G.222 transports in the 1970s caused friction with the Air Force.
1956–1976: re-created, and drawn into Tucumán
The army re-established its own aviation in 1956, according to Wikipedia, built around light aircraft and helicopters at Campo de Mayo, the great garrison north-west of Buenos Aires. In 1965 a Cessna U-17 supported the army’s first expedition to the South Pole. Its first fighting came in Tucumán. Under decree 261/1975 the army launched Operativo Independencia against the ERP guerrilla in February 1975; Wikipedia records that an army DHC-6 had been lost near Monteros on 5 January 1975 with 13 aboard, apparently shot down by the guerrillas, that a PA-18 and a UH-1H later crashed, and that a UH-1H door gunner was killed by ground fire. The military counted three aircraft and two helicopters lost. Wikipedia also records that the operation introduced the methods of kidnapping, forced disappearance and clandestine camps: 656 people disappeared in Tucumán between 1974 and 1979.
1976–1983: the dictatorship and the death flights
After the coup of March 1976 the arm was used for crimes. On 4 July 2022 the Federal Oral Court No. 2 of San Martín sentenced four former officers to life imprisonment — Santiago Omar Riveros, former head of Military Institutes at Campo de Mayo, and the commander, second commander and operations officer of Army Aviation Battalion 601 — for detaining, torturing and killing four people who were thrown into the sea or the Río de la Plata from Twin Otter and Fiat aircraft that left Campo de Mayo in 1976–1977, according to the Public Prosecutor’s Office. Wikipedia’s article on the death flights names Battalion 601 as the unit set up to carry them out. These are findings of Argentine courts; the page reports them as such.
1982: helicopters on the islands
In 1982 the arm sent 2 CH-47C Chinooks, 3 A109As, 6 SA330L Pumas and 9 UH-1Hs to the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), where Wikipedia credits them with 796 general support flights in harsh conditions; the army also took over police Bo 105s. The cost was heavy. Wikipedia’s Army Aviation article counts two helicopters shot down, six destroyed on the ground and ten captured, and six army aviators killed. Both British and Argentine accounts in Wikipedia credit HMS Coventry’s Sea Dart with Puma AE-505 over Choiseul Sound, its three crew killed; another Puma was shot down by a Stinger. On the mainland, UH-1H AE-419 crashed near Caleta Olivia, killing its three crew and seven infantrymen. The Chinooks were never replaced, as the Army Chief of Staff said in 2025.
1983–2023: Hueys, Mohawks and a long squeeze
After the war the army bought a Super Puma for Antarctic work from the icebreaker ARA Almirante Irizar, and when Argentina became a major non-NATO ally of the United States in 1998 it received OV-1D Mohawks for battlefield reconnaissance, according to Wikipedia. It also flew CASA C-212s, Twin Otters, Caravans and a Citation I used for survey from 1977 to 2011. Money was the constraint. A 2014 plan — Wikipedia lists a Citation, four Grand Caravans, two C-212s, Diamond aircraft to replace the Mohawks, used Italian AB 206s, Huey II upgrades and refurbished Super Pumas — was only partly carried out, and the AB 206 agreement waited until a new government in 2016. Since 2009, Wikipedia adds, the Army Aviation School at Campo de Mayo has trained helicopter pilots for all three services.
2024–2026: Bell 407s, a DA62 and the medium-helicopter gap
Today the arm, renamed the Army Aviation Directorate, flies about 50 UH-1H and Huey II helicopters, a dozen AB 206 and Bell 206s and a handful of transports, according to FlightGlobal and Wikipedia. Its first two Bell 407GXis, of three ordered in 2022 to replace the Lama in the Andes, were accepted on 4 December 2024, and a DA62 MPP reconnaissance and survey aircraft was presented at Campo de Mayo on 12 September 2024. Its Hueys fought the Patagonian forest fires from December 2024, Squadron 602 certified rockets and gun pods at Monte Caseros in November 2025, and its helicopters joined exercise CANDU IV in 2026. The gap is the one opened in 1982: the army has no medium or heavy helicopters, and the UH-60, CH-47F and CH-53G options studied in 2025–2026 had produced no order by October 2026.
The Argentine Army Aviation in numbers
Service
- Native name
- Aviación de Ejército ArgentinoRun since its last reorganisation as the Dirección de Aviación de Ejército (Army Aviation Directorate); Wikipedia records that the earlier Army Aviation Command was renamed a directorate, recovered its old name eight years later and then came under the Army Enlistment and Training Command. The English Wikipedia article is titled Argentine Army Aviation
- Founded
- 1956Re-established within the army. The army’s first air service, from the 1912 Military Aviation School at El Palomar, passed to the new Air Force in 1945
- Part of
- Argentine ArmyChief of the Army General Staff: Lt Gen Oscar Santiago Zarich
- Headquarters
- Campo de Mayo, Buenos Aires provinceWith Army Aviation Group 601 and the Army Aviation School
- Director
- Col. Julio Orlando Morillas (2024)Named as Aviation Director at the DA62 ceremony of 12 September 2024; whether he still held the post in 2026 was not confirmed
Strength
- Helicopters
-
- UH-1H and Huey II — 50
- AB 206B1 and Bell 206 — 12–13
- Bell 407GXi — 2 (1 more ordered)
- SA315B Lama — 1–2
- AS332B Super Puma — 1
FlightGlobal 2025 and Wikipedia differ on the light types
- Fixed-wing aircraft
-
- Cessna 208 — 4
- C-212 — 3
- DHC-6 Twin Otter — 2
- DA62 MPP — 1
- Citation Bravo — 1
- Baron — 1
- Medium and heavy helicopters
- None in serviceLost in 1982; UH-60, CH-47F and CH-53G studied in 2025–2026 without an order
Infrastructure
- Main base
- Campo de MayoArmy Aviation Group 601: Assault Helicopter Battalion 601, Supply and Maintenance Battalion 601, Intelligence Support Squadron 601, Combat Support Battalion 601, Squadrons 602, 603 and 604
- Sections
-
- Section 8 — Mendoza province (Bell 407GXi)
- Mountain Section 6
- Sections 181 (Bahía Blanca), 9 (Comodoro Rivadavia) and 11 (Río Gallegos)
Wikipedia’s list of sections may be dated; airfields used by the sections were not confirmed
- Training
- Army Aviation School, Campo de MayoTrains helicopter pilots for all three services since 2009; fixed-wing training at the Air Force Academy, Córdoba
How the Argentine Army Aviation is organised
The Argentine Army’s own air arm, re-established in 1956 after the army’s first air service passed to the new Air Force in 1945, with Army Aviation Group 601 and the Army Aviation School at Campo de Mayo and sections in the provinces. FlightGlobal and Wikipedia count about 50 UH-1H and Huey II helicopters, a dozen AB 206 and Bell 206s, two new Bell 407GXis and a handful of transports, but no medium or heavy helicopters since the losses of 1982. The UH-60, CH-47F and CH-53G were being studied in 2025–2026 without an order.
Army Aviation Directorate
The Argentine Army’s aviation command, re-established in 1956; Wikipedia records that it was renamed a directorate, recovered its old name and later came under the Army Enlistment and Training Command. Its director in 2024 was Col. Julio Orlando Morillas; the Chief of the Army General Staff is Lt Gen Oscar Santiago Zarich.
Assault Helicopter Battalion 601
The core of Army Aviation Group 601, flying UH-1H and Huey II helicopters; three Huey IIs took part in exercise CANDU IV in 2026. As 601 Army Aviation Battalion it sent 20 helicopters to the islands in 1982.
Exploration and Attack Aviation Squadron 602
Armed UH-1Hs and AB 206B1s; certified rockets and gun pods at Monte Caseros on 27 November 2025.
Army Aviation Group 601 support units
Supply and Maintenance Battalion 601, Intelligence Support Aviation Squadron 601, Combat Support Aviation Battalion 601, General Support Squadron 603 and Support Squadron 604, as listed by Wikipedia; the DA62 MPP, presented in September 2024, flies reconnaissance and mapping.
Army aviation sections
Section 8 in Mendoza province receives the Bell 407GXis for mountain work; Mountain Section 6 flew in the 2024–2025 Patagonian fires; Wikipedia also lists sections at Bahía Blanca, Comodoro Rivadavia and Río Gallegos. Their airfields were not confirmed.
Army Aviation School
Trains helicopter pilots for all three services since 2009, with Bell 206 trainers.
What the Argentine Army Aviation flies today
Every type on charge, linked to its Book of Beasts page where one exists. Counts are aircraft on the books, not aircraft available on a given day.
| Type | Role | In service | Since | Units | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bell UH-1H Iroquois and UH-1H Huey IIIn service | Utility and assault helicopter | 50 | 50 UH-1H in FlightGlobal 2025 and Wikipedia; the split between unmodified UH-1Hs and Huey IIs was not published. | |||
| Agusta-Bell AB 206B1 and Bell 206In service | Scout, light attack and training helicopter | 13 | 12–13: FlightGlobal 2025 gives eight Bell 206s plus five trainers; Wikipedia gives seven AB 206B1s plus five Bell 206 trainers. | |||
| Bell 407GXiIn service | High-mountain utility helicopter | 2 | 2024 | Two delivered (AE-341 and AE-342, accepted on 4 December 2024); a third on order. Delivery of the third was not confirmed by 1 October 2026. | ||
| Aérospatiale SA315B LamaIn service | Mountain liaison and rescue helicopter | 1 | 1–2: one in FlightGlobal 2025, two in Wikipedia. | |||
| Aérospatiale AS332B Super PumaIn service | Medium transport helicopter | 1 | One, per FlightGlobal 2025 (listed as H215M/AS332) and Wikipedia. | |||
| Diamond DA62 MPPIn service | Reconnaissance and survey | 1 | 2024 | One; FlightGlobal also lists four on order, which was not confirmed elsewhere. | ||
| CASA C-212 AviocarIn service | Transport and medical evacuation | 3 | Three, per FlightGlobal 2025 and Wikipedia. | |||
| Cessna 208 CaravanIn service | Utility transport | 4 | Four, per FlightGlobal 2025 and Wikipedia. | |||
| de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin OtterIn service | STOL utility transport | 2 | Two, per FlightGlobal 2025 and Wikipedia. | |||
| Cessna Citation II BravoIn service | VIP and liaison transport | 1 | One. | |||
| Beechcraft BaronIn service | Light transport | 1 | One. |
On order
| Type | Ordered | First delivery | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bell 407GXiOn order | 1 | 2024 | The third of the army’s three; FlightGlobal listed it on order in 2025. Its delivery was not confirmed by 1 October 2026. | |
| Diamond DA62 reconnaissanceOn order | 4 | Listed by FlightGlobal 2025 as ordered; not confirmed by any other source checked. | ||
| Medium and heavy helicopters (UH-60, CH-47F or CH-53G under study)On order | Not an order.
MoreIn October 2025 Zona Militar reported that a tender for three UH-60s had been suspended and that second-hand CH-47Fs and ex-German CH-53Gs were being studied; in August 2026 it stressed that a visit to Colombian Black Hawk units implied no decision. |
Every type the Argentine Army Aviation has retired
8 types, from the Aeritalia G.222 to the Cessna Citation I. Peak figures are airframes taken on charge over the whole service life, not fleet strength on any one date.
| Type | Role | Peak | Served | Replaced by | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cessna Citation I | Survey and photography | 1977–2011 | Diamond DA62 MPP | |||
| Boeing CH-47C Chinook | Heavy transport helicopter | 2 | 1980–1982 | Two deployed to the islands in 1982. | ||
| Aérospatiale SA330L Puma | Medium transport helicopter | 6 | Six deployed to the islands in 1982; the total bought was not confirmed. | |||
| Agusta A109A | Light utility helicopter | 3 | 1980–1982 | Three deployed in 1982. | ||
| Grumman OV-1D Mohawk | Battlefield reconnaissance | 1998– | Diamond DA62 MPP | |||
| Aeritalia G.222 | Tactical transport | 1970– | ||||
| Cessna U-17 | Light utility aircraft | |||||
| Piper PA-18 Super Cub | Liaison and observation |
Where Argentine Army Aviation flies from
Black pins are active bases, hollow pins the airfields that have closed. Campo de Mayo, the army’s great garrison north-west of Buenos Aires, holds the directorate, Group 601 and the school. The provincial aviation sections are not mapped because their airfields were not confirmed.
| Base | ICAO | Status | Runway | Units and aircraft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Campo de Mayo MilitaryBuenos Aires (San Miguel) | SADO | Active |
|
No air base matches that search.
Who is stationed where in the Argentine Army Aviation
Flying units by base, current units first. The arm’s flying units are grouped in Army Aviation Group 601 at Campo de Mayo, with smaller aviation sections in the provinces. Aircraft counts are FlightGlobal’s 2025 figures and Wikipedia’s; they differ for the light helicopters.
- Army Aviation Directorate (Dirección de Aviación de Ejército)Aviation command · army
- Assault Helicopter Battalion 601 (Batallón de Helicópteros de Asalto 601)Assault helicopter battalion · army
- UH-1H and Huey II
- Exploration and Attack Aviation Squadron 602 (Escuadrón de Aviación de Exploración y Ataque 602)Scout and attack squadron · army
- UH-1H, AB 206B1
- Army Aviation Group 601 support unitsSupport, intelligence and general support units · army
- Army Aviation School (Escuela de Aviación de Ejército)Helicopter flying school · army
- Bell 206
No unit matches that search.
Argentine Army Aviation milestones, 1914 to today
8 July: Staff Sergeant Roberto Chodasiewicz observes from a balloon at Humaitá in the Paraguayan War.
The Military Aviation School opens at El Palomar under the army.
The new Air Force takes over the army’s aircraft and installations.
Army Aviation is re-established within the army.
A Cessna U-17 supports the army’s first expedition to the South Pole.
5 January: an army DHC-6 is lost near Monteros with 13 aboard. 5 February: Operativo Independencia begins in Tucumán.
1976–1977: death flights from Campo de Mayo by Army Aviation Battalion 601, as found by a federal court in 2022.
Army Aviation deploys in Operation Soberanía during the crisis with Chile.
Two Chinooks, three A109s, six Pumas and nine UH-1Hs go to the islands; six army aviators are killed.
Argentina becomes a major non-NATO ally; OV-1D Mohawks follow.
The Army Aviation School begins training helicopter pilots for all three services.
The survey Citation I, in service since 1977, is retired.
A modernisation plan lists Caravans, C-212s, a Citation, used AB 206s and Huey II upgrades.
4 July: life sentences in the Campo de Mayo death-flights trial. December: six Bell 407GXis ordered, three for the army.
12 September: the DA62 MPP is presented at Campo de Mayo. 4 December: the first two 407GXis are accepted in the United States.
Hueys fight the Patagonian fires. October: UH-60, CH-47F and CH-53G options reported. 27 November: rocket certification at Monte Caseros.
25 February – 2 March: exercise CANDU IV. 28 August: staff visit Colombian Black Hawk units; no decision taken.
Every war and operation Argentine Army Aviation has flown in
Sorties and losses where the record gives them, and an honest blank where it does not.
- Paraguayan War (War of the Triple Alliance) 1867 Balloon observation of Paraguayan positions
- Operativo Independencia 1975–1977 Reconnaissance, transport and fire support for the army against the ERP guerrilla
- Operation Soberanía 1978 Major deployments in preparation for a war that did not happen
- Falklands War (Guerra de Malvinas) 1982 Transport, troop lift and general support for the army garrison on the islands
Who built the Argentine Army Aviation fleet
Every company behind the aircraft on this page has its own page: the story, every type it built, the numbers and the other air forces that fly them.
Current fleet and orders
Bell, Aérospatiale, Cessna, Diamond Aircraft, Agusta, Beechcraft, CASA, de Havilland Canada
Everything people ask about the Argentine Army Aviation
What is Argentine Army Aviation called in Spanish?
What helicopters does the Argentine Army fly?
Where is Argentine Army Aviation based?
What did Argentine Army helicopters do in the Falklands War (Guerra de Malvinas)?
Was Argentine Army Aviation involved in the death flights?
Why does the Argentine Army have no Chinooks?
Does the Argentine Army fly fixed-wing aircraft?
When was Argentine Army Aviation founded?
What replaced the Lama helicopters?
Read the aircraft the Argentine Army Aviation flew
Every type with a page in the Book of Beasts, in service first, then by the year it left the fleet.
Every fact, checked
- FlightGlobal: World Air Forces 2025 directoryArgentinian Army: DA62 Recce 1 (4 ordered); Baron 1, C212 3, Cessna 208 4, Citation Bravo 1, DHC-6 2; Bell 206 8, Bell 407GXi 2 (1 ordered), H215M/AS332 1, SA315 1, UH-1H 50; Bell 206 trainers 5.
- Ministerio Público Fiscal: San Martín: penas de prisión perpetua para los cuatro acusados de perpetrar los ‘vuelos de la muerte’ que partían desde Campo de Mayo (4 July 2022)Federal Oral Court No. 2 of San Martín: life sentences for Santiago Omar Riveros, Luis del Valle Arce, Delsis Ángel Malacalza and Eduardo María Lance; four victims; flights in 1976–1977 by Army Aviation Battalion 601 in Twin Otter and Fiat aircraft.
- Zona Militar: El Ejército Argentino recibe en los EE.UU. a sus dos primeros helicópteros Bell 407GXi (4 December 2024)Six 407GXi (three army, three air force) under a late-2022 contract of US$32,416,188 through the Canadian Commercial Corporation; army AE-341 and AE-342 accepted 4 December 2024; for high-mountain work from Mendoza province (Section 8); to replace the SA315 Lama.
- Defense News: Argentina’s Army, Air Force to split new order of Bell Textron helos (22 December 2022)Six 407GXi, three each; US$38 million; to replace SA315B Lamas after 45 years; original requirement for 12.
- Zona Militar: Ceremonia de incorporación del nuevo avión Diamond DA-62 MPP (12 September 2024)DA-62 MPP presented at Campo de Mayo on 12 September 2024; EUR 7.8 million; LIDAR and photogrammetric sensors; restores the reconnaissance capability lost with the Citation I (1977–2011) and OV-1D Mohawk; Army Chief of Staff Gen. Carlos Alberto Presti; Aviation Director Col. Julio Orlando Morillas; Fairchild 82-D survey aircraft of 1937.
- Zona Militar: UH-60 Black Hawk y CH-47 Chinook, las opciones más firmes que evalúa el Ejército Argentino (16 October 2025)Medium and heavy helicopter options: UH-60 (a tender for three suspended), second-hand CH-47F, ex-German CH-53G; Chinooks left on the islands in 1982; Lt Gen Carlos Alberto Presti quoted.
- Zona Militar: El Escuadrón de Aviación de Exploración y Ataque 602 realizó tiro de certificación con cohetes en Monte Caseros (27 November 2025)Rocket certification firing at Monte Caseros with UH-1H gun pods and locally made rockets; AB-206B1 with XM-27 minigun under certification; Assault Helicopter Battalion 601 and Army Aviation Reserve Squadron.
- Zona Militar: Personal de Aviación del Ejército Argentino visitó una unidad de la FAC que opera helicópteros Black Hawk (28 August 2026)Army Aviation Directorate staff at Colombia’s CACOM 4; no decision to buy the UH-60 and no confirmed negotiation; UH-1H and Huey II need replacement.
- Zona Militar: El despliegue de la Dirección de Aviación del Ejército Argentino contra los incendios en Neuquén y Río Negro (11 February 2025)From late December 2024 UH-1Hs of Squadron 602, Mountain Army Aviation Section 6 and Assault Helicopter Battalion 601 supported firefighting at El Bolsón, Bariloche and San Martín de los Andes.
- Zona Militar: CANDU IV – la Aviación del Ejército Argentino se movilizó rumbo a la Costa Atlántica (25 February 2026)Joint exercise CANDU IV, 25 February – 2 March 2026: three UH-1H Huey II of Battalion 601 and one AB-206B1 of Squadron 602 from Campo de Mayo to the Atlantic coast.
- Zona Militar: El Ejército Argentino licita cascos de vuelo HGU-56/P y visores nocturnos ANVIS-9 para su Aviación (29 August 2026)Tenders for 12 HGU-56/P helmets and about ten ANVIS-9 night-vision goggles.
- Ejército Argentino (argentina.gob.ar)Lt Gen Oscar Santiago Zarich listed as Chief of the Army General Staff (checked 1 October 2026).
- OurAirports: SADO Campo de Mayo Military AirportFinding aid only: SADO, coordinates -34.5344, -58.6717, elevation 78 ft (24 m); no runway data. Not the AIP.
Figures verified 2026-10-01. Order of Battle pages are regenerated from a single dataset; if a number here disagrees with a Book of Beasts page, this page is the more recent of the two.
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