FMA（Fábrica Militar de Aviones）
Argentina’s state aircraft works in Córdoba, where two fugitive European designers built Latin America’s first jet fighters and where the Pucará was born before it fought in the Falklands.
FMA (Fábrica Militar de Aviones): the company and the aircraft that made its name
An Avro on the Córdoba runway
The Fábrica Militar de Aviones was founded in Córdoba on 10 October 1927, and on 18 July 1928 its first aircraft rolled out for testing: a licence-built Avro 504 Gosport trainer with a 100 hp Gnome engine, good for 140 km/h. Licence production and home designs followed, mostly for the air force. The prefixes on its aircraft tell its story: Ae for the Dirección General de Aerotécnica until 1936, F.M.A. from 1938, and I.Ae. and later IA for the Instituto Aerotécnico from 1943, run in the 1940s by the military engineer Juan Ignacio San Martín.
Dewoitine, Tank and the Pulqui
Perón’s Argentina offered something unusual after 1945: work for European aircraft designers no longer welcome at home. Émile Dewoitine, convicted in absentia in France, led the team behind the I.Ae.27 Pulqui I, which flew on 9 August 1947 as the first jet fighter built in Latin America. The former Focke-Wulf designer Kurt Tank followed with the swept-wing Pulqui II, first flown on 27 June 1950. Only one Pulqui I and five Pulqui II airframes were built; neither went into production.
The Pucará goes to war
The factory’s most famous design came in the 1960s. The twin-turboprop IA 58 Pucará, named after the Quechua word for fortress, first flew on 20 August 1969 as a tough counter-insurgency aircraft able to use rough strips. About 60 had been delivered by 1982, and in the Falklands War they flew from Port Stanley, Goose Green and Pebble Island. Six were destroyed in the SAS raid on Pebble Island on 15 May, but on 28 May two Pucarás shot down a Royal Marines Scout helicopter, the only confirmed Argentine air-to-air victory of the war. 110 were built in all.
Pampa, Lockheed and back to the state
The IA 63 Pampa jet trainer, developed with Dornier, flew on 6 October 1984. Eleven years later President Carlos Menem privatised the factory as a concession to Lockheed Martin, which ran it as Lockheed Martin Aircraft Argentina, mostly on maintenance and upgrades. In 2009 the state bought it back for about $110 million and renamed it FAdeA after Brigadier San Martín. It has since built new Pampa IIIs, parts for Embraer’s KC-390 and modernised C-130s.
FMA (Fábrica Militar de Aviones) in numbers
公司
- 简而言之
- Founded 1927
- Founded in Córdoba on 10 October 1927
- First aircraft: licence Avro 504 Gosport, July 1928
- Privatised to Lockheed Martin in 1995
- Renationalised as FAdeA in 2009
生产
- 最出名的是
- IA 58 普卡拉
- Pulqui I and II: Latin America’s first jet fighters
- IA 50 Guaraní II transport: 3 prototypes and 32 production
- IA 58 Pucará: 110 built 1974–1993
- IA 63 Pampa jet trainer, still in production
今天
- 现在
- Continues as FAdeA
- Fábrica Argentina de Aviones, owned by Argentina’s Ministry of Defence
- Builds the Pampa III and supports C-130s and Pucarás
这些数字
- IA 58 Pucará built
- 110
- Pucarás delivered by the 1982 Falklands War
- about 60
- State buy-back of Lockheed Martin Aircraft Argentina
- about $110 million2009
Every notable FMA (Fábrica Militar de Aviones) aircraft
Photos: Pasanm79 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
| 飞机 | 角色 | 首航 | 建造 | 地位 | 笔记 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avro 504 Gosport (licence) | 教练 | 1928 | 已退休 | First aircraft built in Argentina | |
| FMA AeC.1 | Light monoplane | 1931 | 已退休 | Early indigenous design | |
| FMA I.Ae.27 Pulqui I | Jet fighter prototype | 1947 | 1 | 已退休 | First jet fighter built in Latin America; Dewoitine team |
| FMA I.Ae.33 Pulqui II | Swept-wing jet fighter prototype | 1950 | 4 flying + 1 static | 已退休 | Designed under Kurt Tank; cancelled |
| FMA IA 50 Guaraní II | 光运输 | 1963 | 3 + 32 | 已退休 | Retired 2007 |
| FMA IA 58 Pucará | Counter-insurgency and ground attack | 1969 | 110 | 在服役 | Falklands War; also used by Sri Lanka |
| FMA IA 63 Pampa | 喷气式教练机 | 1984 | 生产中 | Developed with Dornier; Pampa III built by FAdeA |
Where FMA (Fábrica Militar de Aviones) built, who led it, what it achieved
工厂
- Córdoba works · Córdoba — Site since 1927, now FAdeA
人们
- Juan Ignacio San Martín · military engineer, director of the Instituto Aerotécnico — FAdeA is named after him
- Émile Dewoitine · designer — Led the Pulqui I team
- Kurt Tank · designer — Ex-Focke-Wulf; led the Pulqui II
纪录和第一
- First jet fighter built in Latin America, Pulqui I, 1947
- Only confirmed Argentine air-to-air victory of the Falklands War, by two Pucarás, 28 May 1982
FMA (Fábrica Militar de Aviones), year by year
Fábrica Militar de Aviones founded in Córdoba
First aircraft, a licence Avro 504 Gosport, completed
Becomes the Instituto Aerotécnico
First flight of the Pulqui I
First flight of the Pulqui II
First flight of the Guaraní II
First flight of the Pucará
Pucarás shoot down a Royal Marines Scout at Goose Green
First flight of the IA 63 Pampa
Privatised as a concession to Lockheed Martin
Renationalised as FAdeA
Before and after FMA (Fábrica Militar de Aviones)
Everything people ask about FMA (Fábrica Militar de Aviones)
What was the first jet fighter in Latin America?
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Did Kurt Tank work in Argentina?
What is FMA called today?