1983: two Defenders in the shadow of the Harriers

Belize became independent in 1981 with a neighbour, Guatemala, that claimed much of its territory, and with British forces still on its soil to deter it. The Belize Defence Force had been formed in 1978; its Air Wing followed in 1983. According to Wikipedia, the first aircraft were two Britten-Norman Defenders bought from Britain, BDF-01 and BDF-02, which ‘formed the backbone of the air wing for years’ and were the first armed aircraft in Belizean history, with hardpoints under the wings. The roles Wikipedia lists have changed little since: reconnaissance, search and rescue, casualty evacuation, counter-insurgency, aerial resupply and troop transport, and support to the police against drug trafficking and smuggling. No exact founding day or first commander is given in the sources reached, and the BDF website could not be consulted.

The British umbrella: Harriers, Pumas and Airport Camp

For its first decade the Air Wing was the junior partner on its own airfield. RAF Belize was the headquarters of all Royal Air Force units in British Forces Belize from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s. Harrier detachments were sent in 1975–76 and from 1977 to 1981, and No. 1417 Flight flew Harrier GR.3s from 1981 to 1993; No. 1563 Flight flew Puma HC.1 helicopters from 1981, and the Army Air Corps flew Sioux, Scouts, Lynx and Gazelles. Their home was Airport Camp beside what is now Philip S. W. Goldson International Airport, which a US Air Force general called in 1984 ‘the best defended airfield in Central America’, according to Wikipedia. RAF Belize was folded into the British Army garrison in the mid-1990s.

Crop-dusters, confiscations and crashes

The fleet that the BDF has built since is small and opportunistic. Wikipedia lists two or three Ayres Thrush agricultural aircraft from 1988, used for counter-insurgency and crop-dusting before being stored, a Dornier Do 27 from 1987 to 1990, a King Air from 2004 to 2006 and a Slingsby Firefly trainer. Several aircraft came from the drug trade: a Piper Seneca confiscated in October 2015 became BDF-07, and a Bell 407 also came to the wing after being seized. Taiwan donated Bell UH-1H helicopters in 2015 and 2016. The Defenders paid the price of hard use: BDF-01 crashed near Orange Walk on 19 October 1998 and could not be repaired, and BDF-05 came down in a coastal marsh on 3 April 2007 without fatalities.

27 February 2020: the UH-1H lost at Gales Point

The worst day in the Air Wing’s history came in the early hours of 27 February 2020. A UH-1H helicopter was sent before dawn to help intercept a jet suspected of carrying two tons of cocaine and crashed in the Western Lagoon near Gales Point, Manatee. Major Adrian Ramirez, Major Bradford Baizer, Corporal Yassir Mendez and Corporal Reynaldo Choco were killed. Five years later Breaking Belize News reported that the helicopter had no night-vision equipment, that the pilots had no night-vision goggles, that there was no flight data recorder and no distress call, and that the BDF learned the aircraft was missing only when families raised the alarm. Wikipedia dates the crash to 28 February 2020 and identifies the helicopter as BDF-12; no final investigation report has been published in the sources reached.

2023–2026: a Caravan, a first woman pilot and a claim at The Hague

Since 2023 there have been modest gains. A Cessna Grand Caravan EX donated by the United States arrived on 22 February 2023 and was handed over on 1 March in the presence of Prime Minister John Briceño and Ambassador Michelle Kwan. On 3 September 2024 Second Lieutenant Julia Puerto became the BDF’s first woman pilot. Wikipedia’s fleet table now has seven aircraft, one of each type, though its infobox says six. The border question has moved to The Hague: Guatemala and Belize agreed in 2008 to submit Guatemala’s claim to the International Court of Justice, which was seised on 12 June 2019 and has not yet given judgment. In September 2026 Belize accused a Guatemalan PC-12 of a 71-minute incursion into its airspace; Guatemala told the UN it ‘never occurred’.

現在の保有車両と発注状況

ベル, ブリテン＝ノーマン, セスナ, パイパー

旧艦隊

エアーズ, ビーチクラフト, ドルニエ, スリングスビー