Every war the Mexican Air Force has fought
Most of the Mexican Air Force’s wars have been fought at home, against rebels and, since 2006, in support of the army against drug-trafficking organisations. Escuadrón 201’s record is given as the sources give it: 59 or 96 missions, and five pilots killed whose causes are contested. The use of armed PC-7s against the Zapatistas in Chiapas in 1994 rests on Wikipedia’s account, which says the Swiss government regarded it as a breach of the training-only terms of sale; no official Mexican or EZLN account of the air operations was found. Eradication and interception figures in the cartel war are the government’s own claims, and the 2015 loss of an EC725 is given with six or nine killed, as reports differ. 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 revolution of 1913 to the war against the cartels.
| Conflito | Anos | Contra | Aeronave principal | Missões | Aeronave perdida | |
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| The Mexican Revolutionthe first air war in the AmericasAuxiliary Aerial Militia Squadron (federal) and Constitutionalist aviation, then the Arma de Aviación Militar | 1913–1920 | Federal army of Victoriano Huerta and later rival revolutionary factions | Martin pusher "Sonora", Early TNCA and imported types | |||
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Reconnaissance, leaflet-dropping and improvised bombing, on both sides of the civil war. Both sides of Mexico’s civil war tried aircraft within months of each other. The Huerta government created an Auxiliary Aerial Militia Squadron in April 1913. In Sonora the Constitutionalists hired the French-born Didier Masson, who flew a Martin pusher called the Sonora; on 10 May 1913 he and Joaquín Bauche Alcalde dropped improvised bombs with about 15 kg of explosive on federal gunboats at Guaymas. They missed, but the gunboats left the harbour. Masson quit in August 1913, unpaid and unwilling to bomb cities. On 9 April 1914 Gustavo Salinas attacked a ship at sea, an action Wikipedia credits as the first of its kind; Wikipedia also notes that Masson was preceded in attacking ships from the air by the Greek aviator Aristeidis Moraitinis. Resultado The Constitutionalists won; Carranza turned their aviation into the Arma de Aviación Militar on 5 February 1915. Accounts of who flew first and what was hit differ between sources; the 1914 attack is described here only as Wikipedia describes it.
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| The de la Huerta rebellionthe delahuertista risingFuerza Aérea Mexicana (Arma de Aviación Militar) | 1923–1924 | Rebel forces of Adolfo de la Huerta | DH-4B | |||
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Reconnaissance and bombing for the Obregón government. When a large part of the army followed Adolfo de la Huerta into rebellion on 7 December 1923, the United States agreed to sell the government new DH-4B aircraft with Liberty engines, armed with Lewis and Vickers machine guns and able to carry bombs. Wikipedia credits the air arm with a share in suppressing the revolt by February 1924. It was the first time the young service had been decisive, and it set the pattern for the next fifteen years: an air force used against Mexicans, with aircraft bought in a hurry from the United States. Resultado The rebellion, launched on 7 December 1923, was suppressed by February 1924, partly through government air superiority according to Wikipedia. |
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| The Yaqui campaignSonora 1926–27Fuerza Aérea Mexicana | 1926–1927 | Yaqui insurgents | ||||
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Air support for the army against the Yaqui people, who demanded by force that earlier land treaties be honoured. Wikipedia lists the Yaqui war of 1926–27 among the internal campaigns in which the air force took part, describing it as a territorial conflict in which the Yaqui of Sonora demanded by force that previous treaties be implemented. Details of air operations, aircraft and casualties could not be confirmed and are not given here. Resultado The conflict ended in 1927. Thinly sourced: only the dates and the air force’s participation are confirmed.
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| The Cristero Warthe CristiadaFuerza Aérea Mexicana | 1926–1929 | Cristero rebels | ||||
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Reconnaissance and air support for the federal army against Catholic rebels. The Cristero War was fought between the federal government and Catholic rebels who rose against the anti-clerical laws of President Plutarco Elías Calles. The air force flew for the government throughout; Wikipedia’s article on the war also records that in at least one battle American pilots provided air support for the federal army. The war is remembered in Mexico for its civilian toll, and the air force’s part in it, like much of the war, remains poorly documented in the sources available. Resultado The war ended with the 1929 settlement between the government and the Church. The air force’s aircraft and operations in this war could not be confirmed in detail.
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| The Escobar rebellionthe Plan de Hermosillo risingFuerza Aérea Mexicana | 1929 | Rebel forces of General José Gonzalo Escobar | O2U-2M Corsair, Douglas O-2M, Stearman C3Be mais 1 | |||
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Bombing and reconnaissance for the government against rebel army units. On 3 March 1929 General José Gonzalo Escobar led a serious military revolt in the north. The government bought from the United States twelve new O2U-2M Corsairs with 400 hp Wasp engines, nine Douglas O-2Ms, four Stearman C3Bs and six Waco Taper Wings, and the decisive battle was fought at Jiménez, Chihuahua, in late March. The Corsairs were the start of a long relationship: Mexico licence-built 31 more as the Corsario Azcárate. Resultado Escobar was defeated at Jiménez, Chihuahua, in late March 1929; about 6,000 prisoners were taken according to Wikipedia. Rebel use of aircraft and the air force’s losses were not confirmed. |
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| The Cedillo rebellionSan Luis Potosí, 1938Fuerza Aérea Mexicana | 1938 | Forces of General Saturnino Cedillo | V-99M Corsair, mixed types | |||
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Air support against the revolt of Governor Saturnino Cedillo. In May 1938 the governor of San Luis Potosí, General Saturnino Cedillo, declared himself in rebellion against President Lázaro Cárdenas. Wikipedia records that the air force deployed a mixed fleet of 17 aircraft, including some new V-99M Corsairs, against him. Resultado The revolt was put down; it was the last armed rebellion of the post-revolutionary era. |
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| The Second World War: Escuadrón 201 in the Philippinesthe Aztec EaglesMexican Expeditionary Air Force (Fuerza Aérea Expedicionaria Mexicana), Escuadrón 201 | 1942–1945 | Japão | P-47D Thunderbolt | 791 | ||
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Fighter-bomber close support and sweeps with the 58th Fighter Group, US Fifth Air Force. U-boats sank the Mexican tankers Potrero del Llano on 13 May 1942 and Faja de Oro on 20 May, and on 22 May President Manuel Ávila Camacho asked Congress for a state of war. In July 1944 a group of about 300 airmen was formed and trained in the United States, finishing at Majors Field, Greenville, Texas; the Senate authorised its deployment on 29 December 1944. Under Colonel Antonio Cárdenas Rodríguez, with Captain Radamés Gaxiola Andrade leading Escuadrón 201, the unit sailed from San Francisco on the Fairisle on 27 March 1945 and reached Manila on 30 April. Flying 25 P-47Ds from Porac, near Clark Field, it began combat flying in early June 1945 — on 1 or 4 June depending on the source — supporting American and Filipino troops on Luzon, sweeping Formosa in July and bombing Karenko on 8 August. Its pilots wore the name "Aztec Eagles", which the air force’s display team now carries. Resultado The squadron returned to a victory parade in Mexico City on 18 November 1945. It remains the only Mexican unit ever to fight overseas; the Philippines awarded it the Legion of Honour in 2004. Mission counts (59 or 96) and the circumstances of the five pilot deaths differ between sources; both are given. No Mexican Gulf of Mexico anti-submarine claims are included because none could be confirmed.
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| The Zapatista rising in ChiapasOperation Arco IrisFuerza Aérea Mexicana | 1994–1998 | Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) | Bell 212, MD 530F/MG, UH-60Le mais 1 | |||
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Troop lift, reconnaissance and armed support for the army against the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN). The EZLN seized towns in Chiapas on 1 January 1994, the day NAFTA came into force. The air force sent almost every available helicopter — up to 40 at first, from the 214th and 215th Special Operations Squadrons with Bell 212s and MD 530Fs. By December 1994 it had bought twelve armed MD 530MG Defenders and four UH-60L Black Hawks for a new 216th Special Operations Squadron, used in Operation Arco Iris to retake towns held by the rebels. Wikipedia’s PC-7 article states that armed PC-7s attacked Zapatista units, which the Swiss government regarded as illegal because the aircraft had been sold for training, and that Switzerland then stopped sales to Mexico. The Mexican government’s own account of the air strikes was not found in the sources checked. Resultado A ceasefire was declared on 12 January 1994; the air force kept a helicopter force in Chiapas for years afterwards. Claims about air attacks rest on Wikipedia’s secondary accounts; no official Mexican or EZLN figures for air operations were found.
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| Counter-narcotics operations and the war against the cartelsthe Mexican drug warFuerza Aérea Mexicana | 2006–presente | Drug-trafficking organisations, including the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación | Bell 407GX, Bell 206, UH-60Me mais 5 | 3,166 | ||
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Drug-crop eradication, troop transport, reconnaissance, airspace interception and support to army operations. Mexico’s armed forces have been deployed against the cartels since December 2006, and the air force’s part has been the unglamorous one: spraying poppy and marijuana fields from Bell 407GXs escorted by Bell 206s, flying troops and police into the mountains, and tracking drug flights from the south. Its most serious loss came on 1 May 2015, at the start of Operation Jalisco against the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación, when an EC725 Cougar was hit in the tail rotor by a rocket-propelled grenade near Villa Purificación and forced down. On 22 February 2026 the cartel’s leader, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, was mortally wounded in a military operation at Tapalpa, Jalisco, with US intelligence support according to Wikipedia; the air force’s role in that operation was not published. Cenavi, which coordinates with 12 countries, says the interceptor force — F-5s, King Airs, EMB 145s, T-6Cs and helicopters — deterred 86 per cent of illicit flights between 2018 and 2024. Resultado Ongoing. Cenavi reports an 86 per cent fall in illicit flights between 2018 and 2024. Casualty figures for 2015 differ (six or nine killed). Government statistics on eradication and interceptions are official claims; no independent figure was found.
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Nada corresponde a essa pesquisa.
Cada número, verificado
- Infodefensa: México inaugura la Base Aérea Militar N.º 20 (11 February 2025)BAM 20 Tulum opened 10 February 2025; personnel 10,538; 209 aircraft, 117 helicopters, 7 drones; 2024 operations; Águilas Aztecas.
- Infodefensa: La Fuerza Aérea Mexicana realiza 3.166 operaciones de aspersión (19 January 2025)3,166 spraying operations, September 2023 to July 2024; aircraft used.
- Infodefensa: Blindaje del espacio aéreo mexicano redujo 86% los vuelos ilícitos (2025)Cenavi: 106 personnel; aircraft used; 86 per cent fall 2018–2024.
Dados verificados em 01/10/2026. Back to the Mexican Air Force.