Salvadoran Air Force

History

Early history

The Salvadoran Air Fleet (Flotilla Aérea Salvadoreña, abbreviated FAS) was established on 20 March 1923 by Salvadoran president Alfonso Quiñónez Molina twenty days after assuming office. He established the Military Aviation Course on 27 June 1923 with Italian pilot Enrico Massi as its flight instructor. Massi was killed later that year when the Caudron G.3 he was in crashed in Ilopango while teaching Juan Ramón Munés. On 19 February 1924, the Salvadoran government created the Salvadoran Aviation Headquarters and appointed General Carlos Carmona Tadey as Chief of Salvadoran Aviation.

On 12 July 1924, Munés and Ricardo Aberle graduated from the Military Aviation School as El Salvador's first military pilots. In 1927, the air fleet consisted of fifteen aircraft; fourteen were named after El Salvador's fourteen departments and its sole Breguet 14 bomber was named after former president Gerardo Barrios. Carmona resigned as the air fleet's chief on 7 December 1927 after a failed coup and was replaced by General Antonio Claramount Lucero.

Military dictatorship

On 8 December 1931, Munés became the chief of the air fleet six days after the 1931 coup d'état that established a military dictatorship. In January 1932, air fleet helped suppress a rebellion in western El Salvador by conducting reconnaissance missing and bombing runs of rebel positions. President General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez bought several new aircraft for the air fleet including Curtiss-Wright CW-14 Osprey trainers, Fairchild M-62 trainers, and four Caproni AP.1 bombers. During World War II, the air fleet patrolled El Salvador's coastline. The air fleet supported the 2 April 1944 Palm Sunday Coup that attempted to overthrow Martínez. North American AT-6 Texan bombers attacked loyalist positions in San Salvador but the coup failed and many pilots were executed.

El Salvador signed the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance in 1947 and the air force acquired American aircraft. During the 1950s, the air force used two Douglas C-47 Skytrains as the presidential transporters.

The Salvadoran Air Force first saw action in the 1969 Football War against Honduras equipped with F4U Corsairs and P-51 Mustangs. The Salvadoran Air Force attacked Honduran Air Force positions early, but the Honduran Air Force eventually retaliated and destroyed much of the Salvadoran Air Force. After the war, the Salvadoran Air Force acquired newer aircraft. After the 1972 presidential election, Colonel Benjamín Mejía attempted to overthrow the Salvadoran government in support of José Napoleón Duarte, the election's loser. The air force remained loyal to the government and bombed rebel positions in San Salvador. The coup ultimately failed.

Salvadoran Civil War

The Salvadoran Air Force acquired its first jet aircraft in 1974 when it acquired the Fouga CM.170 Magister. From the late 1970s, isolated guerrilla actions rapidly developed into a civil war. US aid to El Salvador in 1980 consisted of six UH-1Hs and four in 1981; they were used as gunships. Other deliveries brought that number of UH-1Hs in service up to 40. In January 1982, the rebel Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) launched an attack of the Ilopango International Airport. Minister of Defense General José Guillermo García described the attack as a "terrorist attack". Following the attack, the United States sent the Salvadoran government $55 million and new Bell UH-1H helicopters. During the civil war, the air force did not bomb targets indiscriminately.

On 23 October 1984, the FMLN bombed a FAS UH-1H in Joateca killing all fourteen people onboard including Colonel Domingo Monterrosa. The bombing occurred when the FMLN booby trapped a radio transmitter disguised as the primary transmitter for the FMLN's Radio Venceremos. The FMLN coaxed Monterrosa into capturing the rigged transmitter and claiming it as a war trophy leading to the bomb inside detonating after takeoff.

A FAS Douglas DC-6B transporter crashed after departing Ilopango International Airport on 1 May 1986. The accident killed all 37 military personnel onboard. The Salvadoran government did not rule out sabotage, but the FMLN never claimed responsibility for the crash.

A four-engined Douglas DC-6B provided long-range logistical capability between 1975 and its retirement in 1998. It was used on supply flights to and from the United States. In December 1984, two AC-47s were delivered to be in service with the other three C-47s in use. The civil war ended in mutual exhaustion in 1990 and the Air Force was geared for internal security. The air force support demining operations conducted by the Belgian company IDAS after the civil war.

Post-civil war

On 6 May 2013, in celebration of the 189th anniversary of the Armed Forces of El Salvador, the Salvadoran government announced the planned purchase of 10 A-37 aircraft from Chile.

In September 2016 it was reported that the Salvadoran Air Force in cooperation with the Colombian Aerospace Force was finalizing negotiations on modernizing its Bell UH-1H helicopters to the Huey 2 standard.

In 2023, the United States donated twelve MD Helicopters MD 530Fs to the Salvadoran Air Force. On 8 September 2024, an air force Bell UH-1H crashed in poor weather near Pasaquina killing all nine people onboard including Mauricio Arriaza Chicas, the chief of the National Civil Police, and Manuel Coto, a former bank manager. In 2025, air force personnel were deployed to Haiti as part of the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti to combat organized gangs there.

Structure

Per article 157 of the constitution of El Salvador, the president of El Salvador is the commander-in-chief of the air force. The air force is administered by the Joint General Staff and is overseen by the minister of national defense.

Aircraft

Current inventory

The following is a list of all aircraft in the Salvadoran Air Force's inventory .

Notes:

Retired aircraft

The following are some aircraft that the Salvadoran Air Force formerly operated.

List of commanders

The following is a list of commanders of the Salvadoran Air Force.

References

Bibliography

• Eastwood A.B. and Roach J.R., Piston Engined Airliner Production List, 2007, The Aviation Hobby Shop
• World Aircraft information files Brightstar publishing London File 342 sheet 2

References

1. (25 February 2021). "The Military Balance 2021". [[Routledge]].
2. "Historia de la Aviación de El Salvador". Salvadoran Air Force.
3. (1976). "The Martinez Era: Salvadoran–American Relations, 1931–1944". [[Louisiana State University]].
4. (1990). "El Salvador: A Country Study". [[Federal Research Division]].
5. "Fechas Importantes y Efemerides". Salvadoran Air Force.
6. (27 January 1982). "Rebels Damage Jets, Copters In El Salvador". [[The Washington Post]].
7. (6 February 1982). "U.S. Starts Replacing Salvadoran Copters Destroyed in Rebel Attack". [[The New York Times]].
8. (1995). "Review: Politics and Publishing in Transition in El Salvador". [[Latin American Studies Association]].
9. (23 October 2023). "Un Día Como Hoy, Pero en 1984, Murió Domingo Monterrosa". [[El Diario de Hoy]].
10. (2 May 1986). "37 Die in Salvador Plane Crash". [[The New York Times]].
11. (2 May 1986). "Military Does Not Rule Out Rebel Sabotage in Plane Crash Killing 37". [[United Press International]].
12. Eastwood, 2007, p. 298
13. "elsalvador.com, La Fuerza Armada celebra hoy 189 a os".
14. (12 September 2016). "El Salvador to modernise its UH-1Hs to Huey 2s".
15. (31 August 2021). "USA Donates 12 MD530F Helicopters to the Salvadoran Air Force". Air Recognition.
16. (9 September 2024). "FAES Confirma Muerte de Director de la PNC y Todos los Tripulantes en Helicóptero Estrellado". [[El Mundo (El Salvador).
17. (2025-02-04). "Soldiers from El Salvador join UN-backed mission in Haiti to combat gang violence".
18. (2024). "World Air Forces 2025". [[FlightGlobal]].
19. (28 November 2025). "United States Transfers Helicopters to El Salvador in Support of Security Mission in Haiti". [[Embassy of the United States, San Salvador]].
20. "Esquemas". Salvadoran Air Force.
21. (1998). "The Air War in El Salvador". [[Defense Technical Information Center]].
22. (1994). "World Air Forces 1994". [[Flight Global]].
23. "Nomina de Jefes de la Fuerza Aeréa Salvadoreña". Salvadoran Air Force.