2da Escuadrilla Aeronaval de Caza y Ataque

Second naval fighters strike squadron

2da Escuadrilla Aeronaval de Caza y Ataque
Active 1944-present
Country  Argentina
Branch Argentine Naval Aviation
Role Embarked fighters
Garrison/HQ Comandante Espora, Bahía Blanca
Battle honours Falklands (Malvinas)
Commanders
Notable
commanders		 Capitan de Fragata Jorge Colombo

The 2da Escuadrilla Aeronaval de Caza y Ataque (EA32) ( English: Second Naval Fighter/Strike squadron ) is the main strike unit of the Argentine Naval Aviation, the air branch of the Argentine Navy.

Seal

The insignia is nicknamed La Lora (female parrot) and was created in 1956 and inspired on US Navy fighter squadron VF-884/VF-144 Bitter Birds 's Jayhawk, a mythological hawk from the Kansas state, but painted green instead of blue.[1]

History

In 1944, both naval aviation existing Reconnaissance units are transformed in Attack Squadron receiving their Vought V-65F & V-142A but soon in 1945 the 2nd is changed again as a Bomber Squadron. The 2nd squadron is reestablished in 1949 as a Combat Squadron flying AT-6 Texan and finally took his current name on August 1956 when received Vought F4U-5 Corsair for use on the ARA Independencia aircraft carrier.

In 1980, the Naval Aviation decided to buy 14 Super Etendards, after the United States put an arms embargo in place —due to the Dirty War[2] — and refused to supply spare parts for their A-4Q Skyhawks. Argentine pilots used French flight trainers between November 1980 and August 1981 in France including operations from the Clemenceau aircraft carrier [3] but, although being all A-4Q veterans, they had received only 45 hours [4] of actual flight time in the new aircraft when in April 1982 the Falklands War (Spanish: Guerra de Malvinas) began.

Falklands War

A pair of Super Etendards in 1982; the squadron's five aircraft were used to carry the AM39 Exocet missile against the British Task Force

Five Super Étendards, or Sue (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈsu.e]) as they are called, and five Exocets missiles were already shipped to Argentina in November 1981, when a new arms embargo prevented the delivery of further units. More problematic was the fact that the French technicians working at Bahía Blanca on the integration of the Exocet into the Super Etendard received orders to leave the country as well. Nevertheless, the Squadron managed to complete the work [5] and, the ARA 25 de Mayo not being modified to allow them operate embarked yet, they were deployed south to the naval air base at Rio Grande, Tierra del Fuego. One aircraft -SUE serial number 3-A-201- was dismantled to be cannibalized for spare parts use while the rest used aerial refuelling from KC-130 Hercules tankers of the Argentine Air Force to perform the following missions (Showing aircraft used):

May 2 Cpt Colombo and Lt Machetanz
May 4 Cpt Bedacarratz and Lt Mayora (3-A-202 & 3-A-203) sank HMS Sheffield. Two Exocet fired.
May 15 The retirement of the last of the maritime patrol SP-2H Neptunes due airframe attrition affected the Squadron reconnaissance support.
May 23 Cpt Agotegaray and Lt Mariani did not find targets at the designated location.
May 25 Cpt Currilovic and Lt Barraza (3-A-203 & 3-A-204) sank MV Atlantic Conveyor. Two Exocet fired.
May 30 Cpt Francisco and Lt Collavino (3-A-202 & 3-A-205) joined by four jets from Air Force A-4C Skyhawk of Grupo IV in an attempt to strike HMS Invincible. Two of the Skyhawk were shot down by Sea Dart missiles from HMS Exeter during the final approach, and while they were following the wake of the last AM 39 Exocet missile available and fired from one of the both SUE (Collavino).

Present

USS Ronald Reagan on 2004

Once the conflict was over, the rest of the Super Etendards shipment was delivered and the Squadron performed qualifications on aircraft carrier ARA 25 de Mayo Video. After the retirement of their last carrier, Argentine cooperation with the Brazilian Navy has meant that the naval air wing has continued to operate from the deck of carrier NAe São Paulo during ARAEX exercises video and/or touch-and-go landings on US Navy carriers when they are in transit within Argentine coastal waters during Gringo-Gaucho manoeuvres video Super Etendard 3-A-203 was lost in a deadly crash on 29 May 1996 while attempting to land on Punta Indio airstrip.[6]

On March 2010, during USS Carl Vinson transit around South America, the squadron performed Gringo-Gaucho / Southern Seas 2010 manoeuvers with the US Navy's aircraft carrier [7][8]

As of 2010, the Squadron is still using Super Étendards [9] and French cooperation to upgrade the aircraft was announced.[10][11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Agrupación de Modelismo Zona Oeste
  2. ↑ backing the Humphrey-Kennedy amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act of 1976, the Carter administration placed an embargo on the sale of arms and spare parts to Argentina and on the training of its military personnel
  3. ↑ Villarino, Horacio: Exocet ISBN 950-10-0116-4 (Spanish)
  4. ↑ USMC: Offensive Air Operations of The Falklands War
  5. ↑ Villarino, Horacio: Exocet ISBN 950-10-0116-4 (Spanish)
  6. ↑ El 3-A-203 un cazabombardero que hizo historia en la guerra, La Nación newspaper. Accessed on 23 March 2010 (Spanish)
  7. ↑ Argentina-United States in joint exercise
  8. ↑ Carl Vinson Unites with Argentina for Southern Seas 2010
  9. ↑ ARA site
  10. ↑ MinDef news: Francia cooperará en la modernización de aviones navales de ataque Super Etendard
  11. ↑ "L'Argentine pourrait reprendre les Super Etendard français"("Argentina could take over the French Super Étendards"), retrieved 2010-03-02

External links

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