Dominican Air Force
Fuerza Aérea de República Dominicana
Emblem of the Dominican Air Force Command
Founded15 February 1948 (1948-02-15)
Country Dominican Republic
TypeAir force
RoleAerial warfare
Size
  • 16,100 personnel[1]
  • 75 aircraft
Part ofDominican Armed Forces
Engagements
Websitewww.fard.mil.do
Commanders
Commander of the Air ForceAir Vice-Marshal Leonel Amilcar Muñoz Noboa
Notable
commanders		Frank Féliz Miranda
Insignia
Roundel
Fin flash

The Air Force of the Dominican Republic (Spanish: Fuerza Aérea de República Dominicana), is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic, together with the Army and the Navy.

History

At the end of the United States occupation of the Dominican Republic, which lasted from 1916 to 1924, General Horacio Vásquez was elected president. He began appropriating funds to expand the country's armed forces, as the military had been reduced to a police force during the US occupation. In 1928 the General consolidated the Dominican Army, and passed Law 904, which appropriated $125,000 for the purchase of aircraft for the army. The passage of decree 283 in 1932 by Dominican president General Leandro Ulloa led to the formation of El Arma de Aviación del Ejército Nacional as part of the Dominican Army. To achieve this, a group of engineers and cadets were sent to an aviation school located in La Habana to form the basis for the new air branch. Until 1942 only about a dozen aircraft were purchased.

The service was renamed Compaña de Aviación del Ejército Nacional on 26 October 1942. Whilst granting base facilities to the United States during World War II the Dominican Republic received limited quantities of Lend-Lease military equipment. In 1947 a group of Dominican Republic exiles from Cuba tried to invade the country. The government wanted to receive large quantities of bombers and fighters aircraft from the United States, but the government blocked these sales and prevented sales of the Canadian government to President Trujillo. But agents of the president managed to buy some Beaufighter and Mosquito aircraft from the United Kingdom. After signing the Rio Treaty 1947 the Dominican Republic received large quantities of aircraft, for example 25 P-47D fighter-bomber and 30 AT-6 trainers from the United States. With this influx of aircraft the Compañia de Aviación expanded and became an independent service on 15 January 1948, and was renamed Cuerpo de Aviación Militar Dominicana. It moved its headquarters to Base Aérea Presidente Trujillo, in the capital's suburb of San Isidro.

The Air Force underwent several name changes during the 1950s, being known as the Dominican Military Aviation during 1952-55 and 1957–62 and as the Dominican Air Force during 1955–57. In 1962 it again became known as the Dominican Air Force, the name is still in use today.

In 1952, 25 Vampires and 32 North American P-51D were bought from Sweden but similar purchases from Canada and Japan were again blocked by the United States. By 1956 the Dominican Air Force had about 240 aircraft. During the next years most of the post-war equipment was at the end of its useful life. After the assassination of President Trujillo in 1961 funds for the Air Force decreased and in 1963 the Air Force had only 110 aircraft.

During the next 15 years the number of aircraft in the Air Force declined again and only second-line material, such as training aircraft or helicopters, were acquired. In the early 1980s the Dominican Air Force had about 80 aircraft in five operational squadrons with most of the aircraft and helicopters operating out of San Isidro Air Base in Santo Domingo.

On 22 September 1998 Hurricane George struck San Isidro, the main air force base, and destroyed one hangar and severely damaged another, destroying the aircraft in both hangars. After this new aircraft entered service, including eight ENAER T-35 Pilláns delivered in November 1999-January 2000. During the same period three CASA 212-400 transport planes were ordered.

Air Bases

Equipment

The Dominican Air Force was offered 3 Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King helicopters by its U.S allies, but turned the offer down due to that it could not afford the maintenance. In 2007 the Dominican Air Force announced that it would purchase 8 Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano aircraft from Brazil. By the end of 2008 the purchase was approved with the first two aircraft were delivered in 2009. In January 2015 the president of the Anti-narcotics agency announced that a Tecnam MMA (Multi Mission Aircraft) would be acquired for maritime surveillance. The contract was signed in September 2015 by Tecnam and the DRAF, with the aircraft was delivered in early December 2016, making the Dominican Republic Air Force the first military user of this aircraft.

On May 11, 2020, the United States Department of Defense revealed that 10 ex-U.S. Navy T-34C Turbo Mentor would be supplied to the Dominican Republic Air Force. No timeline has yet been announced for when the Dominican Republic will receive the aircraft.[2]


Aircraft

A Dominican Air Force EMB 314 Super Tucano
Aircraft Origin Type Variant In service Notes
Combat Aircraft
EMB 314 Super Tucano Brazil light attack 8[3]
Maritime patrol
Tecnam MMA Italy surveillance P2006T 1[3]
Transport
CASA C-212 Spain utility / transport C-212-400E 3[3]
Piper PA-31 United States utility 2[3]
Piper PA-34 United States utility 1[3]
Cessna 208 United States utility 1[3]
Cessna 404 United States utility 1[3]
Beechcraft Baron United States utility 1[3]
Turbo Commander United States utility / VIP 690B 2[3]
Helicopters
Bell 430 United States utility / VIP 1[3] Presidential aircraft[4]
Bell UH-1 United States utility / SAR UH-1H 11[3]
AgustaWestland AW169 Italy utility 4 on order[5]
Bell OH-58 United States utility / liaison 20[3]
Trainer Aircraft
ENAER T-35 Chile trainer T-35B 2[3]
Flying Legend Tucano Replica Italy trainer 1[6] 10 on order. Locally assembled.
Sikorsky S-333 United States rotorcraft trainer 2[3]
Robinson R22 United States rotorcraft trainer 4[3]
Robinson R44 United States rotorcraft trainer 2[3]

Retired

Previous aircraft operated by the Air Force consisted of the P-51D Mustang, P-47D Thunderbolt, de Havilland Mosquito, de Havilland Vampire, PBY Catalina, Boeing B-17, A-37 Dragonfly, C-47, BT-13 Valiant, T-6 Texan, Alouette II / III, Sikorsky H-19, and the Hughes OH-6.[7][8]

References

  1. ↑ International Institute for Strategic Studies (15 February 2023). The Military Balance 2023. London: Routledge. p. 396. ISBN 9781032508955.
  2. ↑ "Dominican Republic Plans to Acquire ten ex-US Navy T-34Cs - Warnesy's World". Archived from the original on 15 August 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 "World Air Forces 2023". Flightglobal Insight. 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  4. ↑ "N4018G used by Fuerza Aerea Dominican". helis.com. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  5. ↑ "AW169s for the Dominican Republic". Scramble - Dutch Aviation Society. 17 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  6. ↑ "Dominican Tucano-Replica". Scramble - Dutch Aviation Society. 23 February 2023. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  7. ↑ "World Air Forces 1973 pg. 145". flightglobal.com. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  8. ↑ "World Air Forces 1955 pg. 623". flightglobal.com. Retrieved 21 March 2015.

Bibliography

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