Argentine Air Force: 5th Fighter Group at Villa Reynolds AFB

Argentine Air Force 5th Fighter Group

Loyalty Argentine Republic
Branch Air Force
Especialty Fighterbombing
Part of Two fighter and service squadrons
Equipment
A-4AR Fightinghawk
Cessna 182
Aero Commander 500U





The 5th Fighter Group of the Argentine Air Force is the unit that operates the aircraft of the Vth Air Brigade, located in the town of Villa Reynolds (province of San Luis). Both in its activity in the brigade and in deployments, the material of this unit is assisted by Technical Group 5 for its operation. Major inspections of its aircraft are carried out in the Río Cuarto Material Area.

Origin

It was created in 1975 based on the previous Fighter-bomber Group 4, in force since 1967. In those years its equipment was the A-4P Skyhawk weapons system (locally called A-4B).

Operational history

1970 Decade

In its first years, six A-4Bs formed the Blue Falcons aerobatic squadron for their aerial demonstrations.

During Operation Independence, in 1975, these planes carried out isolated attacks on guerrilla positions in the mountains of Tucumán.

Malvinas War

During the South Atlantic conflict, and within the framework of the so-called Southern Air Force, the 5th Fighter Group deployed 24 A-4Bs in Río Gallegos. On May 1, they mistakenly attacked the Argentine merchant ship ELMA Formosa. On 12 May, a squadron of Group 5 suffered the loss of three aircraft during an attack on the destroyer HMS Glasgow (D88), two of them shot down by Sea Wolf missiles from the frigate HMS Brilliant (F90) and the third crashing into the sea ​​while evading a missile (those who died were First Lieutenant Oscar Bustos and Lieutenants Jorge Ibarlucea and Mario Nivoli). A second wave on HMS Glasgow managed to damage it with bombs, without them exploding, after this action Lieutenant Gavazzi's A-4B was shot down by friendly fire in Goose Green.


The bulk of the fighting in which the unit was involved took place in the San Carlos Strait. On May 21, the unit commanded by Captain Pablo Carballo damaged the frigate HMS Ardent (F184), that day another five aircraft seriously damaged the frigate HMS Argonaut (F56). On the 23rd of that month, a major attack on the English fleet destroyed the frigate HMS Antelope (F170), with the loss of the unit under the command of First Lieutenant Luciano Guadagnini, who died in that combat. On May 25, Captain Hugo Angel del Valle Palaver's A-4B was shot down at Pebble Island by a Sea Dart missile from HMS Coventry (D118), killing the pilot. Hours after that confrontation, the same British destroyer was hit by bombs from Argentine Skyhawks, sinking in a short time.


The third (left) is Captain Carballo

Already in the final days of the actions, the A-4B stood out in the attack on the logistics ships RFA Sir Galahad (L3005) and RFA Sir Tristram (L3505), which were sunk along with a large amount of the war material in their cargo.



A total of 10 Skyhawks of Fighter Group 5 were lost during the conflict.

Post-war

The unit received the A-4Cs from the 4th Fighter Group, bringing together all the A-4 material of the Air Force in the Vth Air Brigade. The planes were subjected to the Halcón program, with which they replaced their 20 mm Mk.12 cannons with 30 mm Defa ones, while new weapons such as the Durandal anti-runway bombs were approved and the operation of the Shafrir-2 missiles continued. although the Matra R.550 Magic missile was evaluated on an A-4C.

In December 1990, some A-4Bs were seen flying over barracks taken during the last Carapintadas uprising, in the area of ​​the City of Buenos Aires and Villa Martelli, armed with rockets.


OA-4AR in inventory

In the mid-90s, it was decided to replace the A-4B and C with the incorporation of American A-4Ms, which were subjected to an important modernization process, resulting in the A-4AR Fightinghawk, achieving a leap technological 25 years.

In 1998 the A-4AR had their first great challenge with the combined exercise Águila, carried out in the V Brigade, repeating this activity in 2001.

In 2002 they participated in the Verification exercise along with all FAA brigades. The combined Cruzex exercise had them as protagonists for the first time in 2004. Another notable exercise was the Ceibo of 2005.

That same year they provided air security, through a no-fly zone around Mar del Plata, to the IV Summit of the Americas, operating from Tandil. In 2006 they were part of the security operation at the Mercosur summit held in Córdoba, after which they participated in the Cruzex exercise.


A-4AR (2010)

In 2008 they were in charge of security for the Mercosur summit held in San Miguel de Tucumán. During 2009 they provided air security to the Unasur summit held in San Carlos de Bariloche, after which they were deployed to Antofagasta for the combined Salitre exercise.

2010 Decade

The unit began this decade without planning major changes for the future, having one of the latest weapons systems incorporated by the force and the best combat element available. Meanwhile, participation in joint exercises is constant, carrying out deployments in various parts of the country. A problem to highlight was the non-participation in the combined Cruzex exercise of 2010 due to delays in the sanction of the law that authorized it by the Congress of the Argentine Nation.



In 2010, its planes integrated the aerial security deployment at the XXXIX Mercosur Summit held in San Juan, and later did so at the XX Ibero-American Summit organized in Mar del Plata. A new Mercosur summit, held in Mendoza in 2012, had the support of the A-4AR.

Since mid-2011, deployments have been made to Northern Argentina, within the framework of Operation Fortín to control irregular flights and fight against drug trafficking, usually operating for periods of one month from Santiago del Estero.



Wikipedia