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Fábrica Argentina de Aviones

Fábrica Argentina de Aviones

Argentine state-owned aircraft manufacturer

31°26′35.6″S 64°16′20.9″W

Quick Facts Formerly, Company type ...

The Fábrica Argentina de Aviones SA (FAdeA), officially Fábrica Argentina de Aviones "Brigadier San Martín" S.A., is Argentina's main aircraft manufacturer. Founded on 10 October 1927 and located in Córdoba, for most of its existence it was known as Fábrica Militar de Aviones (FMA), until its privatization in the 1990s to Lockheed Martin. In 2009 the concession ended and the company is now wholly owned by the Argentine government.

History

1930s view of the FMA workshop
Late 1940s view of the FMA/IAe "Hangar 90" production line: I.Ae.22 DL (back) and I.Ae.24 Calquín (front)
1960s view of the production line: Morane Saulnier 760

Formed on 10 October 1927 and on 18 July 1928 ends the construction and testing begins on the track the first domestically produced aircraft: the license built Avro 504 Gosport training aircraft equipped with a 100 hp (75 kW) Gnome engine. It had a speed of 140 km/h with a flying endurance of 2 hours. A series of indigenous and foreign designs followed, mostly for military use.

The factory is known for producing the first jet fighter aircraft in Latin America: the Pulqui I (1947) and the Pulqui II (1950) under the direction of engineers Emile Dewoitine (French) and Kurt Tank (German) respectively.

In the 1960s produced the Guarani light transport and the Pucara COIN aircraft, followed by the Pampa jet trainer in the 1980s; the last two still in service with the Argentine Air Force as of early 2016.

Privatization (1995)

In 1995, FMA was privatized by the government of Carlos Menem and from that year until March 2009 it operated as a concession to LAASA (Lockheed Aircraft Argentina SA, a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation). Under the terms of the privatization agreement LAASA would operate it for 25 years, which could be renewed for two 10 year periods.

During this period the activity was mostly focused in maintenance and upgrades of existing aircraft in service with the Argentine Air Force.

Nationalization (2010)

During the government of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner the factory was nationalized in August 2009, with compensation of ARS $67 million paid. The text of the expropriation law provides that "the State cannot divest itself of majority shareholdings or the power to make decisions at the factory."[3][4]

It was renamed after Argentine Air Force Brigadier es:Juan Ignacio San Martín a military engineer who laid the foundations of the aeronautics industry at Córdoba when he directed the Instituto Aerotécnico, the forerunner of the FMA, in the 1940s.

The United States Department of State announced that effective 18 December 2009, Lockheed Martin Aircraft Argentina would be renamed to Fábrica Argentina de Aviones "Brigadier San Martin" S.A. and divested to the Government of Argentina.[5]

Aircraft design and production

AeMB.2 Bombi bombers in flight
Pulqui I prototype in flight (c.1951)
I.Ae. 33 Pulqui II
DINFIA IA 35 Huanquero, utility aircraft designed in the early 1950s
Prototype IA 38 Naranjero under construction, early 1960s
IA 46 ‘’Super Ranquel’’ at San Justo airfield (Buenos Aires), April 1975
I.A. 50 Guarani II
I.A. 58 Pucará
I.A. 63 Pampa II

The FMA has produced innovative aircraft prototypes, but the state of the Argentine economy has usually prevented most of them from entering large-scale production. Nevertheless the FMA has managed to put several aircraft types of more conventional designs into full productions. It also engaged in production of licensed aircraft from other countries.

The prefixes used for the aircraft locally developed (and produced) are:

  • Ae, for "Dirección General de Aerotécnica", on the first period (1927–1936);
  • F.M.A., for "Fábrica Militar de Aviones", on the second period (1938–1943);
  • I.Ae., for "Instituto Aerotécnico", on the third period (1943–1952);
  • IA, for "Instituto Aerotécnico", on the fourth (current) period (1952 to present).

List of aircraft manufactured, projected, or upgraded

More information Year, Model ...

Local designs

  • Prototype AeC.1 (1931)
  • AeC.2 (1932)
  • AeT.1 (1933)
  • AeMOe.1
  • AeMS.1 prototype
  • FMA 20 El Boyero (1940)
  • Prototype FMA 21 trainer (1943)
  • I.Ae. 22 DL advanced trainer (1944)
  • I.Ae. 23 trainer prototype, based on the FW-44J Stieglitz (1944)
  • I.Ae. 24 Calquin attack aircraft, c.1950
  • Prototype I.Ae. 25 Mañque glider (1945)
  • I.Ae. 30 Ñancú (1948)
  • IAe.31 Colibrí (1947)
  • I.Ae.32 Chingolo (1949)
  • I.Ae.33 Pulqui II prototype 5 (1959), preserved, Tecnópolis show, 2012
  • I.Ae. 34 Clen Antú, tailless glider designed by Reimar Horten, late 1940s
  • Model I.A. 36 Cóndor, airliner designed by Kurt Tank, early 1950s
  • FMA I.Ae. 37 fighter prototype (1953)
  • IAe.41 Urubú flying wing glider (1953)
  • IA 45 Querandi light transport prototype (1957)
  • IA 50 Guaraní I (1962)
  • Prototype Guarani II, 1965 Paris Air Salon
  • IA 53 Mamboretá agricultural aircraft prototype (mid-1960s)
  • IA-59, prototype Unmanned aerial vehicle, early 1970s
  • FMA IA 63 Pampa, Paris Air Show, 1991
  • CBA 123 / IA 70 prototype, Farnborough 1990
  • FAdeA I.A. 73 Unasur I mock-up
  • FAdeA I.A. 100, August 2016

Manufactured under license

  • Dewotine D.21
  • Curtiss Hawk 75O
  • FW-44J Stieglitz
  • Morane-Saulnier MS-760 Paris, Mendoza, 2005

Engines

  • I.Ae. R-16 El Gaucho
  • I.Ae. R-19 El Indio

See also

Other aircraft manufacturers in Argentina

References

Notes

  1. [1]
    Historia on FADEA website
  2. [2]
    "FAdeA AUTORIDADES". Archived from the original on 20 December 2014. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
  3. [3]
    Back at the hands of the state
  4. [4]
    (in Spanish)Ministerio de Defensa - República Argentina Archived 2012-10-07 at the Wayback Machine
  5. [5]
    Lockheed Martin Aircraft Argentina SA to Fábrica Argentina de Aviones “Brigadier San Martin” S.A.
  6. [6]
    Padin 1999, pp. 9, 15
  7. [7]
    (in Spanish)"FMA IA-60 - Anteproyecto de Avión de Entrenamiento y Ataque" - website "Zona Militar" (accessed 2015-06-08)
  8. [8]
    Aeroespacio magazine Nr.566 (Jul-Ago 2005), Ficha Técnica Nr.53
  9. [9]
    CBA123/IA 70 Archived 2010-09-12 at the Wayback Machine

Bibliography

  • Bellomo, Sergio; Cordon Aguirre, Arturo; Marino, Atilio; Núñez Padin, Jorge (1999). Núñez Padin, Jorge Felix (ed.). Curtiss Hawk. Serie Fuerza Aérea Argentina (in Spanish). Vol. 5. Bahía Blanca, Argentina: Fuerzas Aeronavales.
  • Arreguez, Angel Cesar (2008). Mansur, Sergio Luis (ed.). Fabrica Militar de Aviones: Cronicas y Testimonios (in Spanish) (Second ed.). Cordoba, Argentina: Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnologia de la Provincia de Cordoba. ISBN 978-987-24620-0-0.

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