Portuguese Air Force
The Força Aérea Portuguesa (FAP ) is the air force of the Republic of Portugal and one of four branches of the armed forces of the Portuguese armed forces. They have a staff strength of about 7400 men and women.
The headquarters are subject to three main commands for mission control, training and administration & logistics. These are, according to the contract, subject to the airfields and other facilities. There are two little aerobatics team, the Asas de Portugal with two Alpha Jets and the rotores de Portugal with three Aérospatiale SA -319 Alouette III helicopters.
History
The military aviation Portugal began in 1912 and the Portuguese military aircraft were from the Army and Navy, during air commandos known as the Aeronáutica Militar and Aviação Naval.
On July 1, 1952, these two commands were merged to form independent Força Aérea Portuguesa strike force. The acquired aircraft were mostly types from the period of the Second World War. In addition to allied machines of various types are also operated the Ju - 52.
1956 were set up three regional commands: The units in metropolitan and or in the North Atlantic were 1 ª Região Aérea based in Lisbon assumed. The 2 ª Região Aérea for the South Atlantic had their base in Luanda and the ª Região Aérea 3 in today's Maputo was responsible for the territories of the Indian Ocean and Macau.
After the Carnation Revolution in 1974, which followed the loss of most Overseas Territories, the Air Force was reorganized in the 1990s, after the end of the Cold War, again. In these years, some air bases were closed and it came to establish a naval squadron with helicopters. An important thrust of modernization was the commissioning of the used and now modernized Lockheed Martin F-16AM/BM, which today form the backbone of the Força Aérea.
Portugal took over the middle of the first decade of the new millennium, such as Germany, the Netherlands and cars, in this case four, Orion maritime patrol aircraft P-3C/CUP and a little later the influx of new AW101 Merlin began SAR and transport helicopters.
Equipment
As of end 2012
Airbases
The Força Aérea Portuguesa operates four major military airfields, Bases Aéreas Principais on the Iberian Peninsula, which are divided organizationally similar to those of other air forces in each one flying, maintenance and support group (as of 2013):
- Base Aérea de Sintra ( Base Aérea N º 1 ), Sintra, school basis with the Esquadra 101 (TB 30) as well as the main site of the Military Aviation Museum
- Base Aérea de Monte Real ( Base Aérea N º 5 ), Monte Real, fighter airbase with the Esquadras 201 and 301 (F -16)
- Base Aérea do Montijo ( Base Aérea N º 6 ), Montijo, transport air base with the Esquadras 501 (C -130), 502 (C -295 ) and 504 (Falcon ) and mainly with SAR tasks dealt Esquadra 751 ( Merlin), the base is also used by the Navy.
- Base Aérea de Beja ( Base Aérea N º 11 ), Beja, training base with the Esquadra 103 ( Alpha Jet) and 552 ( Alouette ) and 601, the latter a use season (P-3 ), formerly stood here the Tactical Training Command of the ( German ) Air Force in Portugal
In addition, units are stationed at the following Bases Aéreas Avançadas, the latter located in the Azores:
- Aeródromo Militar de Lisboa ( Aeródromo de Trânsito N º 1 ), Lisbon
- Aeródromo Militar de Ovar ( Aeródromo de manobra N º 1 ), ovary, among others, one of two secondary locations of the Military Aviation Museum
- Base Aérea das Lajes ( Base Aérea N º 4 ), Lajes
In Alverca do Ribatejo is a further addition to the site of the Military Aviation Museum, aeronautically but no longer uses the FAP the local airfield.