In the 1960's guerrillas were operating in almost all Latin
American countries, as well as in Africa and Asia, and the need of
specialized weapons to fight them arose. The Argentine Air Force,
seeing this threat grow, asked the FMA factory to produce a
counterinsurgency airplane to equip the force, but also to offer on
the international market. After several proposals were analysed, a
final product emerged, called the IA-58 Pucar , a robust twin
turboprop aircraft with heavy internal weapons, planned to operate
from unprepared airstrips on very hard conditions. The plane
entered service with the Argentine Air Force in 1975 and more than
100 were produced over the years, with several versions being
developed or proposed. It was purchased by Uruguay, Colombia and
Sri Lanka, the type gained world notoriety when they took part on
the 1982 South Atlantic war, but also had combat experience in
Colombia and Sri Lanka, and was tested by the Royal Air Force. Now,
with the original version already retired, the Argentine Air Force
plans to convert them into the Pucar F nix version, with new
engines and avionics, with new missions too, like intelligence,
surveillance and reconnaissance. While some aspects of its story
were described in many publications, most of it has never been told
until now, including many unknown proposed versions and details of
its operational record, both in Argentina and in the other
countries that operated the plane.
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