Fuerzas Armadas de Chile (archivo)

[Mauricio]

Zulus no son ni a coñazos...

[Julio Andres]

De verdad existe alguna intencio de chile de adquirir helos de ataque???

[Alberto Elgueta]

De verdad existe alguna intencio de chile de adquirir helos de ataque???

Hace años que está la intención, pero no se le ha dado prioridad. De momento se usan helos ligeros armados para dicha función (o sea, scouts que dan una solución de parche para el desarrollo de doctrina y operaciones, pero no un verdadero helo de ataque).

Saludos

[Feña2]

Los famosos F 16 FACH ... los vi en una publicación americana y la verdad las fotos están excelentes, disfrutenlas

[ATLANTA]

Que excelentes fotografías Feña, excelentes en verdad, y pensar que esos pájaros pasan a veces sobre nuestras cabezas y ni nos enteramos.

saludos

[velocirraptor]

bueno...

al parecer definitivamente se confirman 8 AS-532AL super puma para el ECH, fuente diario la tercera...

alguien tiene mas info...???

saludos

REX

[armstrong1977]

Sr Feña2. sumamente hermosas las fotografias de nuestros vipers.
los f-16 son uno de los aviones que mas me gustan y la configuracion de los modelos Chilenos me encantan,gracias por las fotos.

armstrong1977

[Cartaphilus]

¿Con los F-16 ha llegado a Chile algún misil nuevo? Chile ya tiene los Sidewinders que operaban los Elkan, los Pyhton 3 de los F-5 y los Mirage Pantera, y los Pyhton 4 de los F-5. ¿Estos misiles se van a emplear en los F-16?

Tenía entendido que los block 50 habían sido preparados para llevar los misiles israelíes (Python y los supuestos Derby que hay quien dice que tiene Chile pero que nadie ha visto), mientras que los MLU llevarían armamento estadounidense. Ahora bien, ¿existe tal armamento estadounidense en Chile? Por ejemplo, HARM, AMRAAM, Maverick, Sparrow...

En cuanto a bombas, Chile emplea, además de las típicas bombas tontas, bombas guiadas por laser israelíes, creo que las Griffin y las Lizard, y no sé si Opher. ¿Los F-16 usaran estas bombas, o con ellos vendrán modelos estadounidense como as Paveway?

[GMSA]

Lo único que se sabe a ciencia cierta es que los MLU no pueden portar HARM (misil antiradar) por que se les removió esa capacidad (1) antes de ser entregados a Chile (es de imaginar que los B50+ tampoco la tienen).

Del resto de cachibaches no se tiene mayor información.

Atte.

GMSA.

(1) Y eso es algo que siempre he lamentado. Tener la posibilidad de volar los pocos radares que tienen los países de L.A. creo que proporcionaría una gran ventaja.

[GMSA]

Les dejo una nota de Jane's Defence Weekly que publico el forista Luchin en Peru Defensa. Está dividida en cuatro partes:

Parte 1:

Jane's Defence Weekly - January 09, 2008

Chile Country Briefing
TURNING UP THE HEAT

José Higuera JDW Correspondent Santiago

Chile is keeping up the pressure to expand its capabilities and update
equipment. José Higuera reports

Rising prices and demand for copper in international markets have
contributed to sustaining a high level of defence spending in Chile,
which is focused on replacing equipment that is outdated or has
reached the end of its service life, with the main aim being to
develop and increase operational capabilities.

While Chile does not regard any of its neighbours as a threat,
tensions are deemed high enough to justify a strong and systematic
policy of military modernisation.

As a result, the country spends 2.8 per cent of its GDP on defence -
one of the highest figures in the region. Nine per cent of the fiscal
budget is assigned to defence. This figure does not include the ten
per cent of returns from copper exports by state-owned company Codelco
(Chilean National Copper Corporation), currently amounting to between
USD500 million and USD600 million, which by law is allocated each year
to pay for the acquisition of military equipment.

Chile is accustomed to periodical, cyclic tensions with Bolivia and
Peru: two neighbouring countries that lost important extensions of
territory in the 19th century. Bolivia maintains standing demands for
sovereign access to the Pacific Ocean and Peru is set to take its
demands for a revision of maritime boundaries to the Hague's
International Court of Justice.

While opposing claims over a group of tiny islands in the Beagle
Channel in 1978 brought Chile close to war with Argentina, its other
neighbour, relations have substantially improved since an agreement
resolved the dispute in 1984.

Military and security co-operation between both countries received a
boost when democracy was restored in Chile in 1990 and continues to
grow consistently, despite potential border issues over the southern
Campos de Hielo icefields.

The dramatic introduction into Chilean service of modern equipment in
recent years has been accompanied by an equally intense process of
rationalisation, reorganisation and changes to recruitment and
education.

The effects of such change have been felt in all three services but
especially in the army, which has lagged behind the navy and air force
since the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. This was in part due to
the US Congress ordering an embargo on all military exports to Chile
because of human rights abuses.

A return to democracy and the end of the Cold War has also brought a
change to Chile's approach to peacekeeping and since 1992 there have
been deployments to Bosnia Herzegovina, Cambodia, Congo, Cyprus, East
Timor, Kuwait and Iraq.

A law passed in 1996 set the rules for Chilean participation in UN
Chapter VI peacekeeping operations and a change introduced by decree
in 1999 opened the door to participation in peacemaking missions under
Chapter VII of the UN Charter.

The first peacemaking deployment occurred in March 2004, when Haiti
was threatened by disgruntled groups of former soldiers and a US-led
force was hastily deployed there. Reinforcements were required and
Chilean President Ricardo Lagos dispatched a company of army special
forces in just 48 hours.

Chile joined the UN Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) in June
2004, escalating its troops to a 700-strong army/marine battalion and
an army/air force helicopter detachment, which are set for a long-term
stay. Requests for deployments to Lebanon and Sudan have been refused,
but Chile is currently preparing to send troops to Kosovo in 2008.

Deployments with Argentine forces in Cyprus and Haiti have contributed
to enhanced military co-operation between Argentina and Chile and in
2005 a decision was made to create a bi-national peacekeeping force,
named Cruz del Sur (Southern Cross), along the lines of formations
existing in the Nordic countries. The agreement to create the force
was signed in 2006, with a headquarters officially established in
Buenos Aires in 2007.

With an economy strongly focused on exports, Chile is a key user of
the Panama Canal. Accordingly, concerns about the security of this
strategic maritime passage drove the Chilean government to approach
the US and Panama in 2002. The result was an agreement on a naval
exercise focusing on the emergency reinforcement of the isthmus, aimed
at dealing with potential threats such as terrorism.

The first exercise, named 'Panamax', was staged in July 2003 and has
been held every year since then. The Chilean Navy deployed a frigate,
a patrol vessel, a maritime patrol aircraft and a group of naval
commandos in 2003. In the 'Panamax 2007' exercise, 20 nations took
part - 17 participating countries and three observer nations -
deploying more than 30 ships, around 12 aircraft and 7,000 personnel.

Atte.

GMSA.

[GMSA]

Parte 2:

Land forces

Although the most visible side of Chilean Army modernisation is the
introduction of new equipment, the service is also undergoing a deep
process of reorganisation and doctrinal change.

Originally known as the Alcazar programme, the army's modernisation is
in fact aimed at transforming the service. The programme is designed
to change the army's force structure through rationalisation,
reorganising units and developing the force through the integration of
technology as part of an improved system to increase operability and
efficiency. The result is a smaller but more powerful force, with a
high readiness status, able to deploy quickly with all its assets at
short notice.

Following these guidelines, a number of units were disbanded and
others started to merge into new, reinforced regiments set to include
all arms and support elements to become self-contained operative
units. From 2002 the reorganisation process started to accelerate and
deepen as the Chilean Army began to shift from being a territorially
deployed force, comprising core units scattered throughout the country
dedicated to training conscripts and serving as the base for
mobilisation, to becoming an operational force at the same size in
peacetime and in conflict.

"Our service was a core organisation in peacetime, aimed at training
reserves and providing a skeleton structure to be filled out through
the mobilisation of those reserves. We were mainly a training force.
We are now becoming a force in being, an operational and fighting
force," the Commander-in-Chief of the Chilean Army, General Oscar
Izurieta, told Jane's.

The change is clearly reflected by the shift from a compulsory
military draft to a system of voluntary service.

While the changes were originally devised to address demands from
conscientious objectors and also to deal with problems concerning the
mistreatment of conscripts, the introduction of more modern,
sophisticated equipment also led to the need for more expensive and
longer training.

Despite talk of abolishing the draft, the constitutional power for
compulsory recruitment is being retained. However, incentives such as
training and education for civilian jobs, as well as the opportunity
to become professional contracted soldiers after enrolling for a year
of basic training, seem to be working well and have achieved a full
volunteer rate in recent years.

As a result of changes to the recruiting system, the army has reduced
its personnel to 38,527 men and women, which is a far cry from the
70,000 people it had in 1990. The personnel figures by December 2007
included 3,702 officers, 15,586 non-commissioned officers, 2,470
professional contracted soldiers and 12,771 conscripts being recruited
under the legacy draft. The balance is made up by 3,998 civil
servants.

The number of professional soldiers contracted under the new short
career scheme is expected to rise to 5,000 by 2010. This would
increase to 10,000 by 2018, with a balance of 5,000 vacancies to be
covered by volunteers enrolling for a year of initial training.

The key elements of the new force structure are four new armoured
brigades - Brigadas Acorazadas (BA) - to be created from previous
reinforced regiments and scheduled to become operational by 2010.

The first two of these formations are the 1st BA Coraceros based in
Arica and the 2nd BA Cazadores based in Iquique. Both armoured
brigades are based in the north of the country, close to the borders
with Peru and Bolivia, and were activated in December 2007.

The equipment acquired for the new formations include 140 Leopard 2 A4
main battle tanks (MBTs) procured in 2005 from Germany, which are now
being delivered. The Leopard 2 replaces some of the more than 200
Leopard 1Vs acquired from the Netherlands between 1997 and 2001.

The purchase of Leopard 2s was chosen in preference to upgrading all
the Leopard 1Vs in the inventory. Around 120 Leopard 1Vs in the best
technical and maintenance condition are being reassigned to units in
southern Chile, but the option of upgrading them has been discarded in
favour of procuring additional Leopard 2s.

The infantry forces have been undergoing a parallel mechanisation
programme, including the upgrade of the 400 plus M113 armoured
personnel carriers (APCs) in the army's inventory to A2 standard. A
batch of 139 YPR-765 armoured infantry fighting vehicles (AIFVs), in
different versions including a fire support variant armed with a 25 mm
turret gun and an anti-tank variant armed with Rafael Spike anti-tank
missiles, was acquired from Belgium in 2005.

A first batch of 120 Marder A3 tracked infantry fighting vehicles,
which maintain the same speed as the Leopard MBT in the field, is
being procured from German surplus stocks, to equip the infantry
elements in three of the four armoured brigades being activated.

The 24 M109 155 mm self-propelled guns (SPGs) acquired from
Switzerland in 2005 were overhauled by Ruag and have been delivered.

An order for eight Eurocopter EC 725 medium-lift helicopters, intended
for battlefield transport, is in the process of approval and signing.
The value of the operation is undisclosed, but it could be worth
around USD250 million. Options for a second batch will be included.
There are plans to procure a tactical unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)
for surveillance and targeting in support of long-range artillery (155
mm guns and LARS-160 rocket systems) for deployment between 2010 and
2012.

The acquisition of integrated theatre air-defence networks is under
discussion within the air force. Different European and Russian mobile
3-D radars, medium-range surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) and other
air-defence systems are being considered.

Meanwhile, 200 Humvee all-terrain wheeled vehicles were bought in 2005
and plans call for the doubling of that quantity.

Atte.

GMSA.

[GMSA]

Parte 3:

Navy

As defined in its basic doctrine, known as the Three Vectors Strategy,
the navy is tasked with defending Chile's sovereignty and territorial
integrity from seabased attack; protecting the country's maritime
resources and interests; and supporting and projecting its foreign
policy and interests through the deployment of ships and other assets
abroad. In order to fulfil those missions, the 21,000-strong service
is renewing most of its assets with the aim of increasing operational
capabilities and interoperability.

Two Franco-Spanish Scorpene-class diesel-powered submarines were
ordered in 1997 to replace two older UK-built boats and are now in
service in Chile. The Scorpenes are equipped with Black Shark
heavyweight torpedoes and with SM39 Exocet submarine-launched
anti-ship missiles.

Eight modern frigates were procured secondhand between 2003 and 2005
following the demise of previous plans for domestic building. The
Almirante Williams, a UK Boxer-class Type 22 frigate, was the first to
be bought, followed in January 2004 by the acquisition of the former
Royal Netherlands Navy L-class air-defence frigates Almirante Latorre
and Capitan Prat and two M-class frigates Almirante Blanco Encalada
and Almirante Riveros. Such procurement ended with the purchase from
the UK of three Type 23 frigates - to be renamed Almirante Lynch,
Almirante Cochrane and Almirante Condell - in 2005.

The first seven ships have been delivered and pressed into operations,
except the final UK Type 23 frigate, which is due for delivery in
2008. The newly acquired frigates were built in the late 1980s and
early 1990s, offering far better and improved capabilities than the
ships they replaced, which had an average age of 40 years.

The ships' main propulsion is standardised on Rolls-Royce Spey and
Olympus gas turbines. The average range has expanded from 4,000 n
miles with the old ships to more than 7,000 n miles with the new ones.
Smaller crew numbers also contribute to making the new frigates
cheaper to operate.

The new ships represent a huge leap in military capabilities. The
standard anti-ship weapon is the Harpoon missile, including a number
of the latest land-attack variant.

The two Dutch-built Latorre-class air-defence frigates are equipped
with sensors and long-range SM-1 standard missiles able to engage
aircraft at a range of 70 km. This area-defence capability,
complemented by medium-range Sea Sparrow and short-range Sea Wolf
air-defence missiles, is unique in South America.

All the frigates have hull-mounted sonar suites, but the addition of
towed-array sonars is being considered for the two Dutch-built M-Class
and the three Type 23 frigates, which were acquired without such
systems.

The former UK Royal Navy frigate Almirante Williams, acquired in 2003,
is finally set to start an 18-month-long refit and upgrade programme
in March 2008. Being the flagship of the Chilean fleet, it will be
fitted with a comprehensive communications and tactical data exchange
suite as well as expanded staff accommodation, to improve its
capabilities as a command vessel. The combat system will be improved
by the addition of an Oto Melara 76 mm gun and Harpoon anti-ship
missiles as well as a new 3-D radar and electronic countermeasures
suite.

Chile's three ex-Israeli Casma (Saar 4)-class fast missile craft were
refitted and upgraded between 2001 and 2004 and will remain in service
until 2015, to be possibly replaced by an indigenously built missile
corvette design based on the offshore patrol vessel (OPV) currently
being built. The four Type 148 Riquelme-class fast missile craft
acquired from Germany in 1997 will go through an upgrade programme
between 2008 and 2010.

Meanwhile Piloto Pardo and Comandante Toro, two 1,800-ton OPVs for
shore and economic exclusion zone patrol, are at advanced stages of
building and fitting out at the ASMAR naval shipyard in Talcahuano.

Built to a basic German Fassmer design, these patrol boats are
expected to enter service in 2008 and 2009. The construction of a
second pair of OPVs should follow. ASMAR will also build a new
oceanographic ship, using experience gained from building fisheries
research and multipurpose patrol ships for Iceland, for delivery by
the end of 2010.

The priorities for the navy are focused first on replacing its fleet
oiler, second on replacing its polar vessel and then on the eventual
acquisition of a multipurpose ship with force-projection capabilities.
For the first requirement the service intends to buy a Henry J
Kaiser-class (T-A0 187) replenishment ship surplus to US requirements.
Negotiations will start once authorisation is given by the US Congress
and plans call for the ship to be operating by the end of 2009. The
polar ship will support the network of Chilean bases in Antarctica and
consideration is being given to the procurement of a more capable
vessel - ideally an icebreaker - by 2015.

The multipurpose transport vessel would in reality be an assault ship
intended for force projection and disaster relief operations. The ship
is expected to have wide flightdeck, dock and roll-on/roll-off
capabilities.

Some sources in the service talk about a ship between 5,000 tons and
7,000 tons, with a flightdeck big enough to operate four medium-lift
helicopters, which suggests a vessel like the Italian Navy's San
Giorgio. Other sources talk about a 10,000-ton ship.

Admiral Rodolfo Codina, the Chilean Navy's Commander-in-Chief,
recently told Jane's that the ship would be procured on the secondhand
market, to replace the US-built Norfolk-class LST Valdivia between
2015 and 2016. The procurement of the multipurpose ship would increase
the country's amphibious capabilities, triggering an upgrade of the
Chilean Navy's 3,300-strong marine corps.

The marines' personal kit has already been upgraded to NATO standard
and the next step will be the acquisition of a new assault rifle.
Preferences include the German-built HK G36.

A number of AT-4/M136 portable anti-tank weapons, as well as around
100 Humvee all-terrain wheeled vehicles, have been acquired from the
US surplus. The need to procure wheeled armoured transports,
highlighted by the marines' deployment to Haiti with Mowag Piranha 8 x
8 vehicles borrowed from the army, is still pending.

Three EADS CASA C-295 medium transport aircraft were acquired in 2007
as part of a plan to procure eight aircraft to replace the country's
P-3A Orion and Embraer P-111 patrol aircraft. Seven of the C-295s will
be equipped with sensors for maritime surveillance, including four
fitted with anti-ship and anti-submarine weapons.

The fleet of seagoing Eurocopter AS 535SC Super Puma maritime attack
helicopters, armed with AM39 Exocet anti-ship missiles, will undergo a
life extension and upgrade programme and will possibly be increased by
two additional aircraft. Four refurbished Eurocopter/Aerospatiale
SA365 Dauphin II helicopters were acquired between 2005 and 2007 to
support shore patrol and search-and-rescue duties.

Atte.

GMSA.

[GMSA]

Parte 4:

Air force

The 13,000-strong Chilean Air Force, meanwhile, has continued on its
'Bicentenario' modernisation plan, focused on increasing and improving
interoperability with air forces of industrialised countries. The
process includes the concentration of all newly acquired
high-performance combat aircraft in the north of the country, as well
as keeping training, logistic and other support assets in central
Chile.

All 10 new built and 18 secondhand F-16 multirole fighters ordered
from the US and the Netherlands were received between 2006 and 2007.
The type has replaced all Dassault Mirage variants previously in
Chilean service.

The F-16s are operated in the strike/interdiction role, equipped with
a range of targeting systems and precision weapons including missiles
and laser-guided bombs as well as reconnaissance equipment.

The procurement of 12 to 16 additional secondhand F-16 fighters is
currently being considered, to bolster units already equipped with the
type.

Chile's F-5 Tiger IIIs have important strike/reconnaissance
capabilities, but are operated mainly as air-superiority/interception
fighters, armed with long-range Derby beyond-visual-range air-to-air
missiles acquired from Israel. The alternatives of extending their
service life until 2020 or replacing them with an advanced fighter are
being studied. A decision will be made by 2009 with a call for bids
following, if the replacement option is favoured, to select and order
a new aircraft by 2011.

Plans to procure refurbished KC-135 tanker aircraft from the US were
discarded, and in 2007 an order was placed for two secondhand Airbus
A310s, to be upgraded to Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) standard.
Original plans to fit the EADS Improved Boom system, to provide
in-flight refuelling for the F-16, have been dropped on operational
and financial grounds.

Delivery schedules have slipped and the first unmodified A310 is set
to be delivered in March 2008. The second A310 will undergo an
eight-month overhaul and conversion work to MRTT standard in Seville,
Spain. A hose and drogue in-flight refuelling system, removable chairs
and wider cargo doors will be installed before delivery in October
2008, when the first aircraft will be returned to undergo the same
works.

Twelve newly built Bell 412 helicopters were ordered at the end of
2007 in a contract said to be worth USD120 million to replace ageing
Bell UH-1Hs currently in service. The first four Bell 412s will be
delivered during 2008. There are also plans to acquire six to eight
medium-lift helicopters for combat search and rescue (CSAR) and civil
emergency support, possibly partly funded by the Interior Ministry.

Chile's fleet of Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules transport aircraft is
reduced to two H models bought in the 1970s and the one surviving
example of six B models received from US surplus in the early 1990s.
Plans call for the two H models to be put through an upgrade and
life-extension programme and the purchase of two to four secondhand
aircraft to undergo the same upgrade.

The country's basic and advanced/tactical training aircraft also need
replacing. A request for proposals (RfP) to procure a batch of 14 to
20 turboprop trainers will be made early this year. Preferences are
currently running towards Brazil's Embraer Super Tucano and
Switzerland's Pilatus PC-12. An order will be placed by the end of
2008.

The current A-36 (CASA C-101) tactical training jet aircraft is also
obsolete and the Chilean Air Force resorted in 2004 to sending its new
pilots to train on the F-16 in Turkey, at a cost of around USD2.5
million per officer. A programme to buy a number of new advanced jet
trainers is due to be launched by the end of 2008.

Procurement of medium altitude and endurance UAVs for theatre
intelligence, reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition is
planned. Alternatives considered by the air force include the MQ-5C
Extended Range E-Hunter from Northrop Grumman/IAI Malat Division and
the Boeing/Insitu Scan Eagle.

The air force's single airborne early warning asset is a Boeing 707,
which was equipped with the IAI Phalcon system in the early 1990s. The
aircraft is being overhauled to extend its service life until 2016 and
it is understood that it is receiving a limited systems upgrade in
parallel. Plans call for a replacement to be selected between 2009 and
2010, with at least three aircraft to be procured.

José Higuera is a JDW Correspondent, based in Santiago.

Atte.

GMSA.

[GMSA]

The new ships represent a huge leap in military capabilities. The standard anti-ship weapon is the Harpoon missile, including a number of the latest land-attack variant.

Esto es nuevo, no sabía de la adquisición de misiles Harpoon con la capacidad de ataque a tierra. Lo ideal sería dotar a los Scopenes con ese tipo de misiles para de ese modo tener una modesta “fuerza submarina estratégica”. Aunque me imagino que el costo de homologación para poder usar misiles Harpoon en los Scorpene debe ser alto (y soñar es gratis...).

The air force's single airborne early warning asset is a Boeing 707, which was equipped with the IAI Phalcon system in the early 1990s. The aircraft is being overhauled to extend its service life until 2016 and
it is understood that it is receiving a limited systems upgrade in parallel.

De ser esto correcto el Cóndor, al cual algunos daban por muerto, seguiría volando varios años más (ahora que lo haga hasta el 2016 me parece exagerado) y recibiría algún tipo de mejoramiento (limitado) en su electrónica.

Plans call for a replacement to be selected between 2009 and 2010, with at least three aircraft to be procured.

me imagino que la idea de reemplazar al Cóndor por tres (o más) aviones es poder tener una cobertura continuada durante las 24 horas y subsanar unos de los inconvenientes que se presenta al depender de un solo avión.

Atte.

GMSA.

[ATLANTA]

Hola G,
Muy interesante documento, lo de los Harpones con capacidad de ataque a tierra tampoco lo sabía y de ser cierto eleva la capacidad ofensiva de la Escuadra nacional, por otra parte y relacionado con lo mismo lo del buque de proyección se estuvo comentando hace poco aquí mismo y salió incluso una opción americana, me agradaría mucho que la ACH se hiciera de una unidad así realmente creo que es importante como dije para el entrenamiento de la Infantería de marina. Respecto al reemplazo a futuro de las LM's , tanto las Tiger como las SAAR V, me inclino por la opción de una plataforma tipo corbeta basada en los actuales patrulleros que se construyen en Asmar, dotándolos de misiles para que sean un verdadero reemplazo manteniendo esa capacidad disuasiva tanto en el norte como en la zona austral de nuestro país.

saludos