The Chilean Army Aviation Brigade (BAVE), the 'First in the Skies of the Homeland'

The Chilean Army is one of the best equipped of all the armies in Latin America and has a significant aviation unit.

This is the 'Lautaro' Special Operations Brigade (BOE), the elite of the Chilean Army
Special operations units from Chile, Spain and the United States in joint training

The Chilean Army Aeronautics Service was founded in 1913, being one of the oldest military aviation corps in all of America. As occurred in other countries, the Aeronautics Service became a separate branch of the Armed Forces, the Chilean Air Force, in 1930, also integrating the Naval Aviation, which had been founded in 1919. In response to the specific needs of the Chilean land force, the Army Aviation Command was created in 1970, which after 40 years represented the recovery of the capacity to operate aircraft by the Chilean Army.

The current Chilean Army Aviation Brigade (BAVE) was formed in 1995 on the basis of the Aviation Command. Unlike the aviation corps of other land forces, the BAVE operates both helicopters (26 in total) and fixed-wing aircraft (10), as well as unmanned aircraft. A few days ago, the Chilean Army published this excellent video, entitled "First in the Skies of the Homeland" showing the means and capabilities of the BAVE:

Below you can see a series of photos showing some of the aircraft operated by the BAVE. As a curiosity, while the Chilean Air Force has a blue tail marking with a white star (usually on the rudder), the BAVE is distinguished by having red tail markings.

A Cessna 172S Skyhawk. The Army Aviation School (ESCAVE), located at the Aerodrome de la Independencia, Rancagua, operates two of these old planes for training purposes.

A Cessna U-27A Caravan turboprop aircraft, the military version of the Cessna 208. BAVE has three of these utility aircraft, used for a variety of missions including personnel transport, logistics and parachute dropping.

A CASA C-212 Aviocar transport aircraft. The Chilean Army purchased six of these Spanish-made aircraft in 1978, all of them of the C-212-100 variant. One of them was lost in 1995. Today, BAVE still has two C-212s in service, modernised by ENAER in 2019 to the C-212-300 version. They are scheduled to be replaced by CASA C-295s.

A CASA CN-235-100M transport aircraft. BAVE purchased four of these aircraft. One of them was lost in an accident in 1992. The three aircraft still in service were modernised by Universal Avionics in the USA, and are due to be replaced by CASA C-295s.

Two Eurocopter AS-532 Cougar transport helicopters. The BAVE has eight of these aircraft: six of the AS-532AL version and two AS-532ALe. They are the largest helicopters in the Chilean Army.

An Aérospatiale SA-330L Puma transport helicopter. The Chilean Army received three of these aircraft. One of them was lost in an accident on the El Pelado hill, near the Andes, in 2016.

A McDonnell Douglas MD-369FF Defender helicopter. BAVE has 9 of these aircraft for reconnaissance and close air support tasks.

Two Eurocopter AS-355N Ecureuil II helicopters. BAVE operates five units of this utility helicopter.

---

Photos: Ejército de Chile / Airbus.