Bolivian Air Force

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Bolivian Air Force
Fuerza Aérea Boliviana
Emblem of the Bolivian Air Force.svg
Emblem of the Bolivian Air Force
Founded26 September 1957;68 years ago (1957-09-26)
CountryFlag of Bolivia.svg Bolivia
Type Air force
Role Aerial warfare
Part of Bolivian Armed Forces
NicknameFAB
Commanders
General of the Air ForceZabala Álvarez
Notable
commanders		Rafael Pabón
Bernardino Bilbao Rioja
Insignia
Roundel Roundel of Bolivia.svg
Fin flash Flag of Bolivia.svg
Aircraft flown
Reconnaissance Learjet 35
Trainer Hongdu JL-8VB, Pilatus PC-7 Turbo Trainer
Transport Lockheed C-130 Hercules
A UH-1 of the FAB in flight UH-1H Bolivian Air Force in flight 1987.JPEG
A UH-1 of the FAB in flight

The Bolivian Air Force (BAF; [1] Spanish : Fuerza Aérea Boliviana, FAB) is the air force of Bolivia and branch of the Bolivian Armed Forces.

Contents

History

By 1938 the Bolivian air force consisted of about 60 aircraft (Curtiss Hawk fighters, Curtiss T-32 Condor II and Junkers W 34 bombers, Junkers Ju 86 used as transport craft, and Fokker C.V, Breguet 19 and Vickers Vespa reconnaissance planes), and about 300 staff; the officers were trained in Italy. [2]

In 2017 Bolivia finally retired the Lockheed T-33 marking the end of 44 years of service. Bolivia was the last operator of the T-33. [3]

Organization

FAB is organized into air brigades, which is formed by one to three air groups. The air groups are based at La Paz, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Puerto Suárez, Tarija, Villamontes, Cobija, Trinidad, Riberalta, Roboré, Uyuni, Oruro, Sucre and Chimoré.

Major commands included the following:

A Cavalier Mustang, formerly of the Bolivian Air Force, parked on a Canadian airfield. Cavalier Mustang.jpg
A Cavalier Mustang, formerly of the Bolivian Air Force, parked on a Canadian airfield.

Civil aviation

The General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics (Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil—DGAC) formerly part of the FAB, administers a civil aeronautics school called the National Institute of Civil Aeronautics (Instituto Nacional de Aeronáutica Civil—INAC), and two commercial air transport services; TAM and TAB.

Bolivian Military Airline (TAM)

Bolivian Military Airline (Transporte Aéreo Militar / TAM) is an airline based in La Paz, Bolivia. It is the civilian wing of the 'Fuerza Aérea Boliviana' (the Bolivian Air Force), operating passenger services to remote towns and communities in the North and Northeast of Bolivia. TAM (aka TAM Group 67) has been a part of the FAB since 1945.

A similar airline serving the Beni Department with small planes is Línea Aérea Amaszonas, [5] using smaller planes than TAM.

The Bolivian Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Public Works, Services and Housing announced on 8 December 2016 that TAM would cease transporting civilian passengers and cargo on 16 December 2016. The decision was to allow TAM to reorganize with a status akin to the state-sponsored Boliviana de Aviacion prior to resuming service under civilian regulations. [6]

Bolivian Air Transport (TAB)

Although a civil transport airline, Bolivian Air Transport (Transportes Aéreos Bolivianos / TAB, was created as a subsidiary company of the FAB in 1977. It is subordinate to the Air Transport Management (Gerencia de Transportes Aéreos) and is headed by an FAB general. TAB, a charter heavy cargo airline, links Bolivia with most countries of the Western Hemisphere; its inventory included a fleet of Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft. TAB's Base of operations was headquartered at El Alto, adjacent to La Paz's El Alto International Airport. TAB also flew to Miami and Houston, with stops in Panama.

Aircraft

Current inventory

A K-8 Karakorum light attack / trainer jet K-8 bol.jpg
A K-8 Karakorum light attack / trainer jet
A Eurocopter EC-145 helicopter used in Bolivia as presidential transport. Fab-003.jpg
A Eurocopter EC-145 helicopter used in Bolivia as presidential transport.
A Dassault Falcon 900EX used by the President of Bolivia Dassault Falcon 900 - Avion presidencial de bolivia.jpg
A Dassault Falcon 900EX used by the President of Bolivia
AircraftOriginTypeVariantIn serviceNotes
Reconnaissance
Learjet 35 United States Surveillance 2 [7]
Transport
C-130 Hercules United States Transport C-130B/H 3 [7] One C-130H crashed on 27 February 2026 [8]
Cessna 402 United StatesTransport1 [7]
Fokker F27 Friendship Netherlands Transport1 [7]
British Aerospace Jetstream United Kingdom TransportJetstream 312 [7]
Beechcraft King Air United StatesTransport 90/200/250/350 5 [7]
Falcon 900 France VIP transport 1 [9]
Falcon 50 FranceVIP transport1 [10]
Helicopters
Eurocopter AS350 France Utility H125M/AS3502 [7] Called "Écureuil"/"Squirrel"
Eurocopter EC145 Germany SAR / UtilityH1453 [7]
Eurocopter AS332 FranceTransport / UtilityH215M/AS3326 [7] Called "Super Puma"
Robinson R66 United States1 [7]
Aérospatiale SA316 France Liaison SE31601 [7]
Bell UH-1 United StatesUtility UH-1H 11 [7]
Trainer aircraft
Karakoram K-8 China/Pakistan Jet trainer 4 [7]
Pilatus PC-7 Switzerland Trainer2 [7]
Robinson R44 United States Rotorcraft trainer6 [7]
Zlín Z 42 Czech Republic Basic trainer Z 242L 8 [7]
UAV
RemoEye-006 [11] [12] South Korea Surveillance2

Retired aircraft

BAE Systems 146, Breguet 19, [2] Cavalier Mustang, Curtiss Hawk, [2] Curtiss T-32 Condor II, [2] Diamond DA40, Fokker C.V, [2] Junkers Ju 86, [2] Junkers W 34, [2] Helibras HB350 Esquilo, Lockheed T-33, [3] Vickers Vespa [2]

Future acquisitions

During a 31 July 2017 ceremony, which was attended by the armed forces' high command, four models of lead-in fighter trainers (LIFT; L-15, M-346, T-50, and Yak-130) were presented with a potential to replace the T-33 and reequip the GAC-31. The FAB's Commander expressed the FAB's preference for the Yak-130. [13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Aircraft Accident". Bureau of Inter-American Affairs. 30 October 1975. Retrieved 3 April 2025– via WikiLeaks.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 R. Schnitzler, G.W. Feuchter, R. Schulz (Eds.): Handbuch der Luftfahrt (Manual of Aviation). Jahrgang 1939. p. 17-18. J.F. Lehmanns Verlag, München & Berlin.
  3. 1 2 "Bolivia retires last T-33s trainer/Attack aircraft, announces replacement | Jane's 360". Archived from the original on 4 August 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  4. ↑ "AviacinBoliviana.Net ::". Archived from the original on 8 December 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  5. ↑ "Home – Airline Amaszonas – Flights Bolivia, Cuzco, Sucre" . Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  6. ↑ Olguin, Jonathan (21 December 2016). "Bolivian Air Force transport unit to suspend commercial operations". IHS Jane's Defence Weekly. 53 (51): 10.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Hoyle, Craig (2025). World Air Forces 2026 (Report). FlightGlobal . Retrieved 24 January 2026.
  8. ↑ "Runway excursion Accident Lockheed C-130H Hercules FAB-81, Friday 27 February 2026". Aviation Safety Network (ASN). 27 February 2026. Retrieved 28 February 2026.
  9. ↑ "FAB-001". flightradar24.com. Retrieved 24 January 2026.
  10. ↑ "FAB-002". flightradar24.com. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  11. ↑ "The Drone Index: RemoEye 015". 21st Century Asian Arms Race. 9 August 2015. Archived from the original on 10 August 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  12. ↑ "La Fuerza Aérea boliviana presenta sus primeros UAV" [The Bolivian Air Force presents its first UAVs]. Infodefensa (in Spanish). 3 June 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  13. ↑ "Bolivia despide los últimos T-33 en servicio de todo el mundo - Noticias Infodefensa América". 2 August 2017.

Bibliography

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