Founded 1923 | Helicopter Helibras HB350 Esquilo Part of Armed Forces of Bolivia | |
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Currentcommander General del Aire (Air General) Tito Gandarillas Similar Armed Forces of Bolivia, Bolivian Army, Bolivian Navy, Argentine Air Force, Venezuelan Air Force | ||
Bolivian air force ma 60 shutdown
The Bolivian Air Force ('Fuerza Aérea Boliviana' or 'FAB') is part of the Military of Bolivia.
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Bolivian air force fuerza a rea boliviana
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.
Current 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, Trindad, Riberalta, Roboré, Uyuni, Oruro, Sucre and Chimoré.
Major commands included the following:
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.
TAM (Transporte Aéreo Militar)
TAM - Transporte Aéreo Militar (the Bolivian Military Airline) 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 71) has been a part of the FAB since 1945.
A similar airline serving the Beni Department with small planes is Línea Aérea Amaszonas, 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.
TAB (Transportes Aéreos Bolivianos)
Although a civil transport airline, TAB - Transportes Aéreos Bolivianos, 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.
Future acquisitions
Under construction by CITA, a total of 10 units of two models (Tiluchi and Gavilán) mounted in Bolivia under license of American Team Tango Company to be used to training, acrobatics and liaison.