South America air forces maneuvers
The South American air forces performs several joint aerial combat training exercises. Among the more important are Cruzex ( Portuguese: Exercício Cruzeiro do Sul ) which is hosted by the Brazilian Air Force, Salitre ( English: Saltpeter ) hosted by the Chilean Air Force and Ceibo ( English: Erythrina crista-galli flower ) hosted by the Argentine Air Force. The goal is to train together in order to respond to a crisis or integrate into United Nations peacekeeping operations as a unified team; the United States Air Force and the Royal Canadian Air Force have also participated in some of these exercises in recent years.
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The exercises include combat search and rescue, aerial refueling and combined air operations center training opportunities focused on interoperability.[1]
List of operations
All helicopters are normally provided by the host nation and all the participants include different types of support aircraft.
Operation | Date | Air bases | Participants | Observers | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cruzex I | 2002 May | Canoas | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
65 aircraft | ||
Cruzex II | 2004 Nov | Natal | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
85 aircraft | ||
Salitre I | 2004 26 Sep/10 Oct | Cerro Moreno Iquique |
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57 aircraft | [2][3] | |
Ceibo 2005 | 2005 Nov | El Plumerillo Villa Reynolds |
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45 aircraft | [4] | |
Cruzex III | 2006 Aug/Sep | Anapolis Campo Grande Uberlandia Brasilia Jatai |
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103 aircraft and helicopters. Peru withdrew due to a crash of an A-37B Dragonfly at Porto Velho on the way to Anapolis which killed both pilots. | [5] |
Cruzex IV | 2008 Nov | Natal | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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98 aircraft. Argentina withdrew at last minute due to the Congress not authorizing the Air Force's aircraft to leave the country in time. | [6][7][8] |
Salitre II | 2009 19-30/Oct | Cerro Moreno Iquique |
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59 aircraft and helicopters. The exercise was criticized by Peru | [1][9] |
Cooperación I | 2010 4-15/Oct | Chile | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Natural disasters relief training official video | [10] |
Cruzex V | 2010 28oct/19nov | Natal | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
98 aircraft | [11] | |
Cruzex VI | 2013 2-15/Nov | Natal | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
91 aircraft and helicopters | ||
Cooperación III | 2014 23 Apr/1 May | Perú | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Natural disasters relief training | [12] |
Salitre III | 2014 6-17/Oct | Cerro Moreno Iquique |
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51 aircraft | ||
Cruzex 2018 | 2018 18-30/Nov | Natal | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
100 aircraft and helicopters |
See also
References
- AFSOUTH Airmen participate in Exercise SALITRE II
- Ejercicio Salitre 2004 Archived 2007-10-29 at Archive.today (in Spanish)
- Opt. Salitre 2004
- saorbats.com.ar CEIBO 2005 Archived 2007-10-28 at Archive.today
- CRUZEX III: The biggest aerial operation in Latin America!
- FAB In CRUZEX IV Coalition Force's backstage
- FAB CRUZEX IV Archived 2011-07-19 at the Wayback Machine (in Portuguese)
- Cruzex 2008 pictorial Archived 2011-07-22 at the Wayback Machine
- Empezó el ejercicio militar chileno 'Operación Salitre II' pese a críticas (in Spanish)
- Cooperacion I at fach site
- Cruzex V official site Archived 2010-08-17 at the Wayback Machine
External links
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