FMA IA 58 Pucara
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The FMA IA 58 Pucará (Fortress) is a twin-engined counter-insurgency (COIN) aircraft made in Argentina, flown for the first time on August 20, 1969. It is designed to be able to operate from small front-line airfields. This aircraft is unusual because of the tandem cockpit arrangement in a twin-prop-driven military aircraft.
While the Pucará is a robust and versatile aircraft in its primary role of defeating insurgents, it was not suited for defending the Falkland Islands against the British counter-attack during the Falklands War of 1982. As the only FAA aircraft available in substantial numbers for deployment on the islands (no runways long enough existed for FAA Skyhawks and Mirages to be deployed), many Pucarás were destroyed on the ground by British forces before taking part in actual combat, with one taken back to the United Kingdom, currently in Duxford. A second example (serial number A-515) was taken to Boscombe Down, returned to flying condition and assessed by the RAF. It is now on display at the RAF Museum Cosford.
Apart from Argentina, Pucarás have also been exported to the air forces of Uruguay, Colombia, and Sri Lanka.
Specifications (IA 58 Pucará)
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