FMA IA 58

FMA IA 58 Pucará
Type:	COIN
Design country:	Argentina
Manufacturer:	Fábrica Militar de Aviones
First flight:	20th August 1969
Commissioning:	1975
Production time:	1976-1986
Number of pieces:	110

The FMA IA 58 Pucará is an Argentine COIN (COunterINsurgency) aircraft. It was designed for fighting guerrillas . It is able to operate from the smallest unpaved launch sites. The name Pucará is the name of an early South American type of fortress .

Development and production

It was developed and built by FMA Fábrica Militar de Aviones SA from 1966 under the direction of Hector Ruiz. After a non-powered model had been tested from December 1967, the Pucará's maiden flight took place on August 20, 1969 with the AiResearch TPE 331 engines. A second prototype followed on September 6, 1970. This prototype already had the later series engines. After a third prototype, the first flight of the series machine took place on September 8, 1974, and was put into service in 1975. On May 15, 1979, the revised version IA58B with improved avionics and two 30 mm DEFA cannons flew for the first time. This was followed in 1980 by the IA-66 derivative with 746 kW Garrett propeller turbines. The development was completed with the single-seat variant IA58C. Only the prototype was produced, the maiden flight of which took place on December 30, 1985. The experiences of the Falklands War flowed into this prototype. The IA-58C was equipped with an improved navigation system, radar warning receivers, reinforced cockpit armor, 30 mm cannons and mounts for air-to-air guided missiles. The designation IA-58C and D is sometimes re-used today for refurbished IA-58A equipped with GPS. A total of 108 units were built by 1988, 36 of which are still in service with the Argentine Air Force .

Since the aircraft are still in service with the Argentine Air Force and no replacement is in sight for the time being, Argentina has been modernizing its aircraft since 2011, especially in the areas of avionics and cockpit instrumentation, as well as converting it to Pratt & Whitney PT-6A-62 - Engines with four-blade propellers. The modernized aircraft are designated as IA-58H.

construction

The Pucará is a light twin-engine, two - seat low- wing aircraft with straight trapezoidal wings and a T-tail . It is powered by two Turboméca Astazou XVI G PTL engines attached to the structure and is therefore a propeller-driven aircraft - which is rather unusual for combat aircraft these days . The fuel is in two self-sealing tanks in the wings and in two fuselage tanks. It has a tandem cockpit protected with armor plates, in which the pilots sit one behind the other and have the same equipment. In order to give the crew a good view, the cockpit is designed with a steep incline and is surrounded by a double-shell canopy, which guarantees almost all-round visibility. In addition to communication and navigation equipment, the cockpit is equipped with a reflex visor for dive attacks. Despite the lightweight construction, zero-zero ejection seats Mk.6 from the manufacturer Martin-Baker were installed. The landing gear in the nose wheel arrangement is retractable, whereby the main landing gear is double and the nose wheel has single tires. For landings on short, uneven landing sites, the Pucará has a main landing gear with steel ring spring shock absorbers like the Ju 88 with long spring travel.

Two 20 mm cannons with 270 rounds of ammunition each as well as four 7.62 mm FN Browning MGs with 900 rounds each can be installed under the nose of the aircraft. The Pucará has three pylons for additional external loads . The pylon under the fuselage can be loaded with up to 1,000 kg, two more under the wings with up to 250 kg each.

Exports

Some machines have been exported to:

•  Iraq (no longer in use)
•  Colombia (no longer in use)
•  Mauritania (one of three aircraft still active)
•  Sri Lanka (no longer in use)
•  Uruguay ( Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya ) (five of six aircraft still active)
•  United Kingdom (five looted aircraft from the Falklands War)

Falklands War

The machines became famous in 1982 in the Falklands War . In the Falklands War, the Pucará was only used because it was the only Argentine fighter aircraft next to helicopters that could be used on the short, rain-soaked runway at Port Stanley and other field airfields. 24 machines were stationed there. During the fighting on the islands, the Pucará was used to provide close air support to the Argentine ground forces. In 186 missions, the machines attacked British troops, landing craft or the Goose Green airfield and were able to shoot down a scout helicopter on 28 May 1982 . During these missions, the Pucará was armed with bombs, unguided missiles and napalm . In the sea battles raging off the islands, the Pucará was not used because it was not suitable for this type of combat mission. Argentina lost five Pucarás in the air and 14 on the ground in this conflict . Five machines were captured and later transferred to Great Britain. One of the machines (A-515) was assessed at Boscombe Down from April to September 1983 and later exhibited at the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford.

Technical specifications

Parameter	Data
Manufacturer	FMA
country	Argentina
task	light ground attack aircraft
crew	2
overall length	14.25 m
height	5.36 m
span	14.50 m
Wing area	30.30 m²
wheelbase	3.48 m
Gauge	4.20 m
Empty mass	4,037 kg
Fuel supply	1,260 l
Max. Takeoff mass	6,800 kg
drive	2 × PTL Turboméca Astazou XV1G
power	2 × 737 kW (1,022 wps )
Top speed	500 km / h
Cruising speed	430 km / h
Initial climb power	18 m / s
Service ceiling	10,000 m
Cruising altitude	6,000 m
Take-off run	300 m
Landing runway	200 m
Take-off distance up to 15 m	705 m
Landing distance from a height of 15 m	600 m
Wing loading	224 kg / m²
Load factor	+ 6 / −3 g
Max. Range (with additional tanks)	3,400 km
normal range	1,400 km

Armament

Guns integrated in the fuselage

• 2 x 20-mm automatic cannon Hispano-Suiza HS.804 each with 270 rounds of ammunition
• 4 × 7.62 mm Browning FN M2-20 machine guns with 225 rounds each

Ordnance up to 1,620 kg at three external load stations

Air-to-surface guided missile

• 2 × Martin Pescador MP-1000 (license AGM-12 Bullpup) - radio-controlled guided missile against static ground targets

Unguided air-to-surface missiles

• 3 × BRU-42 TER (Triple Ejection Rack) each with 3 × LAU-3 / A rocket tubular launch containers for 7 × unguided FFAR air-to-ground rockets each ; 70mm / 2.75 inch caliber missiles
• 2 × LAU-61 / A rocket tube launch containers for 19 × unguided Hydra air-to-surface rockets each ; Caliber 70 mm / 2.75 inch
• 2 × Matra 116M rocket tube launch containers for 19 × unguided SNEB air-to-surface rockets, caliber 68 mm
• 2 × Matra F1 with 36 × unguided SNEB air-to-surface missiles each; Caliber 68 mm

Unguided bombs

• 1 × 400 kg free fall bomb
• 2 × 120 kg free-fall bomb
• 2 × Mk.77 Mod 2 / Mod 4 (230 kg / 500 lb napalm incendiary bomb)
• 1 × bomb carrier for 6 × light free-fall bombs each

Additional container

• 1 × disposable additional tank for 1,200 liters of kerosene

See also

• List of aircraft types

Web links

Commons : FMA IA 58 Pucará  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• FMA IA 58 Pucará

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Argentina progresses Pucara upgrade with ground-based engine tests, Flightglobal, August 26, 2015 ( Memento of the original from August 28, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ↑ Upgrades for the Bush Warrior. In: FliegerRevue. February 2011, pp. 26-29.