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Chilean Army
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The Chilean Army is the land arm of the Military of Chile.
Discussion
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Encyclopedia
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| By right or might | | Military age | 18 years of age required for military service (2006) |
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| Availability | Age 18-49: 3,815,761 (2005 est.) |
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| Fit for military service | 3,123,281 (2005 est.) |
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| Reaching military age annually | 150,084 (2005 est.) |
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| Military expenditures |
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| Dollar figure | $3.6 billion (2006 est.) |
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| Percent of GDP | 3.9% (2006 est.) |
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| See also | Military of Chile |
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The Chilean Army is the land arm of the Military of Chile. This 45,000-person army (12,700 of which are conscripts) is organized into seven divisions, a special operations brigade and an air brigade.
In recent years and after several major reequipment programs, the Chilean Army has become one of the most technologically advanced and professional armies of the Americas.
The Chilean Army is mostly supported by equipment from Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United States, Israel, France and Spain.
Creation and role in Chilean independence movement
The Army of the Kingdom of Chile was created on December, 2 of 1810 by order of the First National Meeting of Government of Chile.
The army participated actively in the independence war, which, was fought against royalist troops in battles such as Yerbas Buenas, San Carlos, Quechereguas, Rancagua, Chacabuco and Maipú. During this period national figueres such as José Miguel Carrera, Bernardo O'Higgins and Argentinian General. José de San Martín commanded the army toward definitive victory over the Spanish forces ultimately achieving independence for the country. The Army’s first commander-in-Chief was José Miguel Carrera.
After obtaining independence from Spain, the newly formed Republic tried to reorganize its military structure by inaugurating the War Military academy of Chile, which was founded by General O'Higgins in 1817.
Peacekeeping
- UNIFIL withdrew in the early 90's
- MINUSTAH United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Haiti.
- UNFICYP United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, embedded in the Argentine Battalion
Structure
Military Equipment
The Chilean Army has acquired in the last few years Leopard 1V tanks,'s from the Netherlands Army (via RDM), M113 armoured personnel carriers (APCs) from USA and Italy, M-109´s SPH from Switzerland and AIFV-B APCs from the Belgian Army (via SABIEX). The Army is due to receive new Leopard 2 A4 main battle tanks (MBTs) from the German Army to boost defence capabilities. Also 200 Humvees are expected to arrive during 2007. Their goal is to have a completely modernized (and mostly mechanized) army by 2015. They are also modifiying the operational structure, creating Armoured (and 1 Special Operations) Brigades throughout the entire territory, while conserving the current divisional scheme. Further acquisitions of more M-109's self propelled howitzers.
In all, the Chilean army has about 202 Leopard 1's, 427 M113's, 139 AIFV's and are going to receive 140 Leopard 2's from Germany. They also have around 270 of Cardoen and FAMAE Piranhas (Mowag Piranha) LAV's.
Their main assault rifles are currently the SIG SG 510-4, SIG-FAMAE 542-1 all in .308 caliber and still in service. A small number of licenced built SG-540 and the SG-543 in caliber .223 are in use.
Image:IAVFiringCanon.jpg|Prototype of a Mobile Gun System derivative of the Piranha, mounting a 105 mm tank gun
Statistics
Small Arms
PISTOLS
- CZ-75 Semi-automatic pistol (Main Pistol of the army)
RIFLES
OTHER GUNS
GRENADE LAUNCHERS
Air defense
Anti tanks systems
Man portable systems:
Transport
Land transport assets:
- 200+ HMMWV (Some will replace the "AT role" Storm Jeeps. The rest for Recon units).
- The standard small transport vehicle for troop commanders is the IMI Storm.
- MB-1017A truck (ex-Bundeswehr).
- 4x4 Unimog truck.
Aircraft inventory
! style="text-align: center; background: #aacccc;"|Aircraft
! style="text-align: center; background: #aacccc;"|Origin
! style="text-align: center; background: #aacccc;"|Type
! style="text-align: center; background: #aacccc;"|Versions
! style="text-align: center; background: #aacccc;"|In service
! style="text-align: center; background: #aacccc;"|Notes
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| Aérospatiale Lama
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| search and rescue
| SA 315B
| 1
| Last remaining example, many sold to civilian market.
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| Aérospatiale Puma
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| transport helicopter
| SA 330L
| 4
| 3 in Haiti under UN peacekeeping mission. Originally 8 units, 4 have been retired, some put up for sale.
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| CASA C-212 Aviocar
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| tactical transport
| C-212-100
C-212-300
| 4
2
| Some aditional units were lost in accidents.
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| CASA CN-235
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| tactical transport
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| 3
| Another unit crashed over one chilean base in the Antartic
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| Cessna 172
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| utility
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| 3
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| Cessna 208
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| utility
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| 8
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| Cessna Citation
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| VIP transport
| Citation II
Citation III
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1
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| Eurocopter Super Puma
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| transport helicopter
| AS 332B
AS 332M2
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1
| 8 new Cougar AS532 machines purchased to Eurocopter, to arrive between 2009 and 2010.
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| Eurocopter Ecureuil
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| utility helicopter
| AS 350
AS 355
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1
| Slated to replace Lama and then MD 530, probably a total of 18-24 machines, to be equipped with anti-tank missiles (Spiker-ER)
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| MD Helicopters MD 530
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| utility helicopter
| MD 530F
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| 19 put in service. 2 lost in accidents, the rest sold in civilian market.
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Commanders-in-chief
External links
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