IA 58 Pucará
| IA 58 Pucará | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| IA 58A | |
| Role | Counter-insurgency aircraft |
| Manufacturer | Fábrica Militar de Aviones |
| First flight | 20 August 1969 |
| Introduction | 9 August 1974 |
| Status | In service |
| Primary users |
Argentine Air Force Sri Lankan Air Force (historical) Uruguayan Air Force |
| Produced | 1976–1993 |
| Number built | 110 |
The FMA IA 58 Pucará (Quechua: Fortress) is an Argentine ground-attack and counter-insurgency (COIN) aircraft manufactured by the Fábrica Militar de Aviones. It is a low-wing twin-turboprop all-metal monoplane with retractable landing gear, capable of operating from unprepared strips when operationally required. The type saw action during the Falklands War and the Sri Lankan Civil War.
In August 1966, Dirección Nacional de Fabricación e Investigación Aeronáutica (DINFIA), the Argentine state aircraft factory began development of the AX-2, a Counter-insurgency (COIN) aircraft to meet a requirement of the Argentine Air Force. The project was promoted by engineer Ricardo Olmedo and became under the guidance of engineer Aníbal Dreidemie, who also designed the IA-52 Guaraní II and the IA-63 Pampa. The chosen layout was a low-wing monoplane powered by two turboprop engines mounted in wing-mounted nacelles and fitted with a T-tail. In order to test the proposed layout, DINFIA first built a full-scale unpowered glider test vehicle, this flying for the first time on 26 December 1967.
Testing of the glider showed no major handling problems, and in September 1968, construction began on a powered prototype, given the designation FMA IA 58 Delfin, but later renamed Pucará, to be powered by a pair of 674 kilowatts (904 hp) Garrett TPE331I/U-303 engines. (DINFIA had been renamed the Fábrica Militar de Aviones (FMA) earlier that year). The first prototype made its maiden flight on 20 August 1969, with a second prototype, with power switching to 729 kW (978 shp) Turbomeca Astazou XVIGs, following on 6 September 1970. The first prototype was later re-engined with the Astazou, this engine being chosen for the production version, and a third production prototype followed in 1973. The first production model flew on 8 November 1974, with deliveries beginning in early 1976.
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