8th Air Brigade (Argentina)

The 8th Air Brigade was an Argentine Air Force brigade that was deactivated in 1988. It operated Mirage III fighters.

History
In the early 1960s, the Argentine Air Force began an analysis of the requirements needed to replace the Gloster Meteor and complement the F-86 Sabre.

In 1967, a pre-contract was signed with aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation. and was formalized on July 14, 1970. The contract specified the purchase of 10 single-seater Mirage III aircraft and two two-seater aircraft. The headquarters of the Official Civil Aviation Base were selected, in José C. Paz, a province of Buenos Aires, to receive the new units. The new unit, initially called Mariano Moreno Squadron and commanded by Vice Commodore Atilio Triulzi, would receive its first two aircraft (I-001 and I-003) in September 1972. Initially, Vice-mayor David Giosa and Captain Mario Román were selected for flight training in France.

Towards the end of 1971, two commissions (operational and technical) were appointed whose personnel would receive training in the new weapons system.

On September 21, 1973, the directive order 90/73 established the Military Air Base Mariano Moreno, seat of the 1st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron. The importance of the unit as an element of air defense culminated in the creation of the 8th (VIII) Air Brigade on January 5, 1976, in addition to 8th Operations Group, which was later named 8th Fighter Group.

In 1988, due to reorganization of the Air Force, it was decided to concentrate fighters of the same family in the same air units. This meant the dissolution of the 8th Fighter Group ordering the transfer of their aircraft to the 6th Fighter Group with seat in Tandil. The transfer concluded on March 7, 1988, the day in which the VIII Air Brigade was deactivated, with the Mirage III being integrated into the 2nd Squadron of the 6th Group.

Falklands War
In April of that 1982, after the disembarkation in the islands and before the aggravation of the conflict with the United Kingdom, the G8C was deployed to Patagonia, concentrating its means in the Mirage Squadrons of Comodoro Rivadavia and Rio Gallegos.

They had to guarantee the defense of the national territory before possible British attacks, especially with the looming threat of the British Avro Vulcan and Sea Harrier. The Mirages were armed with two R-550 air-to-air missiles, one R-530 and two additional tanks.

On May 1, 1982, British aircraft attacked vital positions on the islands with Sea Harrierss and Vulcan formations. That same day there were 5 deployments of the Rio Gallegos Mirage squadron in two aircraft formations. In one of the deployments on Isla Soledad during an A-4B sculpture, contact was made with the Sea Harrier, but it returned to base without significant damage. Another of the groups engaged in a duel with the English, however both formations dispersed, returning the Mirage to the continent. During the last deployment of the day, the Mirage unit was directed towards two British bases on the Soledad island, but whilst engaging in combat with them, one of the M-III was shot down by an AIM-9L. The second M-III, already without fuel, tried to land in Puerto Argentino, but it was shot down by the Argentine anti-air artillery, which had confused him with a British plane, killing the pilot.

As a result, the G8C avoided facing the English fighters and instead dedicated themselves to intercepting possible Vulcan formations and to performing distraction flights until the end of the conflict. One of these operations resulted in a remarkable success. On June 8, the Mirage squad distracted the Sea Harrier, which then allowed the Douglas A-4B to destroy two Royal Navy landing ships at Pleasant Bay.

The last mission of G8C took place on the last day of the conflict, when two Mirage fighters escorted two BAC Canberra s that bombed enemy bases in Mount Kent. During the conflict, the Mirage squadron carried out a total of 56 combat missions.

Pilots
Source
 * Major José Sánchez.
 * Major Luna.
 * Captain G. Ballesteros.
 * Captain G. A. García Cuerva (dead).
 * Captain Ricardo González.
 * Captain Raúl Gambandé.
 * Captain Carlos Arnau.
 * Captain Marcos Czerwinski.
 * Captain Jorge Huck.
 * 1st Lieutenant Perona.
 * 1st Lieutenant Yebra.
 * 1st Lieutenant Marcelo Puig.
 * 1st Lieutenant Carlos Selles.
 * 1st Lieutenant Alberto Maggi.
 * 1st Lieutenant Bosich.

Order of battle

 * 8th Air Brigade.
 * 8th Fighter Group.
 * 8th Technical Group.
 * 8th Base Group.