The Portuguese Air Force () is the air force branch of the Portuguese Armed Forces (Forças Armadas). Locally it is referred to by the acronym FAP but internationally is often referred to by the acronym PRTAF. It is the youngest of the three branches of the Portuguese Armed Forces.
The Portuguese Air Force was formed on 1 July 1952, when the former (Army Aviation) and (Naval Aviation) were united and formed an independent air branch of the Armed Forces.
However, the remote origins of the FAP go back to the early 20th century with the establishment of the first military air unit in 1911, the Military Aeronautics School in 1914, the participation of Portuguese pilots in World War I, the establishment of the Army, and the Navy aviation services.
The FAP is commanded by the Chief of Staff of the Air Force (CEMFA), a subordinate of the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces for operational matters and a direct subordinate of the Minister of National Defense for all other matters. The CEMFA is the only officer in the Air Force with the rank of general (four-star rank).
Presently, the FAP is an entirely professional force made of career personnel (officers and NCOs) and of volunteer personnel (officers, NCOs, and enlisted ranks). As of 2018, the FAP employed a total of 5,949 military personnel, of which 1,939 were officers, 2,620 were NCOs, and 1,390 were other enlisted ranks. Additionally, the Air Force further included 727 civilian employees (totally 6,676 personnel).
Besides its warfare role, the FAP has also public service roles, namely assuring the Portuguese Air Search and Rescue Service. Until 2014, the FAP also integrated the National Aeronautical Authority (AAN). The AAN is now a separate body, but continues to be headed by the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, with the Air Force assuring most of its activities, namely the air policing service.
Its aerobatic display teams are the for jet aircraft and the for helicopters, but both have been inactive since 2010.
History Beginnings The remote origins of the Portuguese Air Force lie in the origins of the Portuguese military aeronautics.
Portugal was directly linked with the history of aeronautics since its early beginnings. In 1709, the Portuguese priest Bartolomeu de Gusmão requested a patent for a device to move through the air, which consisted of a kind of hot air balloon. The patent was granted on 19 April 1709 and small scale models of this device were tested with success on several occasions, including before the court of King John V of Portugal. Accordingly, with some opinions, a real scale device would have performed a crewed flight over the city of Lisbon, taking off from the São Jorge Castle and landing at the Cotovia Hill. This may have been the first manned flight in history.
In 1876, General Augusto Bon de Sousa proposed the use of aerostats as means of observation and communication. This proposal was implemented in 1886, with the beginning of the use of Lachambre balloons by the Army Engineering School at Tancos.FERREIRA, João José Brandão, "A Aviação Nacional na I Guerra Mundial: uma actuação quase desconhecida" , Revista Militar, 2016 The organization of the Army Telegraphic Service of 1900 assigned it the charge for the aerostation service, namely the specific competency for establishing air communications.
The history of the Portuguese military aviation proper is deeply connected with the foundation of the Air Club of Portugal (AeCP) on 11 December 1909, by 30 aviation enthusiasts, the majority of them being Army officers. The AeCP became one of the major boosters of the development of aviation in Portugal in the early 20th century, including its military use. The AeCP sponsored Abeillard Gomes da Silva in the design and building of the first Portuguese airplane, financed by the War Ministry and tested at the Army School of Engineering, Tancos on 13 January 1910.
Despite the previous use of balloons by the Portuguese Army, its first flying unit was only created in 1911, in the scope of the military reorganisation that occurred that year. This unit was the Aerostation Company (), which was part of the Army Telegraphic Service and was intended to operate observation aerostats. This unit would later receive a handful of airplanes.
In 1912, the Portuguese Government received its first airplane, a Deperdussin B, offered by the Portuguese-born Colonel Albino Costa of the Brazilian Army. The Government further received a Maurice Farman MF4 offered by the O Comércio do Porto newspaper and an Avro 500 offered by the Portuguese Republican Party. These aircraft would be integrated in the Aerostation Company, but remained for years without use because of the non-existence of pilots.
Still in 1912, midshipman Miguel Freitas Home of the naval purser branch applied for admission to any course that would qualify him as an aviator. He was the first member of the Portuguese Military to formally request to be an aircraft pilot.
In the same year, by request of the AeCP, the legislator António José de Almeida presented a bill to the Portuguese Parliament for the creation of a Military Aviation Institute. Despite the non-approval of the bill, the War Ministry appointed an ad hoc commission, made up of officers of the Army and Navy (including some members of the AeCP), intended to study the basis for the creation of aviation, balloon and airship schools. By the Army Order of 12 February 1913, this became the permanent Military Aeronautics Commission, attached to the Army Telegraphic Service.
Finally, the Parliament issued Law 162 of 14 May 1914, which created the Military Aeronautics School (EMA, ), including aviation and aerostation services. The EMA would include a Staff, aeronautical troops (including the Aerostation Company and a Navy Section), and technical and support staff. The Law foresaw the existence of a Military Aeronautical Service from which the EMA would be dependent. However, while the Aeronautical Service was still not organized, the EMA would be under the inspection of the chairman of the Military Aeronautics Commission. After the formal creation of the EMA, the next steps were to implement it. One of the first steps was to train aviators to serve as the future instructors, with 11 officers being selected for that (nine from the Army and two from the Navy) and sent to several U.S., French, and British aviation schools, where they were certified as aircraft pilots. Another important step was the building of the facilities for the EMA. The study of the Military Aeronautics Commission pointed to Alverca as the best option to install the school, with Vila Nova da Rainha (a village of the Azambuja Municipality) as the second best option. Both places satisfied the requests of being located in flat grounds (allowing the installation of airfield and hangars), in the riverside (allowing the operation of seaplanes) and near the railway (facilitating the communications). Due to budget restraints, the second option was chosen, with the construction of the EMA installations starting at Vila Nova da Rainha on 15 April 1915.
On 17 July 1916, lieutenant Santos Leite performed the first Portuguese military airplane flight, in the Deperdussin B that had been offered in 1912. EMA and its first course was opened in October of the same year, with naval lieutenant aviator Sacadura Cabral as the chief of the pilots and with Major aeronautical engineer Ribeiro de Almeida as the chief of mechanics. The first students started flying in November, with Army lieutenant Sarmento de Beires being the first one.
During World War I, an air unit was planned as part of the Portuguese Expeditionary Corps fighting on the Western Front, but its activation was cancelled due to the refusal from the British Government to provide the needed aircraft. With this cancellation, several of the Portuguese airmen who were to integrate that air unit, instead volunteered to fly in French aviation units, where they had the baptism by fire of the Portuguese military aviation. Serving in French squadron SPA 65, in November 1917, Captain Óscar Monteiro Torres became the first Portuguese pilot to be killed in an air combat when his SPAD S.VII was shot down after himself having shot down two German planes.
In Mozambique, in the operations against German Eastern Africa, from September 1917, the Portuguese forces included a small flight of Farman F.40 airplanes, this being one of the earliest employments of military aircraft in Africa. In 1918, a flight of Caudron G.4 was also deployed to Angola to support the Portuguese forces engaged in the South-West Africa campaign, but arrived after the end of the conflict. This flight however gave origin to a permanent air unit based in Angola.
The Portuguese Navy started to have its own aviation service on 28 September 1917, although by that time it already had flying activities performed by the Navy Section of the EMA. The Army's Military Aeronautical Service was also finally fully organized on 29 June 1918, in the scope of which the EMA was to be subdivided in separate aviation and aerostation schools and the first Portuguese aircraft factory was established.
The Military Aeronautics By the Decree 4529 of 29 June 1918, the Portuguese Army's Military Aeronautical Service () – already foreseen when the Military Aeronautics School was created in 1914 – was organised. It included the Directorate of Military Aeronautics, the Military Aeronautics Technical Commission, the Military School of Aviation, the Military School of Aerostatics, the aeronautical troops and the Aeronautical Materiel Park (PMA). The Directorate of Military Aeronautics was headed by a senior officer (pilot aviator, aerostat pilot or aeronautical engineer), who directly reported to the War Minister. The aeronautical troops would include aviation and aerostatics units, including the already existing Aerostatics Company and the newly created Composite Aviation Depot Flight (EMAD). The EMAD was responsible to train pilots and observers and to prepare the creation of future air units, being initially installed at Alverca and then transferred to Tancos, where an airfield was built to serve as its base. The PMA, installed at Alverca, was the precursor of the still existing OGMA aviation industry.
By the initiative of the local colonial authorities, the Caudron G.4 expeditionary flight that had been deployed to Angola due to World War I became a permanent air unit of the colony in 1918, as the Initial Colonial Flight, based at Huambo. This unit was increased in 1921, with the reception of Caudron G.3 reconnaissance and Breguet 14 bomber airplanes, becoming the Angola Group of Aviation Flights (GEAA), which existed until being disbanded in 1924.
On 7 February 1919, the Group of Aviation Flights "República" (GEAR) was created. This was the first permanent operational aviation unit in the Portuguese Mainland, including a combat flight – equipped with SPAD S.VII fighters – and a bombardment and observation flight – equipped with Breguet 14 bombers. It was installed at Amadora, for which an airfield was built.
In 1920, the Military School of Aviation was transferred from Vila Nova da Rainha to Granja do Marquês (Sintra Municipality), the site of what would become the still existing Sintra Air Base.
The Decree 9749 of 30 May 1924, defining that the director of the Military Aeronautics could be a colonel of any arm of the Army (and not necessarily an officer aviator), caused revolt among the aviators, culminating in the uprising of the GEAR. The uprising was quelled by other military units, with the officer aviators being arrested. These incidents led to the temporary disbandment of the Military Aeronautical Service by the Decree 9801 of 15 July 1924.