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Fma Ia 58 PucarThe FMA IA 58 Pucar is a twin-engined counter-insurgency (COIN) aircraft made in Argentina, flown for the first time on August 20, 1969. It is designed to be able to operate from small front-line airfields, and is heavily armed. This aircraft is unusual because of the tandem cockpit arrangement in a twin-prop-driven military aircraft. The Pucar represents an indigenous Argentine effort to produce a cost-effective combat aircraft in the face of hyperinflation that plagued the Argentine economy for much of the 20th Century. While the Pucar is a robust and versatile aircraft in its primary role of defeating insurgents, it was not suited for defending the Falkland Islands against the British counter-attack during the Falklands War of 1982. As the only Fuerza Aerea Argentina aircraft available in substantial numbers for deployment on the islands (no runways long enough existed for FAA Skyhawks and Mirages) to be deployed, many Pucars were destroyed on the ground by British forces before ever taking part in actual combat. Apart from Argentina, Pucars have also been exported to the Air Forces of Uruguay, Colombia, and Sri Lanka. Specifications (IA 58 Pucar) General Characteristics - Crew: two
- Length: 14.25 m (46 ft 9 in)
- Wingspan: 15.36 m (47 ft 1 in)
- Height: 5.36 m (47 ft 1 in)
- Wing area: m² ( ft²)
- Empty: 4,020 kg (8,862 lb)
- Loaded: kg ( lb)
- Maximum takeoff: 6,800 kg (14,991 lb)
- Powerplant: 2x Turbomeca Astazou XV1G turboprops, 1,456 kW (1,956 shp) each
Performance - Maximum speed: 750 km/h (466 mph)
- Range: 3,710 km (2,318 miles)
- Service ceiling: m ( ft)
- Rate of climb: m/min ( m/min)
- Wing loading: kg/m² ( lb/ft²)
- Power/Mass: kW/kg ( hp/lb)
Armament Related content Related development: Comparable aircraft: OV-10 Bronco Designation sequence: IA 58
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