Military of Chile

Armed Forces of Chile
Fuerzas Armadas de Chile
Coat of arms of Chile
Service branches Chilean Army
Chilean Navy
Chilean Air Force
Leadership
Commander-in-chief Sebastián Piñera
Minister of Defense Alberto Espina
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Lieutenant General Arturo Merino
Manpower
Military age 18
Available for
military service		 3,815,761, age 15–49
Fit for
military service		 3,123,281, age 15–49
Reaching military
age annually		 150,084
Active personnel 80,560 (ranked 59th)
Reserve personnel 62,000
Expenditures
Budget CL$7.392 billion (2011 est)[1]
Percent of GDP 3.0% of GDP (2011 est)[1][2]
Industry
Domestic suppliers FAMAE
ENAER
ASMAR
DTS
SISDEF
DESA
LINKTRONIC
Detroit Chile
Foreign suppliers  Australia
 Brazil
 Canada
 Colombia
 France
 Germany
 Israel
 Italy
 Russia
 Spain
 Sweden
 Taiwan
 United Kingdom
 United States
Related articles
Ranks Army ranks
Air Force ranks
Navy ranks

The Armed Forces of Chile (Spanish: Fuerzas Armadas de Chile) is the unified military organization comprising the Chilean Army, Air Force and Navy. The President of Chile is the commander in chief of the military, and formulates policy through the Minister of Defence. In recent years and after several major reequipment programs, the Chilean Armed Forces have become one of the most technologically advanced and professional armed forces in Latin America.[3] The Chilean Army is mostly supplied with equipment from Germany, the United States, Israel, France, and Spain.

Structure

Army

The current commander-in-chief of the Chilean Army is General de Ejército Sr. Ricardo Martínez Menanteau. The 80,000-person army is organized in seven divisions and one air brigade. The army operates German Leopard 1 and 2 tanks as its main battle tanks. The recent purchase of 200 second-hand Leopard 2A4CHL from the German army is now being delivered.

Admiral Julio Leiva Molina directs the 25,000-person Chilean Navy, including 4,800 Marines. Of the fleet of 66 surface vessels, eight are major combatant ships and they are based in Valparaíso. The navy operates its own aircraft for transport and patrol; there are no fighters or bomber aircraft but they have attack helicopters. The Navy also operates four submarines based in Talcahuano.

Air Force

Gen. Jorge Rojas Avila heads 11,000 strong Chilean Air Force. Air assets are distributed among five air brigades headquartered in Iquique, Antofagasta, Santiago, Puerto Montt, and Punta Arenas. The Air Force also operates an airbase on King George Island, Antarctica.

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 "Military Expenditure of Chile". The SIPRI Military Expenditure Database. SIPRI. 2012. Archived from the original on 28 March 2010. Retrieved 5 July 2012. 2011 Military Expenditure of Chile In constant (2010) US$7.392 m SIPRI Estimate
  2. ↑ "Chile GDP, current prices US dollars". World Economic Outlook Database. International Monetary Fund. April 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2012. Chile GDP, current prices $USD 248.411 billion
  3. ↑ Bawden, John R (2016). 'The Pinochet Generation: The Chilean Military in the Twentieth Century'. University of Alabama. pp. 218–219. ISBN 978-0-8173-1928-1.

References

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