| Brazilian Naval Aviation | |
|---|---|
| Aviação Naval Brasileira | |
 | |
| Active | 1916–1941; 1952–present[a] |
| Country |  Brazil |
| Type | Naval aviation |
| Size | 3,539 personnel (2022)[1] 76 aircraft (2022)[1] |
| Part of |  Brazilian Navy |
| Command HQ | São Pedro da Aldeia |
| Commanders | |
| Commander of the Navy | Fleet Admiral Marcos Olsen |
| Commander of the Aeronaval Force | Rear Admiral Augusto José da Silva Fonseca Junior |
| Insignia | |
| Roundel |  |
| Aircraft flown | |
| Attack | A-4 Skyhawk |
| Helicopter | SH-3 Sea King AS-332 Super Puma Super Lynx Esquilo Bell Jet Ranger SH-60 Seahawk Eurocopter EC725 |
| Reconnaissance | ScanEagle |
| Transport | C-1A Trader |
The Brazilian Naval Aviation (Portuguese: Aviação Naval Brasileira) is the air component of the Brazilian Navy, currently called Força Aeronaval. Most of its air structure is subordinated to the Naval Air Force Command (Comando da Força Aeronaval, ComForAerNav), the military organization responsible for providing operational air support from Navy vessels, while four squadrons are subordinated to the Naval Districts, responsible for inland and coastal waters. ComForAerNav is headquartered at the Naval Air Base of São Pedro da Aldeia, where all aircraft fleet level maintenance is carried out and where the Aeronaval Instruction and Training Center (Centro de Instrução e Adestramento Aeronaval, CIAAN) is located, which forms its staff. Its pilots, all officers with one to three years of prior naval experience, fly its helicopters, airplanes and Remotely Piloted Aircraft (Aeronaves Remotamente Pilotadas; ARPs, or drones) as extensions of the ships' weaponry and sensors.
The first phase of Naval Aviation in Brazil began in 1916, with the creation of the Naval Aviation School. Brazilian naval aviators were sent abroad in World War I, participating in real patrol operations, and the Naval Aviation, focused on seaplanes, developed rapidly in the following decades and created a common identity with Army aviators. This period ended in 1941, when president Getúlio Vargas, going against the Ministry of the Navy, transferred all military aviation in the country to the newly created Brazilian Air Force (FAB). During the Second World War, the FAB was in charge of important patrol aviation along the coast, but the need for a body of embarked aircraft became evident abroad. Therefore, the Navy recreated its Directorate of Aeronautics in 1952, acquired the Navio-Aeródromo Ligeiro (NAeL, that is, aircraft carrier) Minas Gerais in 1956 and invested heavily in a fleet of helicopters and planes and in a new cadre of aviators. In this second phase, the embarked aviation issue generated a serious conflict between the Brazilian Navy and the FAB, as the latter wanted a monopoly on military aviation.
In 1965, president Castelo Branco issued a new decree, prohibiting the Navy from operating fixed-wing aircraft (airplanes), but authorizing rotary-wing aircraft (helicopters). Thus began a third phase, with the FAB embarking its planes in Minas Gerais, and the Navy developing its operations with helicopters. Embarked even on small ships, rotary wing aircraft remain the main element of Naval Aviation, even in the following phases. The focus of air-naval operations was anti-submarine warfare, but several of the helicopters also received anti-ship missiles, and their versatility for reconnaissance and transport is put to good use. The Marine Corps values them for amphibious operations. Squadrons of instruction (HI-1), attack (HA-1), anti-submarine (HS-1) and general purpose (HU-1 and 2) helicopters were organized. From 1979, the district means expanded Naval Aviation beyond Rio de Janeiro. The Navy's change of priorities and the retirement of the FAB's 1st Group of Embarked Aviation (GAE) culminated in a fourth phase: in 1998, a new decree allowed the Navy to operate fixed-wing aircraft, authorizing its purchase of A-4 Skyhawk jets to organize the 1st Interceptor and Strike Fighter Squadron (VF-1). Faced with the imminent retirement of Minas Gerais, a new aircraft carrier was purchased, the NAe São Paulo.
The VF-1 was celebrated as an achievement in air defense for the Brazilian Navy, national power projection and the evolution to a blue water navy, but both the jets and the new aircraft carrier suffered from serious unavailability issues. São Paulo was retired in 2017, locking the Skyhawks on land bases, with service forecast until 2030. However, the demand for a helicopter platform was met by the purchase of NAM Atlântico in 2020. Investments in helicopters continued in the 2010s and 2020, with new UH-12 Esquilo, small, but the most numerous in the air fleet, and the larger Super Cougar, SH-16 Seahawk and Super Lynx. Plans for a 1st Transport and Early Warning Airplane Squadron (VEC-1), crucial to supporting the VF-1, were abandoned. The activation of the 1st Squadron of Remotely Piloted Aircraft (QE-1) in 2022, allowing for greater development in the areas of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, inaugurated the fifth phase.
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