The Colombian Aerospace Force (FAC) has deployed its UH-60L Halcón and AH-60L Arpía IV helicopters to Chile for its first participation in Exercise Salitre 2026, the multinational air warfare exercise hosted by the Chilean Air Force (FACh). The deployment marks Colombia's debut and reinforces regional cooperation and interoperability among participating air forces.

The Colombian contingent consists of 77 personnel, four A-29B Super Tucano aircraft and the UH-60L Halcón and AH-60L Arpía IV helicopters. The helicopters arrived at Cerro Moreno Air Base in Antofagasta on June 26 after completing a five-day, 3,300 km (2,050-mile) ferry flight from Colombia with intermediate stops in Cali, Guayaquil, Piura, Trujillo, Lima, Nazca, Tacna and Iquique.

The helicopter detachment was led by Major Rafael Gómez of Combat Squadron 511, while the Colombian delegation is commanded by Brigadier General Jorge Andrés Henao Bohórquez. Chilean authorities welcomed the crews upon arrival, highlighting the importance of integrating Colombian rotary-wing assets into this year's multinational exercise.

According to Brigadier General Henao, participation in Salitre 2026 provides an important opportunity to strengthen interoperability, exchange operational experience and enhance cooperation among regional air forces. Major Gómez also emphasized that operating alongside international partners will contribute to improving the Colombian Aerospace Force's operational doctrine.

During Salitre 2026, the Colombian helicopters will conduct combined missions alongside aircraft and personnel from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and the United States using NATO operational methodology. The exercise includes complex crisis response scenarios, peace support operations and humanitarian assistance missions designed to improve multinational command, coordination and joint operational capabilities.

Colombian Black Hawks

The development of the Arpía (Harpy) attack helicopter began in the early 1990s, when the Colombian Air Force (FAC) sought a heavily armed platform to combat guerrilla groups and drug cartels across the country's rugged terrain. Rather than acquiring a dedicated attack helicopter, Colombia partnered with Sikorsky to modify its UH-60 Black Hawk fleet into a unique indigenous multi-role gunship.

The first Arpía I entered service in 1995, equipped with external weapon wings carrying heavy machine guns and unguided rocket pods for close air support missions. Over the following decades, the platform evolved through the Arpía II and III standards, incorporating forward-looking infrared (FLIR) sensors, digital glass cockpits, improved avionics and additional crew protection.

The latest AH-60L Arpía IV represents the most capable version, transforming the helicopter from an area-suppression platform into a precision-strike aircraft through the integration of helmet-mounted sights, advanced electro-optical sensors and Israeli-made Spike anti-tank guided missiles. Today, the Arpía remains the backbone of the Colombian Aerospace Force's attack helicopter capability and one of the most heavily armed UH-60 derivatives in operational service anywhere in the world.

At Salitre 2026, the Chilean Air Force will again deploy its own Black Hawk helicopters. These are Polish-built S-70i aircraft, produced by PZL Mielec, a Sikorsky company

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Exercise Salitre

First organized by the Chilean Air Force (FACh) in 2004, Exercise Salitre was created to strengthen regional security and foster international cooperation among air forces from the Americas. Operating from the vast Atacama Desert, the early editions—including Salitre I and Salitre II in 2009—used NATO planning methodologies to simulate multinational responses to fictional regional crises.

During its first decade, the biennial exercise primarily emphasized traditional fighter operations, air superiority, and interoperability among key regional partners such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile and the United States. As global threats evolved, Salitre gradually shifted toward modern peace-enforcement and joint coalition frameworks.

By Salitre III in 2014 and Salitre IV in 2022, the scenarios had moved beyond pure air-to-air combat to include complex combined operations such as electronic warfare, humanitarian assistance, search and rescue, and crisis-response missions. This evolution paved the way for the current multidomain concept, incorporating space and cyber-defense elements and consolidating Salitre as one of South America's leading multilateral training exercises.

The 2026 edition features the international debut of Brazil's F-39E Gripen fighters, U.S. F-16s, Argentina's IA-63 Pampa aircraft, Paraguay's recently acquired A-29 Super Tucanos and Colombia's first helicopter deployment to the exercise. The Atacama Desert provides an ideal environment for complex multinational missions involving fighter aircraft, ISR assets such as the MQ-9 Reaper and rotary-wing platforms including Colombia's AH-60L Arpía IV.