Fábrica Argentina de Aviones 3.03

The Fábrica Argentina de Aviones SA, officially Fábrica Argentina de Aviones "Brigadier San Martín" S.A., is Argentina's main aircraft manufacturer. Founded on 10 October 1927 and located in Córdoba, for most of its existence it was known as Fábrica Militar de Aviones, until its privatization in the 1990s to Lockheed Martin. In 2009 the concession ended and is now wholly owned by the Argentine government.HistoryFormed on October 10, 1927 and on July 18, 1928 ends the construction and testing begins on the track the first domestically produced aircraft: the license built Avro 504 Gosport training aircraft equipped with a 100hp Gnome engine. It had a speed of 140 km/h with a flying endurance of 2 hours. A series of indigenous and foreign designs followed, mostly for military use.The factory is known for producing the first jet fighter aircraft in Latin America: the Pulqui I (1947) and the Pulqui II (1950) under the direction of engineers Emile Dewoitine (French) and Kurt Tank (German) respectively.In the 1960s produced the Guarani light transport and the Pucara COIN aircraft, followed by the Pampa jet trainer in the 1980s; the last two still in service with the Argentine Air Force as of early 2016.Privatization (1995)In 1995, FMA was privatized by the government of Carlos Menem and from that year until March 2009 it operated as a concession to LMAASA (Lockheed Martin Aircraft Argentina SA, a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation). Under the terms of the privatization agreement LMAASA would operate it for 25 years, which could be renewed for two 10 year periods.