Royal Antoran Air Cavalry

Royal Antoran Air Cavalry
Caballería Aérea de Antora Réal
Founded	24 September 1913
Country	Antora
Type	Air Force
Role	Aerial warfare
Size	42,067 personnel
Part of	Royal Antoran Defense Forces
Headquarters	Descarai, Casilló y Réal
Motto	Somos Rapidos y Furiosos
Colors	Sky, Cobalt, and Gold
Anniversaries	24 September
Commanders
Chief Marshal of the Air Cavalry	Carlos Gamesa Palmas
Wing Marshal	Ruben Linares

The Royal Antoran Air Cavalry (Corric: Caballería Aérea de Antora Réal, abbreviated CAAR,) is the air component of the Royal Antoran Defense Forces. Until 2022, it was known as the Royal Corric Air Cavalry (Caballería Aérea de Corrí Réal.) It was formed in 1938 after the Great War as the Antoran military modernized and the concept of combat aircraft became more widespread. It consists of 298 aircraft and 42,067 personnel spread over six airbases.

Originally consisting of a few dozen light fighters, the Air Cavalry expanded significantly in subsequent decades to become a key part of Antoran defense policy. Efforts in the 1950s to design competitive attack craft paid off with the L-60 Mantarayya and the L-65 Tiburón, which have variants still in service today. The focus of the Air Cavalry shifted in the mid-1970s to airlift and transport, and the success of the aircraft produced for this purpose saw them enter the civilian market after several years.

The Air Cavalry was reduced in size after the Corric Succession Crisis in 1987. Two squadrons of fighter craft and one of transport craft were removed from the official structure after their participation in the armed insurrection against the crown. In 2022, the Air Cavalry was renamed to the Royal Antoran Air Cavalry.

According to current doctrine, the Air Cavalry has four main goals: to defend the nation and its infrastructure and citizens from foreign aggression, to provide capacity to transport ground-based troops and equipment of the Royal Antoran Defense Forces, to operate ground-attack capability against surface targets, and to operate as a surveillance and control element during warfare.

Organization

The Air Cavalry is made up of Brigades. There are four Air Brigades, which are made up of fighter craft, two Air Bombardment Brigades, which have the ground-attack and naval patrol craft, and two Transport Brigades, composed of heavy-lift planes, transport helicopters, and similar aircraft. Brigades are divided into Groups, which contain Squadrons as well as supply and support elements. Air Brigades have two Groups with two squadrons apiece. Air Bombardment Brigades have two Groups, each with three squadrons. Transport Brigades have three Groups with three Squadrons. Outside the Brigade structure are two specialized squadrons: the 33rd Refueling Squadron and the 34th Electronic Warfare Squadron. These special squadrons contain only two and four aircraft respectively.

Personnel

In 2022, the CACR possessed a strength of 58,007 active members and 8,211 reservists. The civilian personnel component made up approximately 60% of these numbers, most working in maintenance, logistics, and damage control. In 2021, the Royal Antoran Defense Forces began a significant downsizing and modernization effort to reduce bloated service numbers and replace old equipment from the mid-1900s. The General Staff have indicated they would like to reduce the Air Cavalry in size to 48,000 soldiers and 4,000 reservists by mid-2022.

Training

The Air Cavalry operates three primary training institutions. The Descarai Combat Academy, the largest military college in the nation, has basic and advanced courses detailing air warfare doctrine and practices. The two practical training programs, located at Fort Lluvieré Air Base and Fort Bugrí Air Reserve Base, cater to both military and civilian aviation, with the Stratosphere Program at Fort Lluvieré reserved for selected pilot cadets destined for elite service. Training starts with the basic T-12 Perro prop aircraft and then graduates to the L-72 Méro light combat trainer.

Aircraft

The Air Cavalry operates 298 aircraft across its Brigades. The past use of a variety of foreign fighter craft has led to the creation of the "Antorize" policy. All foreign aircraft serving in the Air Cavalry undergo an extensive refit to replace their avionics, weapons, and engines with appropriate domestic models. This ensures that the Air Cavalry will not have a surplus of spare parts for certain planes and a deficit of others in wartime.

The General Staff upgraded the fighter inventory in late 2020 with the purchase of twenty-four GA-20M and thirty-six GA-36s from Volkia and twelve JAS-39E Gripens from Cryria, replacing the 56 L-65 Tiburóns that had been in service since the 1990s and the 32 L-60 Mantarayyas from the 1970s. The Mantarayyas were sold as scrap and most Tiburóns sold to the Company of the Quill as their new air wing.

In 2022, the CAAR received delivery of twenty-four L-75 Gavilán light fighters from the joint Antoran-Cryrian Advanced Lightweight Adaptable Military Aircraft project, as well as ten L/U -448 Gaviotas from the domestic Compact Sumbarine Destroyer Aircraft program. This enabled the air fleet to be reorganized further, with all GA-36 interceptors and GA-20M fighters being transferred to the Royal Antoran Royal Guard. Six V/U-47 maritime patrol aircraft and five L/U-449 Martín anti-submarine aircraft were transferred to the Royal Antoran Armada.

As part of the induction into the Inter-Novaran Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, the Air Cavalry recieved 10 L-100 Solaris strike aircraft from Volscina, enabling Antora to deploy nuclear warhead-tipped cruise missiles and bombs as part of the INTRA deterrence triad.

Combat Aircraft
Aircraft	Origin	Type	Photo	In service	Notes
JAS-39E/ANT Grifón	Cryria	Multirole fighter		24	Cryrian Beyond Visual Range air superiority fighter, ground attack and anti-ship capabilities
L-75 Gavilán	Antora Cryria	Multirole fighter		25	Joint Antoran-Cryrian light fighter project, assigned air superiority missions
L-100/ANT Solaris	Volscina	Strike fighter		10	Anti-ship and cruise missile payload capable
Maritime Patrol
V/U-47	Antora	Maritime patrol and surveillance		4	Maritime patrol & battlespace control, armed with sonar buoys and torpedos
L/U-449 Martín	Antora	Anti-submarine aircraft		6	Armed with torpedos, depth charges, magnetometers. Capable of refueling operations
L/U-448 Gaviota	Antora	Maritime strike aircraft		10	Armed with torpedos, bombs, anti-ship missiles
Electronic Warfare
E/U-449 Estática	Antora	Electronic warfare and surveillance		3	Special deployment EWAR aircraft
Surveillance
V/U-47/AEWC	Antora	AEWC		4	Airborne battlespace control aircraft
V/U-44	Tamerlaine	Surveillance		9	Surveillance and artillery spotting
Aerial Firefighting
F/U-41 Aguacero	Antora	Water bomber		7	Flying boat water bomber
F/H-13 Ilueva	Varentine League	Helitack		10	Firefighter transport and water bomber
Transport
T/U-42 Chupador	Antora	Utility and transport		30
T/U-47	Antora	Transport		20	Capable of armored vehicle transport
T/U-89	Antora	Airlift		6	Strategic airlift capable
Helicopter
H-23 Uro	Antora	Multirole/air assault helicopter		35	Has gunship and medivac variants
H-20 Marsopa	Antora	Utility helicopter		30	Has gunship, search & rescue, and special variants
H-18 Delfín Rége	Antora	Transport helicopter		20	Medium-lift transport helicopter
Trainers
T-12 Perro	Antora	Trainer aircraft		13	Cannot be converted to combat use
T-72 Méro Piquo	Antora	Advanced lead-in trainer		20	Emergency strike reserve doubles as jet trainer platform for advancing pilot cadets