Royal Antoran Air Cavalry

Royal Andoran Air Cavalry
Caballería Aérea de Andora Réal
Founded	24 September 1913
Country	Andora
Type	Air Force
Role	Aerial warfare
Size	68,219 personnel
Part of	Royal Corric Defense Forces
Headquarters	Descarai, Casilló y Réal
Motto	Somos Rapidos y Furiosos
Colors	Sky, Teal, and Gold
Anniversaries	24 September
Commanders
Chief Marshal of the Air Cavalry	Carlos Gamesa Palmas
Wing Marshal	Ruben Linares

The Royal Andoran Air Cavalry (Corric: Caballería Aérea de Andora Réal, abbreviated CAAR,) is the air component of the Royal Andoran Defense Forces. It was formed in 1938 after the Great War as the Andoran military modernized and the concept of combat aircraft became more widespread. Originally consisting of a few dozen lightly armed monoplanes, the Air Cavalry expanded significantly in subsequent decades to become a key part of Andoran 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 saw two combat squadrons and one transport squadron go AWOL during the 1987 Corric Succession Crisis. These pilots took their aircraft, and were attempting to plan an attack on a major military target before they were arrested, tried, and imprisoned. The stolen aircraft where meanwhile scrapped due to the dishonor of being used by insurrectionists. In 2022, the Air Cavalry was renamed as part of a national adoption of the name Andora.

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 Andoran Defense Forces, to operate ground-attack capability against surface targets, and to operate as a surveillance and control element during warfare. As of 2021, the Air Cavalry has 68,000 active members and around 400 aircraft.

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 2020, the CACR possessed a strength of 68,219 active members and 10,188 reservists. The civilian personnel component made up approximately 60% of these numbers, most working in maintenance, logistics, and damage control. In 2021, the Royal Andoran 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 38,000 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 391 aircraft across its various Brigades with some being phased out of service over the coming years. The CACR does not have a dedicated modern fighter or interceptor airframe, which has been a point of contention for several decades. The General Staff upgraded the fighter inventory in late 2021 with the purchase of 24 GA-20M and 36 GA-36s from Volkia and 12 JAS-39E Gripens from Cryria, replacing the 56 L-65 Tiburóns that had been in service since the 1970s and the 32 L-60 Mantarayyas from the 1950s. The Mantarayyas were sold as scrap and the Tiburóns sold to the Company of the Quill as their new air wing.

Combat Aircraft
Aircraft	Origin	Type	Photo	In service	Notes
GA-20M	Volkia	Air superiority fighter		24	Newly purchased Volian dedicated air superiority fighter
JAS-39E Grifón	Cryria	Air superiority fighter		12	Newly purchased Cryrian multirole air superiority fighter
GA-36	Volkia	Interceptor		36	Newly-purchased Volkian high-speed interceptor
L-72 Méro	Andora	Light combat aircraft		12	Combination trainer and light combat aircraft
Maritime Patrol
U-85	Andora	Maritime patrol and surveillance		8	Patrol aircraft for detecting threats to coastal installations, shipping, territorial waters
U-47/AS	Andora	Anti-submarine aircraft		7	Armed with sonar buoys, torpedoes, depth charges
Electronic Warfare
U-40	Andora	Electronic warfare and surveillance		2	Special deployment EWAR aircraft
Airborne Early-warning and Control
U-87/AEWC	Andora	AEWC		2	Airborne battlespace control aircraft
Aerial Firefighting
UF-41 Aguacero	Andora	Water bomber		7	Flying boat water bomber
H-13 Ilueva	Casilló y Réal	Helitack		10	Firefighter transport and water bomber
Transport
U-42	Andora	Utility and transport		13	Used for artillery spotting
U-87/T	Andora	Transport		30	Standard personnel transport aircraft
U-89	Andora	Airlift		4	Strategic airlift capable
U-880	Andora	Transport/Tanker		2	Part of 33rd Refueling Squadron
Helicopter
H-23 Uro	Andora	Multirole/air assault helicopter		80	Has gunship and attack helicopter variants
H-20 Marsopa	Andora	Utility helicopter		33	Found most often in naval deployments
H-22 Macana 4	Andora	Naval utility		42	Has scout and SAR variants
H-17 Delfín	Andora	Transport helicopter		20	Used as a heavy-lift helicopter
H-18 Delfín Rége	Andora	Transport helicopter		25	Longer range than H-17
Trainers
T-12 Perro	Andora	Trainer aircraft		6	Cannot be converted to combat use