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	58,007 personnel
Part of	Royal Antoran 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 Antoran Air Cavalry (Corric: Caballería Aérea de Antora Réal, abbreviated CAAR,) is the air component of the Royal Antoran Defense Forces. It was formed in 1938 after the Great War as the Antoran 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 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 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 Antora.

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. As of 2022, the Air Cavalry has 58,000 active members and 269 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 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 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 General Staff upgraded the fighter inventory in late 2021 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 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. In 2022, the CAAR recieved delivery of twenty-four L-75 Gavilán light fighters from the joint Antoran-Cryrian Advanced Lightweight Adaptable Military Aircraft project, as well as four L/U -448 Gaviotas from the domestic Compact Sumbarine Destroyer Aircraft program. This enabled the air fleet to be reorganized further, with all 36 GA-36 interceptors and 12 GA-20M fighters being transferred to the Royal Antoran Guard. Six V/U-47 maritime patrol aircraft and five L/U-449 Martín anti-submarine aircraft were transferred to the Royal Antoran Armada.

Combat Aircraft
Aircraft	Origin	Type	Photo	In service	Notes
JAS-39E Grifón	Cryria	Multirole fighter		12	Cryrian Beyond Visual Range air superiority fighter, ground attack and anti-ship capabilities
L-75 Gavilán	Antora Cryria	Multirole fighter		24	Joint Antoran-Cryrian light fighter project, assigned air superiority missions
GA-20M	Volkia	Air superiority fighter		12	Volkian supermaneuverable dogfight-focused air superiority fighter
	Volscina	Strike fighter		10	Anti-ship and cruise missile payload capable
L-65/2020 Tiburón	Antora	Fighter/bomber		12	Modernized airframe with air-to-air and air-to-ground capabilities
L-72 Méro	Antora	Light combat aircraft		24	Ground attack, CAP, and interdiction duties
Maritime Patrol
V/U-47	Antora	Maritime patrol and surveillance		2	Maritime patrol & battlespace control, armed with sonar buoys and torpedos
L/U-449 Martín	Antora	Anti-submarine aircraft		2	Armed with torpedos, depth charges, magnetometers. Capable of refueling operations
L/U-448 Gaviota	Antora	Maritime strike aircraft		4	Armed with torpedos, bombs, anti-ship missiles
Electronic Warfare
E/U-449 Estática	Antora	Electronic warfare and surveillance		2	Special deployment EWAR aircraft
Surveillance
V/U-47/AEWC	Antora	AEWC		2	Airborne battlespace control aircraft
V/U-44	Tamerlaine	Surveillance		6	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		18	Capable of armored vehicle transport
T/U-89	Antora	Airlift		4	Strategic airlift capable
Helicopter
H-23 Uro	Antora	Multirole/air assault helicopter		55	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		25	Medium-lift transport helicopter
Trainers
T-12 Perro	Antora	Trainer aircraft		6	Cannot be converted to combat use
T-72 Méro Piquo	Antora	Advanced lead-in trainer		6	Emergency strike reserve doubles as jet trainer platform for advancing pilot cadets