Royal Antoran Air Cavalry

Royal Corric Air Cavalry
Caballería Aérea de Corric Réal
Founded	24 September 1913
Country	Casilló y Réal
Type	Air Force
Role	Aerial warfare
Size	68,219 personnel
Part of	Royal Corric Defense Forces
Headquarters	Descarei, Casilló y Réal
Motto	Ignis Vocat Honestos (Fire Calls the Honest)
Anniversaries	24 September
Commanders
Chief Marshal of the Air Cavalry	Carlos Gamesa Palmas
Wing Marshal	Ruben Linares

The Royal Corric Air Cavalry (Corric: Caballería Aérea de Corric Réal, abbreviated CACR,) is the air component of the Royal Corric Defense Forces. It was formed in 1913 in the waning years of the Great War as the Corric military modernized and the concept of combat aircraft became more widespread. Originally consisting of a few dozen lightly armed biplanes, the Air Cavalry expanded significantly in subsequent decades to become a key part of Corric 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 1985 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.

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 Corric 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 Corric 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 Descarei 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 are currently exploring new options as current inventory is sorted, including the Cryrian JAS 39E Gripen and the Volkian GA-20M and GA-36. After several rounds of negotiations and testing, the Air Cavalry made the decision to purchase 36 GA-36s and 12 GA-20Ms, with 12 more on order. They also agreed to a provisional lease of 6 JAS 39Es; the aircraft performance in relation to price was found to be average and thus not worth pursing as a one-to-one replacement for current aircraft.

Combat Aircraft
Aircraft	Origin	Type	Photo	In service	Notes
GA-20M	Volkia	Air superiority fighter		12	Newly purchased dedicated air superiority fighter
L-65 Tiburón	Casilló y Réal	Fighter-bomber		56	Being rotated to dedicated ground attack missions
GA-36	Volkia	Interceptor		36	Newly-purchased Interceptor
L-72 Méro	Casilló y Réal	Light combat aircraft		12	Combination trainer and light combat aircraft
Maritime Patrol
U-85	Casilló y Réal	Maritime patrol and surveillance		8	Patrol aircraft for detecting threats to coastal installations, shipping, territorial waters
U-47/AS	Casilló y Réal	Anti-submarine aircraft		7	Armed with sonar buoys, torpedoes, depth charges
Electronic Warfare
U-40	Casilló y Réal	Electronic warfare and surveillance		2	Special deployment EWAR aircraft
Airborne Early-warning and Control
U-87/AEWC	Casilló y Réal	AEWC		2	Airborne battlespace control aircraft
Aerial Firefighting
UF-41 Aguacero	Casilló y Réal	Water bomber		7	Flying boat water bomber
H-13 Ilueva	Casilló y Réal	Helitack		10	Firefighter transport and water bomber
Transport
U-42	Casilló y Réal	Utility and transport		13	Used for artillery spotting
U-87/T	Casilló y Réal	Transport		30	Standard personnel transport aircraft
U-89	Casilló y Réal	Airlift		4	Strategic airlift capable
U-880	Casilló y Réal	Transport/Tanker		2	Part of 33rd Refueling Squadron
Helicopter
H-23 Uro	Casilló y Réal	Multirole/air assault helicopter		80	Has gunship and attack helicopter variants
H-20 Marsopa	Casilló y Réal	Utility helicopter		33	Found most often in naval deployments
H-22 Macana 4	Casilló y Réal	Naval utility		42	Has scout and SAR variants
H-17 Delfín	Casilló y Réal	Transport helicopter		20	Used as a heavy-lift helicopter
H-18 Delfín Rége	Casilló y Réal	Transport helicopter		25	Longer range than H-17
Trainers
T-12 Perro	Casilló y Réal	Trainer aircraft		6	Cannot be converted to combat use