304 Squadron (Portugal) - History

History

In May, 1983, Portugal concluded the renegotiation of the contract for the purchase of ex-USN A-7 Corsair II aircraft, resulting in a second order of 30 Corsair II (24 A-7P and six TA-7P), adding to the 20 A-7P already delivered between 1981 and 1982. Subsequently to this additional purchase the 304 Squadron "Magníficos" was activated on October 4, 1984, commanded by Major Botelho da Costa. The primary missions of tactical air support for maritime operations (TASMO) and aerial interdiction (AI), and the secondary missions of defensive and offensive counter air operations (DCA/OCA) were assigned to the squadron upon its creation.

It was disbanded in July, 1999, with the retirement of the A-7P Corsair II fleet in service with the Portuguese Air Force.

Read more about this topic:  304 Squadron (Portugal)

Famous quotes containing the word history:

    “All history is a record of the power of minorities, and of minorities of one.”
    —Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    “There is a constant in the average American imagination and taste, for which the past must be preserved and celebrated in full-scale authentic copy; a philosophy of immortality as duplication. It dominates the relation with the self, with the past, not infrequently with the present, always with History and, even, with the European tradition.”
    —Umberto Eco (b. 1932)

    “... the history of the race, from infancy through its stages of barbarism, heathenism, civilization, and Christianity, is a process of suffering, as the lower principles of humanity are gradually subjected to the higher.”
    —Catherine E. Beecher (1800–1878)