Peruvian Air Force
The Peruvian Air Force (Fuerza Aérea del Perú, or FAP) is the aerial warfare branch of the Peruvian Armed Forces. During the 1990s, the FAP participated in joint counter-narcotics operations with US military forces in Peru, including Operation Laser Strike.
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Suspected Role in Peru UAP Downing
Jonathan Weygandt theorized that the Peruvian Air Force was responsible for downing the egg-shaped craft he encountered during the 1997 Peru UFO Crash Incident. The FAP operated MIM-23 Hawk Missile batteries — a system that had been phased out of general US military use in 1994 and from USMC Laser Strike operations in early 1997, but remained in Peruvian service. Wagant's extensive study of Hawk missile ballistics led him to conclude that the catastrophic damage visible on the craft — an enormous gash in the rear consistent with shrapnel penetration and internal bouncing — matched the air burst fragmentation pattern of Hawk MIM-23 rounds. This theory implies the FAP fired upon an object that their radar or ground observers identified as a threat or unauthorized aircraft in Peruvian airspace.
La Joya Airbase UFO Intercept
On April 11, 1980, the Peruvian Air Force ordered Lieutenant Oscar Santa Maria Hueras to take off in his Sukhoi-22 fighter from La Joya Airbase to intercept a silvery object in restricted airspace near the end of the runway. The incident led to an official DOD investigation, with Hueras's account corroborated in a DOD Joint Chiefs briefing document associated with Project Moondust.