Air Wars Between Ecuador and Peru, Volume 3 Book Review

By David L. Veres

Review

Amaru Tincopa completes his terrific trilogy on Air Wars between Ecuador and Peru with volume 3: “Aerial Operations over the Cenepa River Valley, 1995” – no. 22 in Helion’s superb “Latin America@War” range.

Available in North America from Casemate, Tincopa’s expert effort spans 88 picture-packed pages over six chapters.

As before, the author probes the conflict’s historical, political, and economic backdrops. And he ably explores their effects on combatant assets, readiness, and performance.

Long-standing territorial disputes fueled wars in 1941 and 1981. And after each clash, both nations respectively expanded air force capabilities – both qualitatively and qualitatively.

The month-long hostilities commenced in late January 1995. And Tincopa provides a day-by-day, unit-by-unit, blow-by-blow précis of the fighting. Air-to-air actions proved especially engrossing.

In the end, combat exposed the dangers of economic and political neglect on Peruvian Air Force capabilities. And Peru embarked on warplane upgrades and acquisitions.

Ecuador, likewise, pursued aircraft upgrades – and acquired refurbished Cheetah fighters from South Africa.

Both nations ultimately agreed to honor the January 1942 “Rio de Janeiro Limits, Peace and Friendship Protocol” – and submit disputes to Rio Protocol guarantors. Tincopa also capably recaps postwar developments – military and diplomatic.

Combat accounts, anecdotes, extended captions, maps, and tables augment text. Fifteen aircraft profiles and 12 color photos illustrate the effort. And references, annotations, and an abbreviations glossary further supplement the study. But read carefully: not all abbreviations appear on the list.

I savored every page. Grab Tincopa’s superb survey. In fact, get all three volumes!

Robustly recommended!

My sincere thanks to Casemate Publishing for this review sample!