| Punta Indio Naval Air Base | |
| Nativename: | Spanish; Castilian: Base Aeronaval Punta Indio |
| Icao: | SAAI |
| Type: | Military |
| City-Served: | Punta Indio, Argentina |
| Elevation-F: | 52 |
| Coordinates: | -35.3478°N -57.2944°W |
| Pushpin Map: | Argentina |
| Pushpin Label: | SAAI |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of Air Base in Argentina |
| Metric-Rwy: | y |
| R1-Number: | 06/24 |
| R1-Length-M: | 2121 |
| R1-Surface: | Asphalt |
| R2-Number: | 07/25 |
| R2-Length-M: | 1400 |
| R2-Surface: | Asphalt |
| R3-Number: | 12/30 |
| R3-Length-M: | 1195 |
| R3-Surface: | Asphalt |
| Footnotes: | Source: Landings.com[1] Google Maps[2] GCM |
Punta Indio Naval Air Base (Spanish; Castilian: link=no|Base Aeronaval Punta Indio,) is a military airport operated by the Argentine Naval Aviation, located in the countryside 5km (03miles) northeast of Verónica, a town in the Buenos Aires Province of Argentina.
The Punta Indio VOR-DME (Ident: PDI) and non-directional beacon (Ident: PDI) are located on the field.[3] [4]
Punta Indio Naval Air Base (Argentine Navy identifier: BAPI), the cradle of Argentine Naval Aviation, was established in 1928 on land that was donated by Martín Tornquist, who founded the nearby city of Verónica. The base was strategically located to control access by ship to the Río de la Plata, initially via manned balloons.
On 16 June 1955, Punta Indio was the departure base of the naval aircraft that bombarded the Casa Rosada attempting to kill president Juan Domingo Perón[5] This action was the preface to the September uprising known as "Revolución Libertadora".
In April 1963, during the Navy uprising (part of the Azules y Colorados confrontation), rebel naval aircraft from Punta Indio attacked the loyalist 8th Tank Regiment; afterwards the air base was attacked by the loyalist Air Force and occupied by the Army.
During the National Reorganization Process, a Clandestine Detention Centre was active at Punta Indio.[6]
In 2008 the First Naval Air Squadron was deactivated due to lack of budget.[7]
In 2011, the 90th anniversary of the foundating of the Naval Aviation School was celebrated.[8]
Punta Indio Naval Air Base is the location of the First Naval Air Force (Spanish: Fuerza Aeronaval N° 1), comprising the following units: