As part of the debates facing the National Defense Budget for the year 2026, the Chilean Air Force (FACh) recognized a significant decline in its operational capability due to the financial cuts applied during the present fiscal year. The budgetary restrictions, which have also affected the Army and the Navy, have forced the military institutions to suspend programs, reduce personnel, and postpone equipment maintenance, setting up a scenario of institutional tension and political debate about the level of financing for national defense.
During his address before the Second Mixed Subcommittee on Budgets, the Commander-in-Chief of the FACh, Air General Hugo Rodríguez, explained that the reduction of 5 billion pesos (approximately 5,204.32 million US dollars) in Subtitle 21 —corresponding to salaries and personnel expenses— caused a significant tightening. “There are many people who leave the institution and we had no way to replace them,” he pointed out, emphasizing that the lack of resources limited the hiring and replacement of essential personnel to maintain air operational capability. Added to this are debts linked to deployments in the so-called Macrozona Sur, totaling 51 million Chilean pesos (approximately 53,000 US dollars) and 3.1 million dollars, which have not yet been settled.
The head of the Chilean military aviation warned that the FACh keeps about 10 million dollars immobilized in revolving supply funds that cannot be used due to lack of spending space, which restricts the acquisition of spare parts and the replacement of critical equipment. “We do not have the freedom nor flexibility to be able to spend those funds,” he stressed, warning that this situation compromises the institution’s response capacity to emergencies or unforeseen operational needs.
The budgetary crisis does not affect only the Air Force. The Commander-in-Chief of the Army, General Javier Iturriaga, reported that his institution faces a considerable deficit in salaries and in expenses associated with operations in the northern and southern macrozones. Among the containment measures adopted are the suspension of the reserve’s retraining, the postponement of gratuities, and the postponement of hiring professional soldiers, actions that Iturriaga himself described as “painful but inevitable.”
For his part, the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Admiral Fernando Cabrera, acknowledged that the Navy also had to apply operational restriction measures to avoid dismissals. “The Navy, in order not to fire people, reduced its task, decreased maintenance, inspection, and operations,” he affirmed. According to Cabrera, the institution has sustained a “budget of continuity” for the last six years, which barely covers the essential tasks of deterrence and maritime control. The lack of resource projection, he warned, risks the renewal of strategic and technological capabilities.
In the face of criticism from the armed institutions, the Minister of Defense, Adriana Delpiano, assured that the budget of 2026 “does not contemplate cuts” and that it represents “a project of continuity” with an increase of $0.3\%$. She also highlighted the existence of a strategic fund of 500 million dollars intended for major acquisitions, such as vehicles, drones, or spare parts, replacing the repealed Reserved Copper Law. Delpiano maintained that the deficit reported by the Army will be resolved during October and that the committed resources have already been coordinated with the military branches.
From the governing party, socialist deputy Daniel Melo questioned the public exposure of the Armed Forces in the budgetary discussion, holding that “they should not give their opinion about their own budget” and that the debate must be channeled institutionally through the Ministry of Defense. In contrast, deputy Luis Fernando Sánchez, of the Republican Party, described the budget as “meager” and warned that the lack of resources directly affects the capacity of the Armed Forces in a sensitive regional context. “It is not a luxury to have Armed Forces with up-to-date capabilities,” he emphasized, urging the Executive to review its priorities.
*Images used for illustrative purposes.
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