Flight operations at Colombia’s AlfonsoBonillaAragónInternationalAirportwere disrupted in January following an attack by the FARC-EP (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – Ejército del Pueblo) insurgent organisation on a radar station in the Cauca Department in the southwest of the country.
Reports on 22nd January noted that the radar serves the airport, but also aids in anti-narcotics operations of the Fuerza Aérea Colombiana (Colombian Air Force).
There has been no word on the radar type which was attacked by the FARC-EP. However, it is possible that it could have been one of the Westinghouse Defense and Electronics Division/Northrop Grumman AN/TPS-43 or Northrop Grumman AN/TPS-70 3-dimensional air surveillance radar.
Both of these systems have been supplied to Colombia by the United States to aid the country in its anti-narcotics efforts.
