There had been interest since the 1960s, but army aviation only returned in the 1980s, when it was the star of the modernization program, "Land Force 90", requiring heavy investments and the training of highly specialized workforce.

Helicopters operate in close coordination with ground forces in logistics, reconnaissance, fire support and troop transport roles.

Its priority function was originally conceived as air assault, inserting troops from the 12th Brigade behind enemy lines, but the number of helicopters is a limitation.

[7] From 1933 onwards, its operational units were installed throughout the country,[8] and in 1941 it already had 330 aircraft, although many were obsolete or inoperable, with insufficient personnel and structures for national defense.

The necessary investments were heavy and the country was going through the lost decade, but president José Sarney, needing political support from Army Minister Leônidas Pires Gonçalves, provided the necessary resources.

As aircraft arrived before doctrine, aviation underwent five major restructurings from its formal creation in 1986 until 1994; the important thing for the Army Minister was to take advantage of the favorable situation.

[29] In the Ajuricaba Mission, in October 1990, the helicopters were presented to garrisons in Minas Gerais, Brasília, the Center-West and the North, covering nine thousand kilometers from Taubaté.

The operation revealed the need to introduce instrument flight rules, GPS navigation and an aviation base in the Amazon.

[38][39] Throughout the 1990s, Army Aviation participated in operations against illegal mining and organized crime in Rio de Janeiro and conventional presence missions on the border with Venezuela.

In the federal intervention in Rio de Janeiro in 2018, helicopters were used for command and control, reconnaissance and troop landing.

They served for the logistics of supplies and aeromedical evacuation of the affected population, in addition to transporting military personnel and civilians from the agencies involved in the operation.

Dissatisfied with the air force's logistics, the army intended to acquire eight Short C-23 Sherpa planes to supply its Special Border Platoons in the Amazon.

They considered the heavy expenditure on these aircraft inopportune at a time of scarce resources, preferring that investment be made in the FAB's idle planes.

[60] Bell was the company expected to win in the first tender for the purchase of helicopters, but it was surprisingly defeated by Aérospatiale, which already had a factory in Brazil, Helibras.

[72] Modernization was still ongoing in 2017, when the army's Strategic Aviation Program proposed replacing the Cougar and Black Hawk with a new medium-lift helicopter,[52] to be designated HM-5.

[75] The Strategic Program also provided for new weapons, not yet implemented at the end of 2022, in the Helicopter Axial Armament and Imaging System (Sistema de Armamento Axial e Imageamento de Helicópteros, SiAAIH) 24 project,[76] as the current HA-1 weapons have insufficient lethality and target acquisition is visual only, increasing the risk of friendly fire.

[e] The program would focus on night combat, increasing the accuracy of current firepower and expanding it with Spike LR2 guided air-to-ground missiles.

[80] Considering the diversity of missions, the size of the country's territory and the large capacity necessary to transport even a light infantry battalion, work at the Officer Improvement School assessed the fleet as small in 2021.

[28]The most important function is air assault, with troops on board, and thus, aviation is closely linked to the 12th Light Infantry Brigade (Airmobile).

[105] Some aircraft used in Operation Traíra remained in the North, transferred to Manaus, and formed the Amazônia detachment in 1992, expanded to the 4th Squadron in 1997.

[109] CIAvEx trains army aviation human resources: pilot officers and sergeants from various specialties (flight mechanics, maintenance technicians, air traffic controllers, meteorologists, search and rescue elements, aerodrome firefighters etc.).

[112] Before joining AvEx, officers are trained at the Military Academy of Agulhas Negras and, as lieutenants, serve for a minimum period in land units.

Some AvEx pilots continue to enter the civil aviation job market at the end of their service in the army, taking advantage of the cheaper route for qualification.

Acquisitions on the foreign market go through the Permanent Commission of the Brazilian Army in Washington (CEBW) or the Special Depot (DE), which has a contract with Airbus Helicopters.

The DE minimizes lead times and guarantees direct contracts with the manufacturers, but the need for prior budget forecasting, committed to Airbus Helicopters, delays the fulfillment of orders during economic crises.

The battalion's goal is to keep 70% of helicopters available for immediate use, but historically bureaucratic difficulties and dependence on foreign technology causes disruptions in the logistics chain, with cascading effects of delays in the maintenance cycle.

[122][123] In 2011, in a scenario of low availability of resources in the entire Armed Forces, a dossier from the Ministry of Defense indicated that only 39 of the 78 Army Aviation helicopters were operational.

Throughout the complex in Taubaté it provides security, meals, medical treatment, the transit hotel and the management of budgetary, financial and patrimonial resources.

When AvEx leaves its headquarters, BAvT sets up the new command post and continues to provide accommodation, meals, security and other services.

[128] CAvEx has in its Special Projects Section the Testing and Evaluation Group (GEA), which advises on modernization and equipment purchase decisions.