On 23 July 1941, his plane, a North American NA-50 fighter, was hit while performing a low-level attack on an Ecuadorian border post on the banks of the Zarumilla river.

According to traditional Peruvian accounts, Quiñones, upon being hit by ground fire, crashed his damaged aircraft deliberately into the Ecuadorian anti-aircraft position, destroying it.

By the end of General Odria's presidency, the FAP ushered in the Jet Age with the introduction of English Electric Canberra bombers and Hawker Hunter, Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star and North American F-86 Sabre fighters.

However, on 3 October 1968, a military junta led by pro-Soviet Peruvian Army General Juan Velasco Alvarado organized a swift and bloodless coup d'état against president Fernando Belaúnde Terry.

In order to achieve president Alberto Fujimori's militarily bold plans, it meant that FAP required a much-needed general overhaul and new purchases.

These purchases were expensive and a number of observers questioned their usefulness against more pressing security concerns at the time such as the Marxist guerillas, the Sendero Luminoso group (translated as Shining Path).

Since 2013, Peru is in talks with European suppliers as part of a long-term plan of replacing FAP's aging air force aircraft with second-hand Su-35s, Rafales or Eurofighters.

[8] Cost was a major issue for Peruvian President Ollanta Humala, who was looking at competitively priced fighter jets that would fit the national budget.

In 2014, Peru began to update the operations and mechanical equipment of its Cessna A-37 aircraft, replacing analog controls with new digital hardware.

[citation needed] Following the unveiling of the KAI KF-21 Boramae in April 2021, The National Interest reported that Peru may be a potential customer for the 4.5 generation fighter.