In 1977 it was determined that the mission of the Air Force is to conduct strategic and tactical aerospace operations on behalf of the national defense, exercising the sovereignty of the Uruguayan airspace and defending the independence, integrity, constitution and laws of the country.

The Air Force must also conduct search and rescue missions and plan, propose, execute and supervise the necessary measures for the development of the aerospace potential, while providing any necessary and possible logistical support during the natural disasters that the country may suffer.

In Uruguay, this was made by the French instructor Marcel Paillette, who trained ten National Army officers who had been chosen to be the first Uruguayan military pilots.

Berisso was one of the first graduates from that school, and on 22 June 1913, he carried out the first solo flight by a Uruguayan, flying from Los Cerrillos to Malvín in 1 hour 45 minutes.

At the beginning of 1935, the Uruguayan Army suppressed an armed movement against Gabriel Terra government by members of different political factions.

[8] Then, during 1942 Curtiss SNC-1 Falcon and North American T-6 Texan training aircraft began their service in Uruguay, as did the Beechcraft AT-11 Kansan and Douglas C-47 Skytrain in 1947.

[13] All the elements of infrastructure, material, aircraft, personnel and items belonging to the Military Aeronautics were transferred to the new Air Force, as it was established in the first article of the law.

On September 17, 1955, a section of two F-51 crewed by 1st Lt. Walter Samarello and Lt. 2nd Miguel Lagrotta, who were on a reconnaissance mission, sighted two Argentine warships.

The Argentine crew, upon noticing the error and realizing that they were firing at Uruguayan planes, communicated over radio to an Air Force station in Cerrito de la Victoria, Montevideo, a request to not be flown over to avoid confusion, specially after one of these rebel ships had already been attacked by Argentine Air Force pilots loyal to Perón.

[22] TAMU began operating Douglas C-47 Skytrain[23] and would later use Fokker F27 Friendship, Fairchild-Hiller FH-227D, Embraer C-95 Bandeirante and CASA C-212 Aviocar of the Uruguayan Air Force.

The service of the C-95 in Uruguay marked the first Embraer export in its entire history, when a total number of five of these brand new aircraft were purchased in 1975.

On February 8, 1973, President Juan María Bordaberry tried to assert his authority over the Armed Forces by returning them to their normal duties and appointing a retired Army general, Antonio Francese, as the new Minister of National Defense.

Initially, the Navy of Uruguay supported the appointment but the National Army and Uruguayan Air Force commanders rejected it outright.

On February 9 and 10, the Army and Air Force issued public proclamations and demanded his dismissal and changes in the country's political and economic system.

[31] Two Eurocopter AS365N2 Dauphin for search and rescue and VIP transport missions were also purchased during 1998, followed by 13 Aermacchi T-260EU in 1999, a new basic trainer for the Military School of Aeronautics (Escuela Militar de Aeronáutica) in Pando, Canelones.

The Uruguayan Air Force also includes Service divisions for Logistics, Communications and Computer Science, Information, Infrastructure, Maintenance, Meteorology, Health, Remote Aerospace Sensors, and Transport.

[45] The Aeronautics Technical School (Escuela Técnica de Aeronáutica) is located in Toledo Sur in the Department of Canelones.