Argentina Military: News

Argentine Air Force continues to dive

According to the magazine "Jane's Defence Weekly" article Santiago Rivas "Argentina officially suspends fighter replacement program", Argentine Defense Minister Julio Martinez February 1, 2017 announced that after discussions with the Argentine president Mauricio Macri, the Government decided to suspend the acquisition program of new fighters for replacement of old American attack aircraft Lockheed Martin (McDonnell Douglas) A-4AR Fightinghawk.

Argentine Air Force plans to retire all the A-4AR Fightinghawk until 2018 due to lack of spare parts and production resource. Previously, the entire fleet of Dassault Mirage Argentine Air Force fighter aircraft was decommissioned in November 2015 without any replacement.

The decision on refusal for the purchase of new fighter jets made in connection with the Argentine economic problems and, according to Martinez, it was decided that it will not undertake any new aircraft purchases in the short term, at least, as long as the country's financial situation does not improve.

Argentine Air Force has long been trying to acquire at least some fighters instead of write. If in respect of retired fighters Mirage failed, the Argentine Air Force leadership hoped to replace at least A-4aR as a temporary measure 12 light fighter / trainer aircraft - potentially such as Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) FA-50 or Leonardo M- 346FT.

Martinez said that now the Air Force Argentina will seek to focus on the purchase of about ten turboprops to control northern border against illegal flights, enhance aircraft fleet IA-58 Pucará and the partial replacement of the Embraer EMB-312 Tucano as advanced training aircraft. Proposals were received regarding the possibility of deliveries of aircraft Beechcraft T-6C + Texan II and Embraer EMB-314 Super Tucano, but the status of the negotiations is uncertain.

The current decision to the Government of Argentina is that Argentina will have no fighter jets after the write-off of aircraft A-4AR, resulting in the Argentine Air Force will not be able to fulfill one of its main tasks to control Argentine airspace.

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/2411148.html

Argentina is negotiating with France to buy six old Dassault Super Etendard ground-attack fighters, withdrawn from the French Navy aviation, to the amount of 12 million euros.

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/2687817.html

I find stupid for Argentina to put money to replace old planes with other of similar generation

They will need to come with a huge spare parts pool, because new parts will likely be hard to come by these days I suspect...

George1 wrote:I find stupid for Argentina to put money to replace old planes with other of similar generation

No money available whatsoever. They need something dirt cheap that can fly next 10 years. France can provide spares and logistic even longer as long as Argentinians can pay for it.

And there is nothing cheaper on the market atm, unless you go for something like J-7 instead

Isos wrote:

Militarov wrote:

George1 wrote:I find stupid for Argentina to put money to replace old planes with other of similar generation

No money available whatsoever. They need something dirt cheap that can fly next 10 years. France can provide spares and logistic even longer as long as Argentinians can pay for it.

And there is nothing cheaper on the market atm, unless you go for something like J-7 instead

When you know there are typhoons, su-30MKV, Gripen Ng arround them, it's stupid to buy it, mirages or J-7. Better go for Pantsir and few trainer aircraft that can be armed.

Idea is to keep aviation around, if you neutralise your own aviation completely, you will need decades to reform it, this way they can keep fighter pilots in training, in future when money appears they can fairly easy retrain them to anything.

And Pancirs wont do any good in air policing

And well armed advanced trainer per piece costs more than whole this contract.

Argentina could go by Haftar way for Libya. Take a squadron of MiG-23MLD from RuAF reserve stocks and pay for their upgrade with Zhuk radar and equip them with Kh-31A anti-ship missiles and R-77 and R-73 air to air missiles. Comparing to old French Super Etendards, MiG-23MLDs have small number of flying hours, they still have big stock of spare parts and engine could be replaced by Al-31F engine from Su-27, which is still in production. Like in Libya, they could equip MiG-23 jets with IFR probes from Mirages. Good choice for Argentina, MiG-23 is fast and well agile with +8,5 g and with good range ( better than MiG-29).

medo wrote:Argentina could go by Haftar way for Libya. Take a squadron of MiG-23MLD from RuAF reserve stocks and pay for their upgrade with Zhuk radar and equip them with Kh-31A anti-ship missiles and R-77 and R-73 air to air missiles. Comparing to old French Super Etendards, MiG-23MLDs have small number of flying hours, they still have big stock of spare parts and engine could be replaced by Al-31F engine from Su-27, which is still in production. Like in Libya, they could equip MiG-23 jets with IFR probes from Mirages. Good choice for Argentina, MiG-23 is fast and well agile with +8,5 g and with good range ( better than MiG-29).

Its big, big question of state of those MiG-s. Last pics i saw of some "stored" Mig-23s they were just laying around in 2m tall grass covered with protective sheets and like that since early 90s. I doubt there is any significant number of well stored 23s around.

There are a lot of shelters in Russia, which were built for MiG-21 and MiG-23 jets and are too small for newer RuAF jets. Most probably those MiGs laying around are those returned home from bases in ex-WP states and other now foreign countries for which they didn't have shelters at home.

medo wrote:There are a lot of shelters in Russia, which were built for MiG-21 and MiG-23 jets and are too small for newer RuAF jets. Most probably those MiGs laying around are those returned home from bases in ex-WP states and other now foreign countries for which they didn't have shelters at home.

Considering fact only fraction of Ex-USSR airforce ever had shelters, and that many do not exist today... that number is very, very small. They never properly stored even MiG-29s that were removed from service, let alone MiG-23s... MiG-27s they wanted to return to service in late 90s were inspected and comment by engineers was: "In too bad shape to be returned to service". And bulk of them were retired just years before. Imagine how well stored they were. And it was 18 years ago. Today its rust-fest.

Argentina received the first training aircraft T-6C + Texan II





https://bmpd.livejournal.com/2874899.html

It's T-6C+. This is American plane, there is no cyrilic letters.

BUENOS AIRES BUYS THE SUPER ETENDARD DELL'AÉRONAVALE

by David Bartoccini ) 07/10/17



No stealth profile  ; an essential wing, a wing typical of the design years and the fuselage, the last true 'camouflage' scheme that has been taken off (and will ever take off) by a NATO carrier to carry out first-class missions. The almost 'romantic' Super-Etendard Modernisé (SEM), a monorail-hunting sailboat chartered from the Aeroon, which came into service in 1978, was officially withdrawn from service in France on 12 July 2016 but will continue to fly by joining its old ocean companions who engaged the units and the  Sea Harrier  of his British Majesty in the Falkland War.

After the last batches carried by the Charles De Gaulle nuclear bridge deck on Syria, in the Operation Chammal , the eight SEM S.5 - the last jet upgrade produced by Dassault-Breguet Aviation - were discarded, but the interest was already known of the Argentine government wishing to integrate the French 'Stendardi' into its Aviación Naval Argentina (ANA).

It is now official that, after several months of negotiations between Buenos Aires and Paris, on October 5, 2017, the purchase of 5 Super-Etendard Modernisé was signed for fourteen million euros  in their latest update (Serial 1, 31, 41 , 44 and 51), within a package that also includes ten Snecma Atar 8K50 turbocharged aircraft engines (jet-powered engines), spare parts, documentation and flight simulators for the training of the riders that will be destined for you.



The five SEMs will be destined for the Aeronaval Commander Espora base (BACE) on the eastern coast of Argentina, where Escuadra Aeronaval No. 3 is located and the 2nd Escuadrilla Aeronaval de Caza y Ataquecon with its old SEM.

Aviación Naval Argentina received a Navy from Marcel Dassault-Breguet Aviation 14 Super-Etendard fleet  in 1981 and immediately used them in '82 during the Falkland Islands war fought against the United Kingdom. The jets, which achieved several successes with the use of AM-39 Exocet anti-missile missiles : sinking the HMS Sheffield destroyer and the Atlantic Conveyor shipping ship , as well as in short comparison with the harriers nicknamed 'Muerte Negra', became extremely popular in but since 2001 they are on the ground due to lack of spare parts and training of the RAF drivers.

All French Etendards , commissioned in their last installment at Dassault , feature Night Viewers (NVGs), integration for the use of Paveway -driven laser bombs and navigation and attack system upgrades.



http://www.difesaonline.it/mondo-militare/gli-stendardi-francesi-volano-argentina-buenos-aires-acquista-i-super-etendard

Continuation of the Argentinean air disaster: the purchase of Super Etendard has not yet been approved

Although it was reported that on October 5, 2017, Argentina signed an intergovernmental agreement on the acquisition of five decommissioned Dassault Super Etendard SEM fighter bombers for its naval aviation, however, according to Michel Cabriol, a well-informed journalist, published in the French October 12 "La Tribune" article "Co-ordination également entre l'Argentine et la France pour les cinq Super Etendard", in fact the contract itself has not yet been entered into and the agreement for the acquisition of Super Etendard is still pending with the new Minister of Defense Argentina's Oscar Raul Aguada.

https://bmpd.livejournal.com/2894019.html

FA-50 & AGM-65G
November 13/17: Potential Sales Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) announced Friday that it is in talks external link with as many as nine potential customers for its T-50 advanced trainer aircraft—of which Botswana and Argentina were highlighted as being at “an advanced stage” of negotiations with the two deals hoped to be completed either by the end of 2017 or in early 2019.
https://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/koreas-t-50-spreads-its-wings-04004/?utm_medium=textlink&utm_term=continuereading

Argentina's Navy said Friday, Nov. 17, 2017, it has lost contact with the submarine off the country's southern coast.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/argentine-navy-loses-contact-submarine-carrying-44-article-1.3639778

Russia to offer MiG-29 aircraft at Argentina’s tender for fighter jets

More:
http://tass.com/defense/978942