Argentina Buying 30-Year-Old Israeli Fighter Jets

[camberiu]

I can only guess at what the motivation is. My take is that pride is the primary driver here. Argentina was the first country in Latin America to operate military jet planes (hell they used to build them in the 1950s) and the first to have super-sonic fighter jets. Their ancient Mirage IIIs can't fly anymore and my guess is that they simply can't accept/allow their 2014 air force to be inferior to their 1960 air force, at least on paper. So I think they are buying these planes so that at least on record, the Argentina Air Force is still somewhat capable. Of course there is a huge difference between owning those planes and being able to afford to actually fly them. I think these planes, if acquired, will remain mostly in storage and serve as "status" symbols.

 

[Rich One]

I'm sure Israel will not get involved in over invoicing and such practices

 

[Napoleon]

The hubris of these Keystone Kops in the Kasa Rosada is astounding.

Just think how many partidos de "Fútbol Para Todos" they kould show for the kost of each one of these broken down planes.

 

[Joe]

Argentina should resurrect the Pulqui project. This was an Argentine (with the help of a lot of nazis) designed and built jet:

All these jets need to do is be able to strafe the the LAN hangers at Argentine airports.

 

[camberiu]

This plane, the Pulqui, generated waves of panic in the Brazilian government when it came out back in the 1950s. For the Brazilian leaders back then , it was a clear signal that Argentina was ready to start an exp<b></b>ressionistic military campaign and that they wanted to do it without running the risk of an arms embargo from the world's powers. This plane was the main catalyst for the creation of EMBRAER.

 

[Joe]

This plane, the Pulqui, generated waves of panic in the Brazilian government when it came out back in the 1950s. For the Brazilian leaders back then , it was a clear signal that Argentina was ready to start an exp<b></b>ressionistic military campaign and that they wanted to do it without running the risk of an arms embargo from the world's powers. This plane was the main catalyst for the creation of EMBRAER.

And that was the last time in history that Argentina scared Brazil.

Interesting, Argentina builds the first jet designed in South American and the end result is that Brazil ends up with one of the top aerospace companies in the world and the only one in South America.

 

[camberiu]

And that was the last time in history that Argentina scared Brazil.

That has certainly NOT been the case. After the Pulqui project, there were many others that generated waves of fear and concern on the northern neighbor.

The CONDOR II ballistic missile project was designed to deliver an Argentine nuclear warhead as far north as Brasilia. Brazil responded in two ways. First with the VLS program also designed to deliver a nuclear warhead as far south as Buenos Aires. The backup plan was the Itaipu dam, which can put Buenos Aires entirely under water in a matter of hours if it opens its flood gates.

The Argentine TR-1700 submarine project forced Brazil to develop the Tikuna class of domestic submarines.

The Argentine TAM tank program, a heavily armored vehicle that could quickly cross the pampas and overwhelm Brazilian border defenses forced the country to develop the EE-T1 Osorio main battle tank to counter that.

The acquisition of the highly advanced Type 42 British destroyers by the Armada forced Brazil to build the Niteroi class frigates.

This continued until pretty much the Falklands war, when the whole Argentine military might myth imploded.

 

[Redpossum]

So both countries pour money into a military they don't need and will never use, while ignoring infrastructure and social programs...

And if they must buy fighter jets, it would be most cost-effective to buy them new from Iran.

 

[camberiu]

So both countries pour money into a military they don't need and will never use, while ignoring infrastructure and social programs...

That is very true, specially since at the time, Brazil was a much poorer country than Argentina. Brazil really struggled to keep up with Argentina back then, since it lacked the money, industrial base, and qualified work force to match the very ambitious military projects Argentina had at the time. The social cost of having such an arms race was tremendous for both sides, but specially for poorer Brazil. But in the case of Brazil at least, I can tell you that the fear of Argentina was very authentic. Peron initiated a massive militarization program, and most Brazilians at the time viewed Argentinians as a bunch of belligerent, neo-nazi white supremacists looking for a fight. I don't think you realize how outgunned Brazilians must have felt back in 1950. Brazil back then was still a mostly agrarian country, while its rich and industrialized neighbor from the South was designing and building fighter jets. Brazil certainly did not pose a threat to Argentina back then, so for what purpose was Argentina building fighter jets and all kinds of weapons back then?
It was a crazy and wasteful arms race in which Argentina held the initiative pretty most of the time, and all that Brazil could do was respond. Of course, as the years passed by, Brazil gradually closed the technological and industrial gap. Then in the early 80s the prototype of the EMBRAER A-1 jet fighter took to the skies and I think that event finally marked the shift in the balance of the technological/industrial power towards Brazil's favor, but this is when the Falkland war broke off, and that pretty much ended the arms race between the two countries.


EMBRAER A-1.

 

[scotttswan]

Peron initiated a massive militarization program, and most Brazilians at the time viewed Argentinians as a bunch of belligerent, neo-nazi white supremacists looking for a fight. I don't think you realize how outgunned Brazilians must have felt back in 1950. Brazil back then was still a mostly agrarian country, while its rich and industrialized neighbor from the South was designing and building fighter jets. Brazil certainly did not pose a threat to Argentina back then, so for what purpose was Argentina building fighter jets and all kinds of weapons back then?

But i thought Peron was a wonderful friendly man. Matty told us so!