Argentine Mirage F1 Buy Reportedly Stalls

[camberiu]

http://www.janes.com...portedly-stalls




Argentine sources have told IHS Jane's that the planned procurement of 16 Dassault Mirage F1M fighters from the Spanish Air Force has stalled and could possibly be cancelled.
Local media reports indicated that the Argentine Air Force (FAA) has begun analysing other options, including second-hand Dassault Mirage 2000s from France or Brazil.....
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All Brazilian Mirage 2000 were retired from service on December 31st 2013. They are reportedly in good condition, so a sale of those planes to Argentina would not be far fetched. However, the Mirage 2000 is a much newer and more capable plane than the Mirage F-1 that Argentina was previously considering, so the UK would probably raise issues about any such sale.

 

[franksredhots]

great news. who wants spains old junk? buy from Brazil. And who cares what the UK thinks. Their opinions are worthless.

 

[ajoknoblauch]

Are they counting on paying pesos at the official rate, then?

 

[franksredhots]

If I'm not mistaken both countries do the majority of their trade in local currencies so I don't think it would matter either way. Like most independent countries, they are slowly cutting out the middlemen. That's what's BRICS is all about.

 

[ARbound]

Regardless I think this is a total waste of money. I know it was earmarked for funds in the budget anyways but if you want to get inflation under control here is one place to start.

 

[ghost]

Why does Argentina need fighter jets? Even if they bought them they can't afford to arm them or maintain them.

 

[camberiu]

Why does Argentina need fighter jets? Even if they bought them they can't afford to arm them or maintain them.

I think it is a matter of pride for them. I don't think they are looking to actually maintain a combat capable force of jet planes. I think the purpose of those planes is to allow them to say they have it, and for those planes to maybe fly over the capital during the 25 de Mayo festivities. As of right now, Argentina is under the risk of having a weaker air force than Uruguay. Remember that this was the country that was the first to operate combat jets in all of Latin america. The first to ever have super sonic planes. It was once the feared military super power of the entire region. Maybe to go from that to having absolutely nothing is too much to bare, even for Cristina. That is my hypothesis.

 

[franksredhots]

Why does Argentina need fighter jets? Even if they bought them they can't afford to arm them or maintain them.

They need them mainly to patrol their borders. I also think Brazil wants a beefed up Argentinian military and I'm sure they will be willing to pay some of the maintenance costs and training costs. And I don't think Argentina will have a problem keeping up with costs though. These aren't what you would consider high tech birds and Brazil has all the maintenance facilities already and support would probably be included in any deal as well.

 

[camberiu]

They need them mainly to patrol their borders.

That is arguable. You don't need a fighter jet capable of flying twice the speed of sound to catch planes smuggling drugs across the border. The existing Pucaras or Pampas could do that job. The problem is that Argentina right now has no radar covering the border, so they are effectively blind. That is an issue that these planes will not solve.

I also think Brazil wants a beefed up Argentinian military and I'm sure they will be willing to pay some of the maintenance costs and training costs.

Yes, Brazil does want Argentina to beef up its military, but I am not sure about footing the bill. This would be politically very costly. Brazilian people in general are getting feed-up with all the handouts being made to Argentina and the majority feel that it is time for our neighbor to start pulling their own weight. The public opinion has already turned against Mercosur and I doubt that they would react well to even more subsidies to Argentina.

And I don't think Argentina will have a problem keeping up with costs though. These aren't what you would consider high tech birds and Brazil has all the maintenance facilities already and support would probably be included in any deal as well.

These are not piece of crap planes. They may not be the latest, but these are still pretty contemporary aircraft. The Mirage 2000 is on the same league as a F-16C, and are still the mainstay defense planes of countries like India, Greece, UAE, Taiwan and even France. So they have sophisticated sensors and fly-by-wire electronics that need to be maintained. Once you compute all the maintenance and fuel, these planes on average cost about US$8,000.00 per hour to fly. That is not pocket change, specially for a country like Argentina. And politically, it would be a hot potato for Dilma to have Brazil footing that bill.

 

[EdRooney]

Hey Camberiu,

My only source for Brazilian public opinion, Latinobarometro, has had public support for MERCOSUR at around 55% through 2011. Do you have a better (maybe more up to date) source? It's fine if it's in Portuguese.

Thanks!

Ed