Argentine President Alberto Fernandez ruled out the possibility of buying a fourth fighter
What is known
The head of state in an interview with the Financial Timesstated that the purchase of weapons is not a top priority. Fernandez spoke about this after the completion of the inspection of the F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters of the Danish Air Force.
Argentina was considering buying not onlyLockheed Martin aircraft. Alternatives were Indian Tejas and Chinese FC-1s. Also, the South American country wanted to purchase Israeli Kfir aircraft and French Mirage F1, but later abandoned this. Another option was the South Korean FA-50 fighter, but it didn't work out because supplies were blocked by the UK.
In 2015, Argentina decommissionedMirage aircraft after 45 service. Since then, the country's Air Force has no fighters capable of developing supersonic speeds. The combat fleet now consists of IA-63 Pampa training aircraft and several A-4AR Fightinghawk light aircraft.
For comparison, neighboring Brazil has about 50upgraded F-5 Tiger II fighters with extended range missiles and an order for 36 Gripen aircraft. The Chilean Air Force operates 42 F-16 Fighting Falcoms, including the Block 50, and 11 upgraded F-5 Tiger IIs.
Image: Fly Mag