Information AboutA-4ar Fightinghawk |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT A-4AR FIGHTINGHAWK | |
| argentine military aircraft | |
| lockheed martin | |
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BACKGROUND The 1982 Falklands/Malvinas War took a great toll on the Argentine Air Force , which lost more than 80 aircraft. Due to the deteriorating national Economic situation and political distrust upon the military (''see Dirty War ''), the Air Force was denied the resources needed to replace the war losses. Even worse, the military aid embargo imposed by the British after the war made that the only combat aircraft that the Air Force could get were 10 Mirage VP transferred from the Peruvian Air Force , 19 Mirage IIICJ from Israel veterans from the Six Days War and 2 Mirage IIIB trainers from the French Air Force . In 1989 , Carlos Menem was elected new President Of Argentina and soon establish a pro United States foreign policy. Although the economical situation improved, the funds to get new combat aircraft like the Mirage 2000 were still not available. The Air Force made several attempts to get surplus aircraft such IAI Kfir s in Israel and A-7 Corsair s or F-16A in the United States. It was in 1994 , that the United States counteroffer, as the only option, to modernize 36 ex- USMC A-4M Skyhawks in a U 282M program that would be carried out by Lockheed Martin and include the privatization of the Fabrica Militar De Aviones (FMA, Military Aircraft Factory) now Lockheed Martin Aircraft Argentina SA. The program was named ''Fightinghawk'' to resemblance its F-16 Fighting Falcon origin. PRODUCTION Argentine Air Force technicians choose 32 A-4M and 4 TA-4F airframes from AMARC . The upgrade include:
The contract estipulate that 18 airframes would be refurbished at the Lockheed-Martin Plant in Palmdale , California and the rest in Cordoba , Argentina at the FMA. At least 10 TA-4J and A-4F airframes for use as spare parts, 8 additional engines and a new A-4AR simulator were also delivered. SERVICE The Fightinghawks received serials C-901 to C-936 in the Air Force. The first group arrived in a ferry flight from the United States on December 18 , 1997 and the first "Argentine" A-4AR was roll out on August 3 , 1998 at Cordoba. The last one, number 936, was delivered to the Air Force on March, 1999. Two aircraft (a one-seat and a two-seats) remain in the United States up the next year for weapons homologations. All A-4AR were delivered to the 5th Air Brigade (''V Brigada Aérea'') at Villa Reynolds, San Luis Province where they replaced the Falklands/Malvinas veterans A-4B/C establishing two squadrons. Soon were deployed in rotation manouvers along the country from Rio Gallegos in the cold south to Resistencia in the hot north where they intercept Smuggler and Drug Trafficing airplanes. United States Air Force F-16s visited their base for the joint exercise ''Southern Falcon''. They went abroad for the joint exercise ''Cruzex'' along with the Brazilian , Venezuelan and French air forces. In 2005 they were deployed to Tandil airbase for enforce a No-fly Zone for the Mar Del Plata Summit Of The Americas and later meet Chilean Air Force Mirage Elkans, Brazilian Air Force AMXs and Uruguayan Air Force A-37 at Mendoza for the joint exercise ''Ceibo''. ACCIDENTS As of February 2006 , after near 10 years of service, two A-4AR were lost:
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