Argentina enquires about Tejas
The head of the Argentine Air Force, Brigadier General Xavier Isaac in an Interview with the local defense publication “Infodefensa” has said that country has received offers for the Chinese JF-17 and Russia’s Mig-35 and Mig-29 and is planning to wait till the end of this year for more offers to come from other interested vendors before it decides in the first quarter of the next year which plane to go for and make necessary credit for up to $664m for the acquisition of multipurpose fighter aircraft.Isaac also said that it had Inquired with India for Tejas and initial talks were held and hinted at the possibility of further talks as the air force is not happy with the present offers received since they lack details in terms of armament, logistics, performance, etc.The Argentinian Ministry of Defense (MoD) recently had issued a statement refuting media reports that it has decided to purchase 12 Chinese JF-17 Thunder Block III jets. South Korean FA-50 aircraft was the front runner before Brits stepped in and refused to supply British-made components on the aircraft due to the ongoing arms embargo on Argentina after the Falklands war between the two countries.Indian-made LCA-Tejas also has British company Cobham-supplied refueling probe and Quartz radome. LCA-Tejas fleet is also equipped with British company Martin-Baker ejection seats. India can offer a non-refueling probe variant with locally made radome to Argentina but replacing Martin-Baker ejection seats with Russian ejection seats is also possible but could require considerable design changes to the glass canopy and certification process of the system.
Source: IDRW . Org /RAUNAK KUNDE
