The Ministry of Defense presented two aircraft that will be incorporated into the fleet of the Argentine Air Force

Defense Minister, Jorge Taianaled this Wednesday the aircraft presentation ceremony Hercules C-130 and IA 63 Pampa III – Block II, fully modernized in the Argentine Aircraft Factory “Brigadier San Martín” SA (FAdeA) with contributions from National Defense Fund (FONDEF), which will be incorporated into the fleet of the Argentine Air Force.

“This is the result of a political decision and a retooling strategy that is based on the FONDEF law, which provides the resources to move in this direction. We are going to use the planes not only for transportation, but also for strengthen the deployment, control and surveillance of our territory”, expressed Taiana, accompanied by the head of the Argentina air forcebrigadier general Xavier-Isaac.

In addition, the national official mentioned the incorporation of two new aircraft, Beechcraft and SAAB 340, and announced that a crew from Pampas will soon be taken to the Río Gallegos base: “We are having a stronger presence in the south of our country. We recently recovered a radar in Río Grande and now We are going to take a crew from Pampas to Río Gallegos. We will start with three to permanently recover the capacity of fighter planes in the south of Argentina”.

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“This is the priority that we give from the Government to the recovery of the capacities so that they make effective the control and surveillance of our air space and that they firmly contribute to recovering a deterrence and action capacity that is up to what our country deserves and requires”, concluded Taiana.

The Secretary of Research, Industrial Policy and Production for Defense, Daniela Castropointed out: “The modernizations carried out fully in FAdeA reinforce those indications of the National Defense Policy Directive, which are based on the generation of knowledge and on the national industry as a support for national sovereignty.”

In his turn, Isaac highlighted the work carried out together with the Ministry of Defense with the contribution of FONDEF and the support of the Nation to “begin to cover all the favorable relative positions that the Air Force and the military instrument have in the country”, and assured that “every runway and every base in the homeland is a possibility of projecting space power.” Finally, in accordance with the Minister’s words, he reaffirmed: “We are going to go to Gallegos with the Pampa to definitively allocate it to what will soon be the X Air Brigade again, We are going to have a presence again in such an important part of the country as the south”.

The Modernized Pampa was in disuse with a long time out of service, originally being a Pampa II series aircraft. The modernization process required a major inspection for 1,200 hours and an eventual inspection of the electrical system, flight command, hydraulic system, anemometric system, oxygen, and structure.

In turn, it was repowered and modernized from Pampa II to Pampa III block II, making changes due to obsolescence, mounting a new engine, digital avionics modification, and cabin modification. It also received the modification of the oxygen system, the incorporation of a new Mission Computer, a navigation and shooting system, and the installation of a Head Up Display (HUD) and Data Link.

The new Pampa III – Block II configuration, has a state-of-the-art technological update, which significantly improves flight analysis capabilities through the incorporation of virtual training software and a communication system between aircraft, favoring their performance and the formation of the pilots of the Argentine Air Force.

The Hercules C-130, registration TC-64, corresponds to the last aircraft included in the modernization and removal of obsolescence program, which involved five Hercules aircraft from the Argentine Air Force, extending its useful life by at least 20 years and significantly improving its performance in a strategic capacity recovery process.

Major modernized systems include a duplicate flight control system, Commercial Satellite Communication (SATCOM); Data Link Communication System controlled by the Pilot; Expanded Ground Proximity Warning System; Collision Avoidance System; Color Meteorological Radar, and Improved Environmental Control System, among others.

Finally, it should be noted that a major structural repair was carried out, which included changing the Rainbow Fitting, a significant task that included the disassembly of its planes, the replacement of parts damaged by fatigue and corrosion, as well as the reassembly of the structural components and systems involved of the aircraft.

With these acquisitions, the Argentine Air Force continues with its capacity recovery process through FONDEF. Present at the ceremony were the Chief of Staff, Héctor Mazzei; the Secretary of International Affairs for Defense, Francisco Cafiero, the Undersecretary of Operational Planning and Defense Logistics Service, Lucía Kersul; the Undersecretary of Administrative Management Gonzalo Alemis; and the vice president of FAdeA, Franco Giuggioloni.

The heads of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Lieutenant General Juan Martín Paleo; from the Navy, Admiral Julio Horacio Guardia; and from the Army, Lieutenant General Guillermo Olegario Pereda.

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