Argentina revives possibility of Chinese fighter jet purchase, renewing Beijing’s hopes for JF-17 in South America
- Argentine defence minister and ambassador to China discuss potential procurement of JF-17 fighters and armoured vehicles, according to embassy
- The announcement comes just months after Latin American country’s president pulled plans to buy warplanes
Sabino Vaca Narvaja, Argentina’s ambassador to China, held a meeting with Argentine Defence Minister Jorge Taiana in Buenos Aires recently to discuss plans to cooperate with Beijing on defence, according to a Weibo post by the country’s embassy on Tuesday.
The plan could see Argentina procure JF-17 aircraft along with 8x8 armoured vehicles made by China North Industries Corporation (Norinco) to “meet the needs of the Argentine military to maintain unity and stability”, the embassy said.
“Argentina has to allocate its resources to more important things than the purchase of military aircraft,” Fernandez told the Financial Times in December.
China may still have foot in the door to sell military jets to Argentina
The JF-17 Thunder, jointly produced with Pakistan, is a lightweight single-engine multirole jet with a top speed of Mach 1.6 and combat radius of up to 1,400km (870 miles).
It is reportedly a front-runner to fill the Argentine Air Force’s gap in fighter jets, with other potential candidates including India’s Tejas, Russia’s MiG-35 and second-hand American F-16s from the Danish air force.
Taiana and Vaca Narvaja also discussed the progress of military personnel exchanges between Beijing and Buenos Aires, the Weibo post said.
Over the past two years, Chinese and Argentine representatives have reportedly visited each other to negotiate the terms of an agreement on the JF-17, including partial assembly of the fighter by an Argentine manufacturer.
Chinese fighter jets’ South America hopes grounded by Argentina U-turn
India has also been in talks with Argentina about a possible sale of Tejas aircraft, manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Limited chairman CB Ananthakrishnan said in February, according to India Today.
HAL has reportedly been working to replace all British components in the Tejas fighter with Indian-made parts.
Fu Qianshao, a Chinese military aviation expert, said the JF-17 contained a British-made ejection seat, but added that “we can replace it with a domestic one – there’s no problem about that”.
“The key is whether Argentina has the economic strength to buy.”