The Argentine president Javier Milei wants to contribute to the defense of Ukraine. For this reason he approved a plan that involves sending five Super StandardFrench-made fighter aircraft that played an important role in Argentina’s war history.
The planes, purchased by Paris in 2017 and formally acquired in 2019, cannot be used by Buenos Aires due to “of the embargo imposed by the United Kingdom against the post-war country of the Falklands“, conventional conflict fought in 1982 for sovereignty over the South Atlantic archipelago that Argentina has always called Malvinas Islands. An Argentine newspaper was the first to report the news Infobae.
An old issue with London
The five fighters in question, previously embarked on the French aircraft carrier Charles De Gauelle, have been located in the Comandante Espora Aeronaval Base since 2019. Base located on the eastern coast of Argentina where the Escuadra Aeronaval N° 3 and the 2nd Escuadrilla Aeronaval de Caza y Ataque are based.
How do you learn these Etenderd “they cannot be used because they lack the cartridges that allow them to eject the pilot’s seat in case of emergency“. This lack makes the non-operational fightersand since Argentina “cannot purchase these cartridges due to theembargo imposed by London”, since the jets arrived the jets are disused.
According to what was disclosed, the Foreign Minister Diana Mondino and the Minister of Defense Luis Petri I have been working “for weeks” to implement the plan announced by President Milei; which sees Argentina in contact with the United States and NATO to “help” Ukraine with weapons to deploy against the Russians. The Argentine Foreign Minister would also meet his French counterpart Stéphane Séjourné in what is reported as a “secret meeting had with NATO in Brussels“. The participation of France in this situation it merely underlines the resolute desire to “overcome geopolitical obstacles” to stand by Kiev in every way.
Once in Ukraine, the fighters will be able to receive cartridges for ejection seats, purchased or granted to the Kiev government. This would make the aircraft safe and operational again.
French Etendard fighters in Argentina
The Super-Etendard Modernisé are ground attack fighter embarked single-rotor aircraft developed for Aeronavale French, entered into service in 1978 and removed from service in France in July 2016. Purchased at the time for fourteen million euros in a package that included engines and other spare parts for the old Etendards of theArmada Argentina – the very old fighter planes that engaged the Sea Harriers of the Royal Navy and the Sapecat Jaguars of the Royal Air Force in the Falklands War overseas, conducted their “last operational sorties” on Syriaduring Operation Chammal.
In the 1981 the Argentine Naval Aviation had just received a fleet of 14 Super-Etendards when conflict with the United Kingdom broke out just a year later. It was precisely some of these jets that achieved the greatest successes in combatthrough the use of anti-ship missiles Am-39 Exocet, sinking the destroyer HMS Sheffield and the transport ship Atlantic Conveyor.
The French Etendards commissioned in the last tranche from Dassault, the manufacturer of the most modern Rafales currently embarked on the only French aircraft carrier, are equipped with night vision goggles and integrations that allow them to use Paveway laser-guided bombs.
The navigation and attack systems were “updated” at the time, but we are still talking about aircraft between the 3rd and 4th generations of fighter planes that are completely different from the Soviet-made platforms on which Ukrainian pilots are used to flying. . As was the case with the F-16s, it will take some time time before a Super-Etendard sent by Milei can play his part in the conflict which we can hope ends much sooner.
