A-4AR Fightinghawk

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A-4AR Fightinghawk

Type	Ground attack
Manufacturer	Lockheed Martin
Status	Operational
Primary user	Argentine Air Force
Produced	1996-1999
Number built	36
Developed from	A-4 Skyhawk

The Lockheed Martin A-4AR Fightinghawk is a major upgrade of the A-4M Skyhawk attack aircraft developed for the Argentine Air Force.

1 Background
2 Production
3 Service
4 Accidents
5 Specifications (A-4AR Fightinghawk)
6 Sources
7 External links

[edit] Background

The 1982 Falklands/Malvinas War took a great toll on the Argentine Air Force, which lost 60 aircraft. Due to the deteriorating national economic situation and political distrust of the military, the Air Force was denied the resources needed to replace its war losses.

Furthermore, the United Kingdom had imposed an arms embargo on Argentina after the war. The only combat aircraft that the Air Force could obtain were ten Mirage 5Ps, transferred from the Peruvian Air Force; 19 Mirage IIICJs from Israel, veterans of the Six-Day War; and two Mirage IIIB trainers from the French Air Force.

In 1989, Carlos Menem was elected President of Argentina and quickly established a pro-United States foreign policy. Although the economic situation improved, the funds to purchase new combat aircraft like the Mirage 2000 remained unavailable. The Air Force made several attempts to buy surplus aircraft such as IAI Kfirs from Israel and A-7 Corsair IIs or F-16A Fighting Falcons from the United States.^{[citation needed]}

In 1994, the United States made a counteroffer to modernize 36 ex-USMC A-4M Skyhawks in a US$282 million deal that would be carried out by Lockheed Martin and include the privatization of the Fabrica Militar de Aviones (English: Military Aircraft Factory), now Lockheed Martin Aircraft Argentina SA.

[edit] Production

Argentine Air Force technicians chose 32 A-4M and 4 TA-4F airframes from the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center to upgrade. The upgrade plans included:

Complete overhaul of the airframe, wires and the Pratt & Whitney J52P-408A engine
Installation of Douglas Escapac 1-G3 ejection seats
HGU-55/P helmets
Honeywell Normal Air-Garrett's OBOGS (On Board Oxygen Generation System)
Westinghouse/Northrop Grumman AN/APG-66V2 (ARG-1) radar
HOTAS controls and a 'glass' cockpit (3 large CRT screens)
Sextant Avionique/Thales Avionics SHUD
Litton/Northrop Grumman LN-100G inertial navigation system
MIL-STD-1553B data bus
Two General Dynamics Information Systems AN/AYK-14 mission computers
Northrop Grumman AN/ALR-93 (V)1 Radar warning receiver
AN/ALQ-126B jammer
ALR-39 chaff/flare dispenser
IFF AN/APX-72

The contract stipulated that 18 airframes would be refurbished at the Lockheed-Martin Plant in Palmdale, California and the rest in Córdoba, Argentina at FMA.

At least ten TA-4J and A-4F airframes for use as spare parts, eight additional engines, and a new A-4AR simulator were also delivered.

[edit] Service

The Fightinghawks, having received Air Force serials C-901 to C-936, saw their first group arrive in Argentina on 18 December 1997 and the first "Argentine" A-4AR was rolled out on 3 August 1998 at Cordoba. The last one, number 936, was delivered to the Air Force in March 1999. Two aircraft (a one-seat and a two-seat) remain in the United States for weapons homologation.

All of the A-4ARs were delivered to the 5th Air Brigade (V Brigada Aérea) at Villa Reynolds, San Luis Province, where they replaced two squadrons of Falklands/Malvinas veteran A-4B/Cs. They were soon deployed in rotation around the country from Rio Gallegos in the south to Resistencia in the north where they were used intercept smugglers and drug trafficing airplanes.

In September 1998, just months after their arrival and again in April 2001, United States Air Force F-16 visited Villa Reynolds for the Southern Falcon joint exercise, known as Aguila (Spanish:Eagle) in Argentina. In 2004, the A-4ARs went abroad for the joint exercise Cruzex, along with Brazilian F-5s and Mirages, Venezuelan F-16s and French Mirage 2000s.

In November 2005 they were deployed to Tandil airbase to enforce a no-fly zone for the Mar del Plata Summit of the Americas and later meet Chilean Mirage Elkans, Brazilian AMXs and Uruguayan A-37 at Mendoza for the joint exercise Ceibo.

In July 2006 they were deployed to Cordoba province for the Mercosur's 30th Presidents Summit, while in August and September they went north again to Brazil for the Cruzex III joint exercise with Brazil, Chile, France, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.

[edit] Accidents

As of January 2007, after nearly ten years of service, two A-4ARs have been lost:

6 July, 2005: near Justo Darac, San Luis Province, pilot Lt Horacio Martín Flores (29 years old), died.
24 August, 2005: near Río Cuarto, Cordoba, pilot ejected safely.