India and Argentina may finally reach a deal for India to send Argentina the Tejas Mk-1 fighter jet and the light combat chopper (LCH).
Jorge Taiana, the Defense Minister of Argentina, is in India on a visit. On Tuesday, July 18, he is scheduled to meet with India’s Defense Minister Rajnath Singh to talk about improving relations between the two countries and working together more.
A story from during the meeting, the export of Tejas Mk-1 jets and LCH attack helicopters to the Argentinian Air Force could be on the table.
The Argentinian Air Force wants to buy 15 multi-role fighters to replace its old A-4M Skyhawk fighters that came from the US Marine Corps.
Due to the war between Britain and Argentina over the Falklands Islands in 1982, the British government has banned the sale of equipment to Argentina that uses parts made in Britain.
Because of this, Argentina can’t get modern planes that can do more than one thing.
Aside from the Tejas, the Chinese are also trying to sell the Argentinians their JF-17 Block-III planes. The US is also giving the Argentinian Air Force modified F-16s.
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is likely to swap parts of Tejas that were made in the UK with parts made in India or by a different company. This includes the zero-zero ejection seat, which was made by Martin Baker, and the radome, which was made by Cobham.
The deal for 15 Tejas Mk-1A fighters is expected to cost around Rs 8,000 crore, and if it goes through, it could be the first successful sale of a fighter made by HAL called the Tejas Mk-1.
Another deal is to buy LCH attack helicopters made by HAL. This is expected to cost around Rs 8,600 crore.
The Argentinian Air Force was interested in getting the Tejas and LCH Prachand attack helicopters at Aero India 2023 and DefExpo 2022.
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