Soldiers of the Granaderos de San Martin regiment fold the Argentina's flag at the Plaza de Mayo square in Buenos Aires, Argentina. AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd. All rights reserved.
Last June it was reported that Argentina is negotiating with the French government the purchase of more than 12 second-hand fighter aircraft which the French Air Force decommissioned in June 2014. In August, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) informed that Argentina had requested 24 T-6C Texan training aircraft, besides engines, communications equipment and other components, for an approximate value of $ 300 million. In 2014, the Argentine-Chinese Joint Cooperation Committee in the Fields of Defense, Technology and Industry was established, making both countries comprehensive strategic partners. Despite what might have been assumed considering the current Argentine government’s approach towards the United States at the nuclear summit last April, President Macri and Chinese President Xi Jinping reaffirmed their strategic alliance. Argentina also pledged to form a strategic alliance with Russia during the visit Defense Minister Julio Martínez made to that country in September. In addition, a non-confirmed piece of news points to a meeting of Vice Minister Angel Tello at the Pentagon in which it was agreed that the US would open military bases in Ushuaia and Misiones.
The Argentine Air Force, by the way, is in dire need of modernizing its fleet, which has practically been ground to a halt since the decommissioning of its aircraft began in June 2013 - it is expected to end in 2018 with the deprogramming of the A4-AR Fightinghawk fighter-bombers.
