The Argentine Defense Minister announced the purchase of a SAAB 340

Defense Minister Agustín Rossi, during a ceremony held at the IX Air Brigade facilities, reported on the prompt acquisition of a new SAAB 340 to expand LADE’s capabilities.

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«The re-equipment of the Armed Forces is one of our inalienable objectives,» said Agustín Rossi during the ceremony.

According to the press release from the Ministry of Defense, Minister Rossi was participating in the graduation ceremony of ten Air Force pilots, who successfully passed the Course on Standardization of Procedures for Transport Aviators (CEPAT for its initials in Spanish), when he made the announcement.

As we timely reported, within the Government’s plans to provide a better response to the health crisis, it was decided to reinforce the tactical transport capacity of the Argentine Air Force (FAA) by recovering different aircraft, such as the Fokker 28 (TC-52 and TC-53), a Fokker 27 (TC-79) and the SAAB-340 (tuning of the T-35). The incorporation of a new SAAB can be understood within that strategy.

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The Minister also mentioned the imminent arrival of the first TC-12 Huron, of the ten acquired for the FAA. According to Rossi: «they will be very useful to generate routes within LADE (Líneas Aéreas del Estado), as a link between the different brigades and to improve surveillance and control capabilities of our maritime coastline.»

Finally, the Minister mentioned other important milestones of his management such as:

• The signing of the purchase contract from INVAP for 5 long-range radars RPA-200 to restart after almost four years of interruption «the radarization plan of the Argentine airspace, destined to complete the second line of the Northern Border»
• The agreements with FAdeA and Invap in which «inactive programs such as the remotorization of the Pucará Fénix were resumed, to turn it into an exploration aircraft, and the IA 100 Malvina training aircraft, programmed and designed with the specific requirements of the Air Force»
• The incorporation of a Boeing 737, «the most popular passenger transport system in the world and one that our pilots had not flown since 2005»

Of the ten airmen honored at the graduation ceremony, six will continue their duties in the IX Air Brigade aboard the Twin Otters and SAAB 340; two others will move to the II Air Brigade, in the city of Paraná in Entre Ríos, where they will fly Lear Jet LJ 35 A aircraft; while the remainder will continue their careers at the Morón Military Air Base, piloting the recently acquired Beechcraft TC-12 Huron.