Colombia to Spend $235 Mln for Air Force Aircraft

[Oqaab]

Colombia to Spend $235 Mln for Air Force Aircraft (Update1)

June 30 (Bloomberg) -- Colombia said it will spend about $234.6 million to purchase at least 24 warplanes to boost the operational capacity of the Air Force as the government steps up its campaign against drug-funded insurgents and paramilitaries.

Colombia will seek bids from aircraft makers to replace its aging fleet of A-37 and OV-10 aircraft, Defense Minister Jorge Alberto Uribe said at a news conference in Bogota. He said he wants to have the aircraft selected and financing lined up for the transaction by the end of the year.

``The state of our current fleet makes it a national necessity to replace the planes, more so with the conflict we are fighting,'' said Uribe.

Colombia has been enlarging and upgrading its armed forces since 2000 to step up pressure on the country's estimated 40,000 guerrillas and paramilitaries. The armed forces need light aircraft that can provide close support to military units on the ground, said Air Force commander General Edgar Alfonso Lesmez.

The government in November 2002 shelved plans to buy about 24 planes and decided instead to upgrade its A37 and OV-10 aircraft. The government at the time had been considering light- attack Super Tucano planes made by Brazil's Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica SA.

Link
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000086&sid=afKqAu5gJBns&refer=latin_america

 

[G-Capo]

We bought some Super Tucano's.For that much money we could have goten atleast a dozen second hand F-16's.

 

[Waylander]

I really like the Super Tucanos.
They are for sure a good choice for area control and CAS against low tech forces if you want to have low operational costs.
And a old style plane with new tech is just lovely to see.

 

[Stimpy75]

although it´s not a "small" plane,but what´s about the SU-25?not the more expensive SU-39,but more the SU-25 Scorpion,a georgian version equipped with israeli avionics and the ability to use both eastern and western ordenance.

 

[aaaditya]

although it´s not a "small" plane,but what´s about the SU-25?not the more expensive SU-39,but more the SU-25 Scorpion,a georgian version equipped with israeli avionics and the ability to use both eastern and western ordenance.

i believe that the su25 and su39,would be a bit of an overkill against drugrunners,smugglers and terrorists. also its relatively higher speed would make it less suitable for the counter insurgency roles.

 

[G-Capo]

The Army wanted the Super Tucano's becuase of the loiter time above a battlefield any where from 2-4 hours depending on the payload and altitude and also it was cheap to operate.

We bought 24 Super Tucano's and 1 simulator rather expensive for some prop planes I believe.

Me personally I would have went with some Su-25's Frogfoots.They can take a beating and we have lost alot of prop planes that are used for aerial sparying to ground fire.This is an expensive purchase for prop planes.

 

[Ths]

G-capo: This really taste of a whopping big bribe - and not much else.

10 mio USD a piece: I can say we purchased old F-16A from the US to fill up attrition for 5 mio USD add to that update costs of about another 5 mio USD and you get a very good fighter that will last (in south america) at least 25 years.

I agree for drugbusting a turboprop would be very good; but not at that price: We are talking 5-10 times to expensive - and with normal going bribe rate in south america 3-4 times to expensive.

My idea would be something like the Pucara.

 

[contedicavour]

What jets would the Colombian air force use against Chavez' new SU-30 ??
That threat is worth buying some new air superiority fighters.

cheers

 

[Ths]

Well Hugo Chavez is a problem in so far that it violates the Monroe doctrin - or rather the interpretation subsequent administrations.

I recall Peru - I think - recieving Soviet aircraft back in the bad old days. The problem was that these supposedly advanced planes could fly - just. I understand the gunsight was a cross on the pane made by a speedmarker (or close to it - the world had progresses from the RF-84F Thunderflash).

 

[contedicavour]

Well Hugo Chavez is a problem in so far that it violates the Monroe doctrin - or rather the interpretation subsequent administrations.

I recall Peru - I think - recieving Soviet aircraft back in the bad old days. The problem was that these supposedly advanced planes could fly - just. I understand the gunsight was a cross on the pane made by a speedmarker (or close to it - the world had progresses from the RF-84F Thunderflash).

Well Peru operates Fitters SU20/22 which are indeed good for a museum, but the SU30 Chavez is buying will beat any air force fighter south of the Rio Grande and that's a problem.
Even the few Mirage 2000 Brazil is buying second hand or the new F16s Chile is buying (though without Amraam ?) are inferior to the latest SU30s.
Hence my suggestion Colombia does something about it... what about taking second hand US ANG F-15A/Bs (or C/Ds but I think we're dreaming here) ?

cheers

 

[Waylander]

Arent't the F-15A/B a little bit worn out?
The cells are not the newest ones anymore.

 

[JBodnar39]

[Even the few Mirage 2000 Brazil is buying second hand or the new F16s Chile is buying (though without Amraam ?) are inferior to the latest SU30s.
Hence my suggestion Colombia does something about it... what about taking second hand US ANG F-15A/Bs (or C/Ds but I think we're dreaming here) ?

cheers[/quote]


The F-16's Chile is getting will be upgraded to the equivalent of the NATO MLU standard. In the right hands they wil be a match for the Su-30

 

[Waylander]

Are they getting AIM-120 of some kind?
Or do they rely on AIM9?

 

[radiosilence]

the colombians will be able to get AIM 120 althought not the lastest version by playing up the chavez threat. especially after chavez embarassed bush at the un. the adminstration is still hot about that incident.

 

[Ths]

My point being: What capability are those Russian planes going to have? The Russians are not going to annoy the Americans unnessesarily - if for no other reason than to keep oil prices high. Russia is not going to let a lucrative international crisis with China be spoil by a South American clown.

 

[contedicavour]

My point being: What capability are those Russian planes going to have? The Russians are not going to annoy the Americans unnessesarily - if for no other reason than to keep oil prices high. Russia is not going to let a lucrative international crisis with China be spoil by a South American clown.

The Russians are more than happy to piss off the US in their own backyard. They consider it as a tactical response to what they perceive as US and NATO meddling in their own "backyard" ie Georgia and the Ukraine.

What international crisis with China are you referring to ?

The SU30s will almost certainly have AA12 amraam-like BVR missiles and AA11 short range missiles, plus probably some anti-shipping missiles such as Kh31. They will be a very serious threat to neighbors in case of border fights. They can surely wreck anything Colombia or Brazil has, for instance.

cheers

 

[contedicavour]

Are they getting AIM-120 of some kind?
Or do they rely on AIM9?

They could end up using AIM7M (there are still plenty in stock).
I haven't read anywhere that they'll be getting AIM120 after all, and I'm not sure you can fit Meteor or Mica (Meteor isn't even ready yet btw) that easily on a F16.

cheers

 

[Waylander]

I thought that F-16 is normally not able to use Sparrows.

 

[Ths]

The crisis that China has to do something about North Korea and generally pipe down their military ambitions.

In case You haven't noticed we've had high oil-prices for some time. Which is the US way of telling China that the USA can run China into the ground anytime.

 

[contedicavour]

The crisis that China has to do something about North Korea and generally pipe down their military ambitions.

In case You haven't noticed we've had high oil-prices for some time. Which is the US way of telling China that the USA can run China into the ground anytime.

Yes right, but what does this have to do with Russian support of Venezuela ?? Here's it's pretty much the opposite, Russia using high oil prices leverage to finance a buildup of its forces and push exports to countries that are in the US' backyard, with a target of rolling back NATO and UE expansion in its former satellite states.

cheers