Ecuador to Buy Warplanes from South Africa
QUITO – The Ecuadorian armed forces are
negotiating to buy 12 Cheetah C fighter jets
from South Africa, the press reported
Thursday, citing Defense Minister Javier
Ponce.
The South African aircraft will replace
obsolete supersonic aircraft in the air
force that are past their 30 years of useful
life, the daily El Universo reported.
The article adds that the air force
recommended the purchase of the planes from
South Africa due to the cost, since the bids
presented by Spain and Chile exceeded the
budget for the modernization of the
Ecuadorian fleet.
The Cheetah C fighter was developed by South
Africa in the mid-1980s based on Mirage III
jets that Pretoria bought from France two
decades earlier.
Last month, representatives from South
Africa’s Denel Aviation renewed their offer
during a visit to the Cotopaxi airbase.
The Cheetahs were decommissioned by the
South African air force in 2008, but the
units Denel wants to sell to Quito have been
upgraded and are on a par with the Israeli
Kfir CE that is currently operating in
Ecuador.
“The decision on the purchase has been made
and it is estimated that in December the
financial negotiations will begin. For that,
an outlay of $35 million from a
not-yet-determined total amount is
anticipated,” the paper said.
Defense Ministry sources consulted by Efe
did not confirm the information about the
negotiations, but ministry communication
adviser Francisco Aguirre said that Ponce on
Wednesday held a working breakfast with the
daily El Universo.
Meanwhile, it is expected that on Thursday
the air force will present to Ponce a
technical report on the advisability of
accepting the donation of six Mirage 50 jets
from Venezuela.
This week, the defense chief said the
government was holding discussions with
Venezuela about the possibility of accepting
a donation of “equipment” to beef up the
Mirage fleet, but he emphasized that nothing
had resulted as yet from those talks.
“What we’ve been talking about (with
Venezuela) is the possibility of a gift of
some equipment that can be useful to us in
restoring our Mirage fleet. Everything
having to do with that gift is being
discussed,” Ponce said. EFE |
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