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| “This is a really big project,” reports Denel Aviation CEO Ismail Dockrat. “We are very excited about it.” On Friday, Engineering News Online revealed that Ecuadorean Defence Minister Javier Ponce had told his country’s media that Ecuador was negotiating with South Africa to buy 12 Cheetah C single-seat fighters. “The programme would involve the supply of the aircraft, plus the maintenance of the Cheetahs over time,” explains Dockrat. Armscor and Denel are both involved because the former is responsible for the disposal of retired and surplus South African National Defence Force material and equipment, while the latter holds the design authority for, and has the maintenance experience with, the Cheetah. According to the Ecuadorean newspaper El Universo, that country has, in principle, decided to acquire the Cheetahs, but an actual purchase depends on the outcome of the financial negotiations, which will start in December. Ecuador has budgeted an initial $35-million for this programme, but expects the total costs to be higher. According to the newspaper, representatives of Denel offered Cheetahs to Ecuador on August 26, while visiting the Ecuadorean Air Force's Cotopaxi Air Base. The Cheetah Cs were retired by the SAAF last year, in anticipation of the arrival of new Saab Gripen fighters, which are now being delivered. Ecuador is seeking to modernise its fighter force at minimum cost, and reportedly South Africa is offering the Cheetahs at lower prices than Chile and Spain are seeking for fighters that are now surplus to their requirements. Indeed, the prices sought by Chile and Spain exceed the fighter acquisition budget available to the Ecuadorian Air Force. Further, the Cheetahs have quite modern avionics systems, apparently equivalent to those of the modernised Israel Aircraft Industries Kfir CE fighters already operated by Ecuador. The Cheetahs would be operated alongside the Kfirs. |
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| Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is delivering the first batch of upgraded Kfir fighter jets to the Colombian Air Force in a ceremony held at IAI’s facilities in Israel. In attendance at the ceremony was Juan Hurtado Cano, the Colombian Ambassador to Israel, high ranking officers from the Colombian Air Force, and executives from the Israeli Ministry of Defense (IMOD-SIBAT), and IAI. In late 2007 IAI was awarded a multi-year contract worth over $150 million to upgrade the existing Colombian Air Force Kfir jets, and to supply additional jets. Mr. Itzhak Nissan, IAI’s President and CEO said: “IAI’s new technologies were integrated in the new Kfir jets to better their capabilities and allow longer operational service. The short delivery schedule and high quality of the aircraft were feasible thanks to IAI’s integration capability, and the knowledge and experience of Lahav and other IAI divisions”. The additional Kfir jets, models C10-C12, have been upgraded and improved to include IAI’s latest technologies and products. Currently, Kfir jets play an advanced role in the Air Forces of Sri Lanka, Ecuador and Colombia, and they have been used in the US Navy to act as adversary aircraft in dissimilar air combat training. |