Argentina Offers (Inoperative) French Fighter Aircraft for Ukraine

Argentine is considering sending its old French fighter aircraft to Ukraine.

Argentina’s Foreign Minister Diana Mondino discussed the possibility of transferring five Super Étendard aircraft with her French counterpart, Stephane Sejourne, the United States’ National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, and unnamed NATO officials on behalf of the President of Argentina Javier Milei, according to a report by Argentinian news site Infobae.

Argentina purchased these refurbished aircraft from France in 2018 but has been unable to maintain them because of an arms embargo that was put in place within a week of the 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands by Argentina, which the UK has maintained ever since.

The Super Étendard fighter aircraft are now considered inoperable, according to Infobae, primarily because the aircraft ejection system can no longer be maintained.

Milei’s administration has offered to exchange them for other materiel, including drones and helicopters, in the expectation that France would repair the aircraft and transfer them to Ukraine.

Argentina provided two Mi-171E helicopters, originally received from Russia, to Ukraine in March this year. According to the Financial Times, Milei made the move to express his desire to support “countries that defend freedom,” citing the US, Israel, and Ukraine as examples of this.

In return for that donation, the US agreed to reduce the price, for the 24 F-16 aircraft it had agreed to sell to Buenos Aires, by the value of the helicopters.

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A Ukrainian lawmaker has claimed Ukraine’s first major fighting formation trained exclusively outside the country is “in chaos.” A high-profile journalist said the unit lost 1,000 men to desertion.

Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron announced the planned transfer of Mirage 2000-5 combat aircraft to Kyiv supported by a training program for Ukrainian pilots to learn and maintenance crews. The Mirages can carry both the Storm Shadow / SCALP-EG cruise missiles and AASM Hammer smart bombs, which France previously sent to Ukraine.

The Argentine president announced earlier this week that he would participate in the June 15-16 Swiss-hosted peace conference on Ukraine, after previously saying that he would not attend.