Lockheed Martin A-4AR Fightinghawk


The Lockheed Martin A-4AR Fightinghawk is a major upgrade of the McDonnell Douglas A-4M Skyhawk attack aircraft developed for the Argentine Air Force which entered service in 1998. The program was named Fightinghawk in recognition of the F-16 Fighting Falcon, which was the source of its new avionics.

Design and development

Background

The Falklands War in 1982 took a heavy toll on the Argentine Air Force, which lost over 60 aircraft.
The supply of modern combat aircraft had been restricted since the United States had imposed an arms embargo in 1978 for human rights abuses; there were further restrictions when the United Kingdom also imposed an arms embargo in 1982. The only combat aircraft that the Air Force could obtain were 10 Mirage 5Ps transferred from the Peruvian Air Force, 19 Six-Day War veteran Mirage IIICJs from Israel, and 2 Mirage IIIB trainers from the French Air Force.
In 1989, Carlos Menem was elected President of Argentina and quickly established a pro-United States foreign policy which led to the country gaining Major non-NATO ally status.
In 1994, the United States made a counteroffer to modernize 36 former US Marine Corps A-4M Skyhawk II in a US$282 million deal that would be carried out by Lockheed Martin and included the privatization of the Fabrica Militar de Aviones, which was renamed Lockheed Martin Aircraft Argentina SA afterward. In 2010, LMAASA reverted to the Argentine government as Fabrica Argentina de Aviones.

Production

Argentine Air Force technicians chose 32 A-4M and 4 TA-4F airframes from the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona to upgrade. The upgrade plans included:
The contract stipulated that eight airframes would be refurbished at Lockheed Martin's plant in Palmdale, California and the rest in Córdoba, Argentina at LMAASA. At least ten TA-4J and A-4M airframes for use as spare parts, eight additional engines, and a new A-4AR simulator were also delivered.

Operational history

The Fightinghawks, having received Air Force serials C-901 to C-936, saw their first group arrive in Argentina on 18 December 1997 and the first "Argentine" A-4AR was rolled out on 3 August 1998 at Cordoba. The last one, number 936, was delivered to the Air Force in March 2000. Two aircraft remained some time in the United States for weapons homologation. All of the A-4ARs were delivered to the 5th Air Brigade at Villa Reynolds, San Luis Province, where they replaced two squadrons of Falklands/Malvinas veteran A-4P and A-4C. They were soon deployed in rotation around the country from Rio Gallegos in the south to Resistencia in the north where they were used to intercept smugglers and drug trafficking airplanes.
In November 2005, they were deployed to Tandil airbase to enforce a no-fly zone for the Mar del Plata Summit of the Americas. In July 2006, they were deployed to Cordoba province for the Mercosur's 30th Presidents Summit.
In August 2009, they were deployed to Bariloche for the UNASUR Presidents summit. Later that month, they participated at Reconquista, Santa Fe of the Pre-Salitre an exercise of preparation for the Salitre II of next October in Chile with Chile, Brazil, France and the United States.
On 1 May 2010, they participated in the Air Fest 2010 show at Morón Airport and Air Base. On 25 May 2010, three A-4ARs flew over the 9 de Julio Avenue at Buenos Aires as part of the Argentina Bicentennial shows.
In August 2010, the aircraft enforced a no-fly zone at San Juan for the Mercosur's Presidents Summit. One month later, they were present at Reconquista, Santa Fe for the ICARO III integration manoeuvers.
In January 2016, Argentine Minister of Defence Julio Martinez confirmed that all A-4ARs had been grounded. This was originally due to the expiry of the explosive cartridges in their ejection seats, but additional problems became apparent later on. Only 4-5 were found airworthy with the rest were in storage at Villa Reynolds.
In May 2017, several A-4ARs participated in celebrations marking the 2017 anniversary of the May Revolution.
By 2020, as few as six of the aircraft were still reported as operational. In March 2024, Argentina signed a letter of intent with Denmark to acquire 24 used F-16 fighter aircraft as likely replacements for its Fightinghawks.

Variants

;A-4AR : 32 converted from A-4Ms
;OA-4AR : 4 converted from TA-4Fs

Operators

  • Argentine Air Force – 36 received ; as few as 6 reported operational in 2020; operational availability reported in 2022 at perhaps 13-22% of 23 aircraft

    Specifications (A-4AR Fightinghawk)