Argentina is on the lookout for supersonic fighter jets. India made LCA Tejas and the Chinese JF-17 are the top two contenders. As per Shephard media, the apparent frontrunner is the JF-17 Thunder, built jointly by China and Pakistan.

In March, an Argentinian delegation toured the HAL facility adding to speculation about Tejas being considered by the Argentinian Air Force. Watch the video to know more.

Report By Chinese Media

DangDai media this month had confirmed the visit of the Argentine delegation to the CATIC (China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation) facilities, located in the city of Chengdu. There, the Argentine personnel carried out different technical evaluation stages that included the use of simulators, cockpit practices and evaluation via flight tests.

CATIC personnel had made available to the Argentine delegation diverse technical documentation and even a flight simulator to become familiar with the JF-17 Thunder model.

This evaluation is essential to acquire a thorough knowledge of the fighter aircraft under study, to be able to make an informed decision on whether to incorporate various weapon systems.

Political Outcome

Although there is still no official position on the fighter aircraft model to be chosen, and both Israel and India have renewed their offers for the IAI Kfir NG and HAL Tejas MK-1A (which by itself is a far more superior aircraft than the other contenders) respectively. However, the underlying fact is that the selection of the Chinese fighter will have geostrategic ramifications and the eventual alignment outcome for Argentina, as the Americans are not in favour of Argentina's option to choose the Chinese JF-17 fighter.