The Lockheed Martin A-4AR Fightinghawk is a major upgrade of the

McDonnell Douglas McDonnell Douglas Corporation was a major American Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace manufacturing corporation and defense contractor, formed by the merger of McDonnell Aircraft and the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1967. Between then and its own ...

A-4M Skyhawk The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk is a single-seat subsonic carrier-capable light attack aircraft designed and produced by the American aerospace manufacturer Douglas Aircraft Company, and later, McDonnell Douglas. It was originally designated A4D und ...

attack aircraft developed for the

Argentine Air Force The Argentine Air Force (, or simply ''FAA'') is the air force of Argentina and one of three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic. In 2018, it had 13,837 military and 6,900 civilian personnel. FAA commander in chief is Brigadie ...

which entered service in 1998. The program was named ''Fightinghawk'' in recognition of the

F-16 Fighting Falcon The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American single-engine supersonic Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superio ...

, which was the source of its new avionics.

Design and development

Background

The

Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...

in 1982 took a heavy toll on the

, which lost over 60 aircraft. The supply of modern combat aircraft had been restricted since the United States had imposed an

arms embargo An arms embargo is a restriction or a set of sanctions that applies either solely to weaponry or also to "dual-use technology." An arms embargo may serve one or more purposes: * to signal disapproval of the behavior of a certain actor * to maintain ...

in 1978 for human rights abuses; there were further restrictions when the United Kingdom also imposed an

in 1982. The only combat aircraft that the Air Force could obtain were 10 Mirage 5Ps transferred from the

Peruvian Air Force The Peruvian Air Force (, FAP) is the branch of the Peruvian Military of Peru, Armed Forces tasked with defending the nation and its interests through the use of aerial warfare, air power. Additional missions include assistance in safeguarding i ...

, 19

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

veteran Mirage IIICJs from

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, and 2 Mirage IIIB trainers from the

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air force, air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the Fr ...

. In 1989,

Carlos Menem Carlos Saúl Menem (2 July 1930 – 14 February 2021) served as the 50th president of Argentina for ten years, from 1989 to 1999. He identified as Peronism, Peronist, serving as President of the Justicialist Party for 13 years (from 1990 to 200 ...

was elected

President of Argentina The president of Argentina, officially known as the president of the Argentine Nation, is both head of state and head of government of Argentina. Under Constitution of Argentina, the national constitution, the president is also the Head of go ...

and quickly established a pro-United States foreign policy which led to the country gaining

Major non-NATO ally A major non-NATO ally (MNNA) is a designation given by the Federal government of the United States, United States government to countries that have strategic working relationships with the United States Armed Forces while not being members of t ...

status. In 1994, the United States made a counteroffer to modernize 36 former

US Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the Marines, maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expedi ...

A-4M Skyhawk II in a US$282 million deal that would be carried out by

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...

and included the privatization of the

Fabrica Militar de Aviones Fabrica means a device in Latin, and derivative words mean "factory" in French (''fabrique''), Italian (''fabbrica''), Portuguese (''fábrica''), Romanian (''fabrica'') and Spanish (''fábrica'') among other Romance languages. It may also refer to ...

(Military Aircraft Factory – FMA), which was renamed Lockheed Martin Aircraft Argentina SA (LMAASA) afterward. In 2010, LMAASA reverted to the Argentine government as Fabrica Argentina de Aviones (FADEA).

Production

Argentine Air Force technicians chose 32 A-4M (built between 1970/1976) and 4 TA-4F

airframe The mechanical structure of an aircraft is known as the airframe. This structure is typically considered to include the fuselage, undercarriage, empennage and wings, and excludes the propulsion system. Airframe design is a field of aeros ...

s from the

Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center The 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (309th AMARG),Offici ...

at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

to upgrade. The upgrade plans included: * Complete overhaul of the airframe, wiring looms and the

Pratt & Whitney Pratt & Whitney is an American aerospace manufacturer with global service operations. It is a subsidiary of RTX Corporation (formerly Raytheon Technologies). Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation (especially ...

J52P-408A engine * Installation of Douglas Escapac 1-G3

ejection seat In aircraft, an ejection seat or ejector seat is a system designed to rescue the aircraft pilot, pilot or other aircrew, crew of an aircraft (usually military) in an emergency. In most designs, the seat is propelled out of the aircraft by an exp ...

s * HGU-55/P

helmets A helmet is a form of protective gear worn to protect the Human head, head. More specifically, a helmet complements the skull in protecting the human brain. Ceremonial or symbolic helmets (e.g., a Custodian helmet, policeman's helmet in the Unite ...

Honeywell Honeywell International Inc. is an American publicly traded, multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It primarily operates in four areas of business: aerospace, building automation, industrial automa ...

Normal Air-

Garrett Garrett may refer to: Places in the United States * Garrett, Illinois, a village * Garrett, Indiana, a city * Garrett, Floyd County, Kentucky, an unincorporated community * Garrett, Meade County, Kentucky, an unincorporated community * Garrett, ...

's OBOGS (On Board Oxygen Generation System) * Westinghouse/

Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and Arms industry, defense company. With 97,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $40 billion, it is one of the world's largest Arms industry ...

AN/APG-66V2 (ARG-1) radar *

HOTAS HOTAS, an acronym of hands on throttle-and-stick, is the concept of placing buttons and switches on the throttle lever and flight control stick in an aircraft cockpit. By adopting such an arrangement, pilots are capable of performing all vital ...

controls and a 'glass' cockpit (2 CRT color screens) * Sextant Avionique/Thales Avionics SHUD * Litton/Northrop Grumman LN-100G

inertial navigation system An inertial navigation system (INS; also inertial guidance system, inertial instrument) is a navigation device that uses motion sensors (accelerometers), rotation sensors (gyroscopes) and a computer to continuously calculate by dead reckoning th ...

MIL-STD-1553B MIL-STD-1553 is a military standard published by the United States Department of Defense that defines the mechanical, electrical, and functional characteristics of a serial data bus. It was originally designed as an avionic data bus for use w ...

data bus * Two General Dynamics Information Systems AN/AYK-14 mission computers * Northrop Grumman AN/ALR-93 (V)1

Radar warning receiver Radar warning receiver (RWR) systems detect the radio emissions of radar systems. Their primary purpose is to issue a warning when a radar signal that might be a threat is detected, like a fighter aircraft's fire control radar. The warning can ...

* AN/ALQ-126B jammer * AN/ALQ-162 jammer * ALR-47

chaff Chaff (; ) is dry, scale-like plant material such as the protective seed casings of cereal grains, the scale-like parts of flowers, or finely chopped straw. Chaff cannot be digested by humans, but it may be fed to livestock, ploughed into soil ...

/flare dispenser * AN/APX-72

IFF In logic and related fields such as mathematics and philosophy, "if and only if" (often shortened as "iff") is paraphrased by the biconditional, a logical connective between statements. The biconditional is true in two cases, where either both ...

The contract stipulated that eight airframes would be refurbished at Lockheed Martin's plant in

Palmdale Palmdale is a city in northern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city lies in the Antelope Valley of Southern California. The San Gabriel Mountains separate Palmdale from the Los Angeles Basin to the south. On August 24, 1962 ...

, California and the rest (27) in

Córdoba, Argentina Córdoba () is a city in central Argentina, in the foothills of the Punilla Valley, Sierras Chicas on the Primero River, Suquía River, about northwest of Buenos Aires. It is the capital of Córdoba Province, Argentina, Córdoba Province an ...

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 A simulation is an imitative representation of a process or system that could exist in the real world. In this broad sense, simulation can often be used interchangeably with model. Sometimes a clear distinction between the two terms is made, in ...

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 (a one-seat and a two-seat) remained some time in the United States for weapons

homologation Homologation (Greek language, Greek ''homologeo'', ὁμολογέω, "to agree") is the granting of approval by an official authority. This may be a court of law, a government department, or an academic or professional body, any of which would n ...

. All of the A-4ARs were delivered to the 5th Air Brigade (''V Brigada Aérea'') at Villa Reynolds,

San Luis Province San Luis () is a Provinces of Argentina, province of Argentina located near the geographical center of the country (on the 32° South parallel). Neighboring provinces are, from the north clockwise, La Rioja Province (Argentina), La Rioja, Córdo ...

, where they replaced two squadrons of Falklands/Malvinas veteran A-4P (locally known as A-4B) and A-4C. They were soon deployed in rotation around the country from

Rio Gallegos Rio or Río is the Portuguese and Spanish word for "river". The word also exists in Italian, but is largely obsolete and used in a poetical or literary context to mean "stream". Rio, RIO or Río may also refer to: Places United States * Rio, Fl ...

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 Tandil is the main city of the homonymous partido (department), located in Argentina, in the southeast of Buenos Aires Province, just north-northwest of Tandilia hills. The city was founded in 1823, and its name originates from the '' Piedra M ...

airbase to enforce a

no-fly zone A no-fly zone, also known as a no-flight zone (NFZ), or air exclusion zone (AEZ), is a territory or area established by a military power over which certain aircraft are not permitted to fly. Such zones are usually set up in an enemy power's terri ...

for the Mar del Plata Summit of the Americas. In July 2006, they were deployed to Cordoba province for the

Mercosur The Southern Common Market (commonly known by abbreviation ''Mercosur'' in Spanish and ''Mercosul'' in Portuguese) is a South American trade bloc established by the Treaty of Asunción in 1991 and Protocol of Ouro Preto in 1994. Its full me ...

's 30th Presidents Summit. In August 2009, they were deployed to

Bariloche San Carlos de Bariloche (from the Mapuche name ''Vuriloche'', meaning "people from the other side of the mountain"), commonly known simply as Bariloche (), is the largest city in the Argentine province of Río Negro and the seat of the departm ...

for the UNASUR Presidents summit. Later that month, they participated at

Reconquista, Santa Fe Reconquista is a city in the north of the , from Santa Fe, Argentina, the provincial capital. It is the head town of the General Obligado Department, and it has 99,288 inhabitants according to the . The city lies on a branch of the Paraná Riv ...

of the ''Pre-Salitre''official video
/sup> an exercise of preparation for the ''Salitre II''official video
/sup> of next October in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

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 Morón Airport () is southwest of the center of Morón, Buenos Aires, Morón, a western suburb of Buenos Aires in the Buenos Aires Province of Argentina. The airport is located within a densely populated metropolitan area. The runway length ...

.video
/sup> On 25 May 2010, three A-4ARs flew over the

9 de Julio Avenue Avenida 9 de Julio () is a major thoroughfare in the city centre of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Its name honors Argentina's Independence Day, July 9, 1816. The avenue runs around to the west of the Río de la Plata waterfront, from the Retiro dis ...

at Buenos Aires as part of the

Argentina Bicentennial The Argentina Bicentennial () was a series of ceremonies, festivals, and observances celebrated on May 25, 2010, and throughout the year. They commemorated the 200th anniversary of the May Revolution, a sequence of historical events that led to th ...

shows. In August 2010, the aircraft enforced a no-fly zone at

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

for the Mercosur's Presidents Summit. One month later, they were present at Reconquista, Santa Fe for the ''ICARO III'' integration manoeuvers. Argentina Air Force McDonnell Douglas A-4AR Fightinghawk

Argentina Air Force McDonnell Douglas A-4AR Fightinghawk

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 Villa Reynolds is a town of the General Pedernera department on the San Luis Province, Argentina. It has an airport that served the city and is also a military airbase home of the V Air Brigade of Argentine Air Force. In March 1973 two Skyla ...

. In May 2017, several A-4ARs participated in celebrations marking the 2017 anniversary of the

May Revolution The May Revolution () was a week-long series of events that took place from 18 to 25 May 1810, in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. This Spanish colony included roughly the territories of present-day Argentina, ...

. 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

Argentina Air Force Lockheed Martin A-4AR Fightinghawk Lofting-2

; *

– 36 received (32 A-4AR, 4 OA-4AR); as few as 6 reported operational in 2020; operational availability reported in 2022 at perhaps 13-22% (3-5 aircraft) of 23 aircraft

Specifications (A-4AR Fightinghawk)

Douglas A-4M Skyhawk 3-view line drawing

References

External links

*
Argentine Air Force
*

''El programa A-4AR avanza'' *

''Halcones al Sur, llegan los A-4AR'' *
La Nacion newspaper 1997
''Nuevos aviones para la Fuerza Aérea'' *
La Nacion newspaper 1998
''Ejercicio militar con los EE.UU'' *
La Nacion newspaper 1998
''Aviones argentinos interceptarán aeronaves norteamericanas'' *
La Nacion newspaper 2005
''Habilitan un puente aéreo con EE.UU.'' *

{{Lockheed aircraft A-004AR 1990s Argentine attack aircraft Single-engined jet aircraft Low-wing aircraft

A-4AR 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 ...

Aircraft first flown in 1997 Aircraft with retractable tricycle landing gear