After a hiatus of more than a decade, a new FMA IA-63 Pampa jet trainer has been delivered to the Argentine air force as a precursor to a possible resumption of production.
State-owned FMA designed the Pampa with assistance from Dornier of Germany and produced 19 aircraft in the 1980s. FMA was privatised in 1995, with Lockheed Martin taking on management of the company.
Now engaged in overhaul and upgrade work, Cordoba-based Lockheed Martin Aircraft Argentina has been pressing for production of the Pampa to be restarted to meet air force and navy trainer requirements.
The company says that it was "challenged" by the air force to prove that it could still build aircraft. The IA-63 delivered on 28 September was assembled from new and existing parts. "We have shown we have the capability to build aircraft. Now we will have to wait and see what happens," the company says.
Source: Flight International
