Planes, from Spain, to Colombia’s Gain
Dec 05, 2005 02:24 EST
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In December 2005, fresh from an expedition that tentatively sold $2 billion worth of military hardware to the Hugo Chavez’ regime in Venezuela, Spain’s Defence Minister is offering to sell 21 light transport aircraft to the neighbouring state of Colombia – and if they buy, he’ll throw in 4 helicopters for free. Spanish Defense Minister Jose Bono declined to disclose the value of the deal but said the planes were being offered at a discount. “We are not doing a business deal here. We are doing something that shows solidarity in the face of terrorism and in favor of peace.” Colombia is currently embroiled in a longstanding war with the narco-guerillas of FARC, which the Chavez regime has been accused of supporting.
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EADS-CASA announced a previous contract for 2 CN-235-300 MPA maritime patrol aircraft in December 2002. Reuters reports that the new offer consists of “12 planes from the air force and nine newer planes from aircraft maker EADS-CASA… along with four army helicopters.” The “planes from the air force” would likely be CASA 212s that have been in service for some time, and are being replaced by “newer planes” like CASA’s C-235 or the stretched C-295. Spain has donated C-212s to Colombia before as components of “antiterrorism packages,” and like Colombia it operates the venerable UH-1H Huey (see Colombia’s air force order of battle); this type would be both convenient for Spain to transfer as a free throw-in, and convenient for Colombia to receive.
UPDATES:
July 28/10: The Colombian Navy takes delivery of its 3rd CN235-300 MPA equipped with Airbus Military’s Fully Integrated Tactical System (FITS), joining 2 CN235-200 MPAs already in operation. To date, Airbus Military has sold 202 CN235s to 31 different operators, including 32 MPA versions. It is not completely clear whether this is part of the deal mentioned in 2005. defpro.
