Peru Moves to Maintain, Modernize its Fighter Fleet

[youtube:v=nWP6LVIJy2g]

2011 Aero Festival
(click for video)

May 20/13: Konstantin Biryulin, the deputy head of Russia’s Federal Military-Technical Cooperation Service, says that Russia will sign another MiG-29 modernization contract by the end of May 2013. All 8 MiGs covered in the previous deal have been converted to MiG-29SMT configuration, leaving 10-11 more.

Peru has traditionally looked to Russia as a major arms supplier, and they’re also reportedly discussing the sale of Kamaz trucks, T-90S tanks, Mi-17 helicopters, and Pantsir low-level air defense systems. RIA Novosti.

Feb 4/13: Eurofighter offer. Spain has reportedly offered to sell Peru 18 used Eurofighters at about EUR 45 million (currently $61.4 million) each.

Peru’s problem is that their fighter fleet is aging out. They spent $106 million to modernize 8 MiG-29s, but it will cost more per plane to finish the other 9-11 MiGs. Another $140 million went to refurbish their Mirage 2000s, and 9 of 12 fighters have finished the program, but they still fall well short of the Mirage 2000-5’s modern capabilities. Regardless, neither the MiGs nor the Mirages are expected to last much past 2025. Peru’s government is considering its options, hence reported tenders regarduing the Eurofighter Typhoon, Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, Dassault Rafale, Saab Gripen, RAC MiG-35, and Sukhoi Su-30/35. Note that the Russian fighters are the only choices that would allow Peru to use missiles from its current stocks.

Spain’s Eurofighters on offer reportedly have an average of 600 airframe flight hours, which means they could last another 20+ years at moderate usage rates. Early versions had very limited ground attack capabilities, however, so the exact system configuration of Spain’s fighters will matter. Flight International.

Aug 22/12: MiG-29s. Russia has reportedly finished upgrading 8 Peruvian MiG-29s to MiG-29SMT status. Presumably, this means RAC MiG is now willing to service them in future.

Natsionalnaya Oborona editor-in-chief Igor Korotchenko says that the upgrade included installation of a “glass cockpit” with advanced avionics, an updated radar, a refueling system, and broadened missile launching capabilities (R-77 air-to-air missiles and P?R Kh-31A, PRLR Kh-31P and UR Kh-29 air-to-surface missiles). Korotchenko says that Peru is looking to modernize another 8 MiGs. Russian Aviation.

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USAF F-16s, FAP MiG-29Sand Mirage 2000DP(click to view full) Peru’s 12 Mirage 2000C/B and 18 MiG-29S fighters form the backbone of its current multi-role fighter fleet, alongside old SU-22 strike fighters and specialized SU-25 close air support jets. The Mirages were bought from France in 1985, while the MiG-29s arrived via a disastrous 1995 deal […]
F-16s, MiG-29S, Mirage 2000DP

USAF F-16s, FAP MiG-29S
and Mirage 2000DP
(click to view full)

Peru’s 12 Mirage 2000C/B and 18 MiG-29S fighters form the backbone of its current multi-role fighter fleet, alongside old SU-22 strike fighters and specialized SU-25 close air support jets. The Mirages were bought from France in 1985, while the MiG-29s arrived via a disastrous 1995 deal with Belarus. Fortunately, Peru patched things up with Russia, and RAC MiG agreed to provide service and support. In 2008, a contract began modernize that MiG fleet to the MiG-29SMT standard. In 2009, Dassault began working with Peru on a comprehensive inspection of the Mirage fleet, coupled with some electronics modernization.

These purchases have been expensive, and a number of observers have questioned their usefulness against more pressing security concerns, like Peru’s fanatical Marxist Sendero Luminoso (“Shining Path”) guerrillas. On the other hand, the FAP still remembers the 1995 Canepa War with Ecuador, and its Russian fighters are stationed very close to that border at Chiclayo and Talara. Its Mirage 2000Ps sit at La Joya near Bolivia and Chile; the 3 countries have a minor 3-way maritime borders dispute, and residual tensions with Chile have been a long-running theme in Peru. This article covers Peru’s ongoing efforts to maintain and improve its core fighter fleet.

Contracts & Key Events

[youtube:v=nWP6LVIJy2g]

2011 Aero Festival
(click for video)

May 20/13: Konstantin Biryulin, the deputy head of Russia’s Federal Military-Technical Cooperation Service, says that Russia will sign another MiG-29 modernization contract by the end of May 2013. All 8 MiGs covered in the previous deal have been converted to MiG-29SMT configuration, leaving 10-11 more.

Peru has traditionally looked to Russia as a major arms supplier, and they’re also reportedly discussing the sale of Kamaz trucks, T-90S tanks, Mi-17 helicopters, and Pantsir low-level air defense systems. RIA Novosti.

Feb 4/13: Eurofighter offer. Spain has reportedly offered to sell Peru 18 used Eurofighters at about EUR 45 million (currently $61.4 million) each.

Peru’s problem is that their fighter fleet is aging out. They spent $106 million to modernize 8 MiG-29s, but it will cost more per plane to finish the other 9-11 MiGs. Another $140 million went to refurbish their Mirage 2000s, and 9 of 12 fighters have finished the program, but they still fall well short of the Mirage 2000-5’s modern capabilities. Regardless, neither the MiGs nor the Mirages are expected to last much past 2025. Peru’s government is considering its options, hence reported tenders regarduing the Eurofighter Typhoon, Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, Dassault Rafale, Saab Gripen, RAC MiG-35, and Sukhoi Su-30/35. Note that the Russian fighters are the only choices that would allow Peru to use missiles from its current stocks.

Spain’s Eurofighters on offer reportedly have an average of 600 airframe flight hours, which means they could last another 20+ years at moderate usage rates. Early versions had very limited ground attack capabilities, however, so the exact system configuration of Spain’s fighters will matter. Flight International.

Aug 22/12: MiG-29s. Russia has reportedly finished upgrading 8 Peruvian MiG-29s to MiG-29SMT status. Presumably, this means RAC MiG is now willing to service them in future.

Natsionalnaya Oborona editor-in-chief Igor Korotchenko says that the upgrade included installation of a “glass cockpit” with advanced avionics, an updated radar, a refueling system, and broadened missile launching capabilities (R-77 air-to-air missiles and P?R Kh-31A, PRLR Kh-31P and UR Kh-29 air-to-surface missiles). Korotchenko says that Peru is looking to modernize another 8 MiGs. Russian Aviation.

May 19/12: Progress reports. Diario Correo reports that Peru is putting its 10 Mirage 2000P single-seat and 2 Mirage 2000DP twin-seat fighters through a ‘VP5″ major inspection and maintenance process, under a $140 million program that involves France’s Dassault Aviation, Snecma Moteurs and Thales. FAP technicians and specialists have received training in France, and are performing the work with assistance from French consulting engineers and specialists. Work is taking place at the FAP’s La Joya base, in Arequipa near Chile, and is scheduled to finish in 2014.

The paper also reports that 6 of Peru’s MiG-29s have finished upgrades. That work is done entirely by Russian technicians, under an 8-plane contract reported as $126 million.

Meanwhile, Sendero Luminoso has been more active of late, and a mass kidnapping in April led to the resignations of Defense Minister Alberto Otarola and Interior Minister Daniel Lozada. The FAP’s EMB 312 Tucano turboprops are best suited for that kind of work, and Brazil has reportedly offered to sell Peru armed EMB 314 Super Tucanos – but they aren’t as impressive-looking, so they get less attention. Diario Correo [in Spanish] | UPI.

Mirage 2000 deep maintenance

June 16/09: Mirage 2000s. Dassault Aviation:

“During a meeting held on the occasion of Le Bourget Airshow, the Vice-Minister of Defence of Peru, Jose Antonio BELLINA, with the representatives of the French Ministry of Defence and the companies Dassault Aviation, EUROTRADIA International, THALES and SNECMA, has confirmed the will of the Peruvian Government to invest in the fleet recovery of the MIRAE [sic] 2000.”

This seems to confirm reports from Peru that the government will sign a $140 million contract to that effect. Dassault Aviation | Peru’s Andina.

Feb 22/09: Reports indicate that Peru is budgeting $120 million for major maintenance of its Mirage 2000 fleet, which was supposed to take place in the year 2000, but was canceled for lack of funds. In the interim, Peru has reportedly upgraded 4 of its 12 Mirages to Mirage 2000-5 status.

the FAP is also said to have set aside $40 million to refurbish 8 of its 18 SU-25 close air support jets, and update some of their electronics. Report Peru [in Spanish]

Aug 13/08: MiG upgrade. Peru and Russia reportedly sign an agreement to modernize the FAP’s MiG-29 fleet. The Voice of Russia places the total at a Dr. Evilesque “106-billion-dollar contract.” We think they meant “million,” and other reports confirm that. Subsequent reports indicate that the deal with convert 8 fighters to the multi-role MiG-29SMT standard. Peru MDD [in Spanish] | Peru This Week | Voice of Russia.

MiG-29 upgrade

April 1/04: Russia’s ITAR-TASS reports that Peru plans to begin updating its Russian fighters: MiG-29s, SU-22 strike fighters, and SU-25 close support jets. The SU-22s end up being retired. DefenseTalk.

May 31/97: Messed-up MiGs. The $350 million purchase of 19 MiG-29S fighters from Belarus has become a problem, disguised as a bargain. The amount may have fit within Peru’s meager budgets, but Russia has responded by saying that they won’t service the fighters. Since Belarus isn’t capable of handling that task, either, Peru is left with fighters it can’t maintain. From the New York Times:

“Peruvian… officials… are said to be furious with Belarus for not securing a service commitment from the Russians before selling the aircraft. Military analysts said that Belarus did not approach the Russians… until after Peru had already received four of the combat planes. Belarus has reportedly halted shipments of the MIG-29’s [sic] to Peru, which is seeking to cancel the deal unless Belarus persuades the Russians to provide technical support.

…Peru’s turn to the former Soviet lands for high-tech weaponry has already become an arguing point for American business advocates… The Clinton Administration is considering lifting the ban [on advanced weapons] as the region moves from military dictatorship to democracy, and it recently allowed a United States contractor to submit technical bids to supply Chile with F-16 aircraft.”

Additional Readings

* Flight International (July 10/12) – IN FOCUS: ‘Unified’ MiG-29 has bright future, says Korotkov

* Peru’s La Republica (May 19/12) – Fuerzas Armadas vendrían modernizando Mirage 2000 y Mig 29 en Arequipa

* ACIG (Sept. 2003) – Peru vs. Ecuador; Alto-Cenepa War, 1995

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