After several years of  several years of postponement, the Argentine Air Force incorporated a Boeing 737-700 during a ceremony held by Minister of Defense Agustín Rossi.

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New 737-700 aircraft (Picture source: Argentine MoD)

The Minister of Defense, Agustín Rossi , participated in the First Air Brigade of El Palomar in the reception of the new Boeing 737 "Islas Malvinas" aircraft, acquired by Argentina to expand the operational capabilities of the Argentine Air Force (Fuerza Aérea Argentina / FAA) in the transfer of personnel and cargo, as well as in humanitarian assistance tasks in catastrophic and pandemic situation.

“May 2006 was the last time the Air Force piloted a Boeing plane. It took 15 years to recover a capacity, to recover a weapons system, to enhance the daily work carried out by the Argentine Air Force, so that its men and women can pilot an aircraft of these characteristics ", said Rossi after reiterating his gratitude to Aerolineas Argentinas for the “valuable support, affection and commitment of its personnel” with the training and training of the FAA pilots by making available the simulators of the Boeing 737s.

After witnessing the flight of the new Boeing 737-700 escorted by two IA-63 Pampa aircraft, the minister continued: “Our Air Force transport pilots handled the Hercules, the Fokkers, but the aircraft with the most tradition in the world. of aeronautics, it was not within his possibilities, "said Rossi, and recalled that at the beginning of the administration, the owner of the weapon, Brigadier Major Xavier Isaac, expressed" this dream, the idea of ​​this incorporation, the project that he it had, and the impact that it was going to generate on the entire Air Force, specifically, but also on the Armed Forces as a whole ”.

In another section of his words, the Minister of Defense expressed: "From the first moment that I assumed as Minister of Defense, I did not stop recognizing the existing need to re-equip the Argentine Armed Forces," he said, and explained: "We did not have a transport plane of great autonomy, of great size. We did not have a transport plane that perhaps in the first stage of the pandemic would have meant a lot to us, it would have helped us -for example- in the task that Aerolínea Argentinas was doing to repatriate Argentines stranded abroad ”.

"We did not have a transport plane of great autonomy, of great size. We did not have a transport plane that perhaps in the first stage of the pandemic would have meant a lot to us, it would have helped us -for example- in the task that Aerolínea Argentinas was doing to repatriate Argentines stranded abroad" (Picture source: Argentine MoD)

"We have started a process of re-equipping the Armed Forces, which we will surely not be able to solve in the coming years, I think that the minimum horizon that has to be considered will take about 10 years of application of the FONDEF (National Defense Fund ) to achieve a different Armed Forces, with a level of equipment according to the needs of our country, " said the head of the portfolio.

The name of the new Boeing T-99 aircraft "Falkland Islands" that is incorporated as strategic air transport, "could not be more appropriate - said the official - for this incorporation of the FAA, since next year will mark 40 years of the landing in the Malvinas Islands of the transitory occupation by Argentina of that national territory ”, he pointed out about the aircraft that will be able to carry out operational exercises in the country, the transfer of endowments of the Armed Forces personnel in Peace Missions, and cover destinations of State Air Lines (LADE).

The aircraft will be incorporated into the deployment of military personnel in operational exercises within the national territory and will also be available where the military instrument and the Nation require it. It will participate in the transfer of endowments of the Armed Forces in United Nations Missions and will cover destinations of State Air Lines (LADE).

This strategic air transport system for National Defense has an approximate capacity of 140 seats per flight, and is equipped to carry out tasks of: cargo transportation (air supply); sanitary evacuation and medical transfer of patients upon request; humanitarian aid and assistance in case of natural disasters inside and outside the country; and logistical support in the Covid-19 emergency.

The crew, made up of 14 people from the Air Force (of which three are women), was trained at the Pilot Training and Training Center of the Argentine Republic (CEFEPRA), located at the Ezeiza International Airport.

The aircraft will be incorporated into the deployment of military personnel in operational exercises within the national territory and will also be available where the military instrument and the Nation require it. It will participate in the transfer of endowments of the Armed Forces in United Nations Missions and will cover destinations of State Air Lines (Picture source: Argentine MoD)