In most countries, including Indonesia, the A-4 Skyhawk tactical fighter jet remains a memory, whose figure is identical as a monument and museum collection.
However, it is different in Argentina and Brazil, the two countries in South America seem to be in love with the single-engine fighter that successfully operates from this aircraft carrier.
In Argentina, for example, Skyhwak is far from retiring, with an upgrade package from Lockheed Martin, the Argentine A-4AR no longer bears the Skyhawk family name, which is now wearing the A-4AR Fightinghawk label.
The A-4AR Fightinghawk was originally a variant of the A-4M Skyhawk upgraded by Lockheed Martin to the standard avionics on the F-16 Fighting Falcon, hence the label "Fightinghawk."
And there is the latest news from Brazil, the Samba State Navy just got the last unit of the modernized Skyhawk.
Quoted from Janes.com (23/3/2022), the Brazilian Navy is in the process of receiving seven modernized Skyhawk fighter jets, as well as being the last unit to receive an upgrade from Embraer.
Reception of the AF-1B Skyhawk jet, tail number N-1004, began on March 7 and is expected to take three to four weeks until it is officially operational by the Navy.
Five single-seat AF-1s and two double-seat AF-1A units from the Falcão Squadron based at São Pedro da Aldeia Naval Air Base modernized to the AF-1B and AF-1C standards, respectively since 2015. However, one AF -1B is reported to have fallen in July 2016.
Embraer was awarded a US$106 million contract in April 2009 to modernize nine AF-1 and three AF-1A aircraft. For the record, Brazil got the Skyhawk fleet from Kuwait, which used to be the A-4KU and TA-4KU variants.
The Brazilian Skyhawk modernization program (called AF-1M) includes overhauling the fuselage and engines, as well as installing a glass cockpit from AEL Sistemas, multimode airborne Fire Control Radar (FCR) ELTA Systems ELM-2032, onboard oxygen-generation system, radio communications from Rohde & Schwarz, navigation equipment, radar warning receiver from Elbit Systems and mission computer.
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