Argentine aircraft manufacturer FAdeA has received first contract for its PAMPA III advanced trainer aircraft from Argentine Air Force. ...
Argentine aircraft manufacturer FAdeA has received first contract for its PAMPA III advanced trainer aircraft from Argentine Air Force.
The Argentine government approved a contract to deliver three IA-63 PAMPA III aircraft, along with two mobile and one ground mission-planning stations, and support equipment worth $30.3 million.
IA-63 Pampa was developed in assistance with German Dornier in the 1980s, and is based on the Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet. The Pampa II developed in 2005 featured a avionics update.
The present Pampa III is upgraded with new Honeywell TFE731-40-2N engine and a glass cockpit featuring three multi-function displays.
The trainer version is equipped with a data-link system for virtual training and also have optional helmet mounted display feature. This system allows the transmission of real-time data between aircraft for the execution of missions in training and has the ability to simulate different scenarios for the training of pilots.
The data generated by the Data Link system will be represented in flight on the new screens and also has the ability to review the post flight data for the analysis and evaluation of the missions performed.
A retrofitted Pampa III completed maiden flight in Sept 2015, and first newly built version was rolled out in 2017.
Argentine Air Force has a requirement for 40 Pampa III aircraft, consisting 18 trainer versions and 22 Pampa GT light attack version.
The GT variant has 5 hard-points, two under each wing and one under fuselage, with a total payload capacity of 1,500 kg.
Production has been very low since first roll out in 1988 due to poor economic conditions in the country. Only 28 airframes in all variants were produced.
