Latin America Arms Transfers and Arms Trafficking Update
01/27/15
Latin America and the Caribbean
- Guillermo León, commander of the Air Force of Colombia, disclosed an intention to purchase new fighter aircraft to replace Israeli-made Kfir jets currently in use. The delivery of either Lockheed Martin F16 or Mirage Dassault 2000-5F aircraft is expected in less than 5 years. Additionally, the Commander announced that U.S.-made OV-10 Bronco and Dragonfly A-37 attack aircraft are to be replaced by either Alenia Aermacchi’s M-346, the Czech L-159 ALCA, or Textron Airland’s Scorpion.
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According to investigators Todd Miller and Gabriel Schivone, the U.S.-Mexico border zone in Arizona has become a sort of lab and testing ground for U.S. government agencies and Israeli companies like Elbit Systems, who are working to develop the future of border security. So far, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has contracted the creation of a virtual “wall” of fixed towers, equipped with the latest in cameras, motion sensors, and control rooms. If deemed effective by the Department of Homeland Security, this “wall” will one day run the entire length of the border. Global Advantage, a program arranged between Israeli corporations and US academic and corporate interests, plans to implement sprawling new systems of border control, often using equipment produced by low-wage manufacturing on the Mexican side of the border. - Officials in Peru calculated that approximately 300,000 illegal arms imported via Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, and Paraguay are currently in circulation within its borders. In 2013, Peru confiscated 1,970. Black market prices are remarkably low: a 9mm. pistol at a licensed store in Peru costs between $500 and $1,200 USD, while that same firearm on the black market averages between $50 and $120 USD.
- Colombia purchased 32 Canadian-built combat vehicles for $84 million USD, to provide security along its shared border with Venezuela. The vehicles are similar to tanks, can carry approximately 11 soldiers, and include remote-controlled weapons systems alongside anti-mine technology.
- In early January, the armed ground forces of El Salvador confiscated a 10 mm. pistol, a pair of handcuffs from the National Civilian Police Academy (ANSP), 9 grenades hand-made with gunpowder and chlorate, 4 magazine clips designed for M-16 rifles with 76 cartridges of caliber 5.56 mm. bullets, as well as one bulletproof vest. The material was seized at a “clandestine encampment” used as a training ground by gangs. Unfortunately, the press did not indicate whether the gang in question was MS-13 or Barrio 18, that nation’s dominant organized crime syndicates, or a different group.
- Argentina recently acquired 6 GROB TP 120 aircraft from Germany, assembled domestically by the government’s Argentine Airplane Factory S.A. (FAdeA). Argentina now has a total of 10 such aircraft, which it uses for basic military training by the Argentine Air Force at a total cost of approximately $26 million USD. The Argentine government plans to increase its aviation production, leading it to establish the Chamber of the Argentine Aeronautic Industry under the auspices of the Argentine Air Force with the motivation of developing the nation’s aerospace industry.
- Sales of sophisticated aircraft to Argentina have been constrained by United Kingdom concerns about the Argentine government’s claims on the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, the subject of a brief 1982 war. Last year, however, Argentina made a deal with Russia to lease up to 12 long-range, supersonic aircraft in exchange for Argentine foodstuffs such as wheat and beef. The British government is unlikely to be able to stall or halt this arrangement, as it has done with previous arms deals involving Argentina.
- Colombia, a nation that annually imports about 4 trillion pesos ($1.67 billion USD) of aircraft parts, is encouraging local firms in the small, coffee-growing department of Risaralda to increase their production of parts via contracts with the Colombian Air Force. Additional firms are popping up in the region and although these companies are preparing for the certification process to export their goods to foreign markets, the main focus for now is domestic.
- According to the Brazilian Department of Defense, a plan for the sale of 3 sets of Pantsir S-1 missile batteries from Russia to Brazil for $950 million USD is set to be signed in July. The plan thus far is for the army to use one system to protect the Presidential Palace; for the Air Force to use another to increase security at São José de Campos, where companies like Embraer, Mectron, and Avibrás develop much of the state’s aircraft; and for the third to go to the Navy and be positioned along the coast of Rio de Janeiro to defend ongoing production at its Submarine and Shipyard Base located in ItaguaÍ.
- U.S. authorities accuse Dallas Airmotive Inc. of bribing officials in the Air Force and Navy of Peru to gain three contracts, totaling approximately 1.2 million soles (roughly US$449,000), between 2009 and 2010. The firm faces a $14 million USD fine and those involved in making the aforementioned deals are facing criminal charges. The same company is being charged with bribing Brazilian Air Force officials, as well as the offices of governors in both Brazil and Argentina, between 2008 and 2012.
- Peru is quickly becoming a center for the production of the KT1, a South Korean training aircraft that is manufactured and sold within the nation by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI). Peru is acquiring 20 KT1 and selling models to Ecuador (which has already ordered 20) and Bolivia.
- The government of Switzerland has denied accusations that it pressured the government of Brazil to sign a $5.4 billion USD contract with Saab for the purchase of 36 Gripen fighter jets before last October’s presidential elections.
- Following an 8-year investigation, federal investigators in Brazil find links between Hezbollah and the importation of illegal firearms and explosives into the South American nation.
- The Air Force of Colombia fired its first NLOS (Non Line of Sight) missile on October 30. Fabricated by the Israeli company RAFAEL, the Spike NLOS missile is guided when fired by an internal GPS system that can reach a given target without the missile’s operator making visual contact. The price of such missiles is estimated at between $250,000 and $330,000 USD per unit.