Is the U.S. stopping Honduras from repairing its fighter jets?
The United States’ alleged refusal to allow Honduras to repair fighter jets the Central American nation received from the U.S. during the Cold War has been a major story in Honduran and Spanish language press.
Last week, Defensa.Com reported the United States had blocked Israel from accepting a 30 million dollar contract from Honduras to repair its fleet of F-5 jet fighters. The contract, had it been successful, would have been financially backed by Taiwan, which has an ageing fleet of over 60 F-5s purchased during the Reagan administration.
The United States is able to prohibit these repairs because it was the original supplier of the fleet in the 1980s and U.S. legislation establishes that no airplane or its parts are able to leave the territory to which it was sent without permission from the U.S. government -- a rule designed to prevent technology from being copied. Honduras is unable to repair the jets in country because the U.S. would still have to agree to let any third party obtain the necessary parts, which it is reportedly blocking.
Several articles have couched the U.S.’ actions as the newest front in its continued opposition to the country’s “Law of Aerial Exclusion,” which permits Honduran authorities to shoot down suspect aircrafts. However this is not the first time U.S. law has prohibited the repairs, which suggests the U.S. has other motives, albeit unclear, for not signing off on an agreement for the jets’ restoration.
Between 2001 and 2005 Honduras had also tried to restore the aircraft, but was prevented from doing so by the U.S. Congress. There were instances as well in the mid-1990s involving Chile and a company in Northern California in which the planes supposedly had maintenance work done without U.S. approval. Information surrounding both attempted repairs and supposed action taken by the U.S. to block the deals has been limited at best.
In 1987 the Reagan administration controversially provided Honduras with the twelve F-5s -- 10 F-5E and 2 F-5F – valued at $75 million through Plan Bonito to ramp up the country’s military capability after the neighboring Sandinista government in Nicaragua announced plans to acquire MIG-21 jets from the Soviet Bloc. The donation meant that Honduras, which already had the most sophisticated air force in the region at the time, had acquired the first advanced combat jets in Central America. Honduras continues to have the most powerful air fleet in Central America.
Honduras’ membership in the F-5 Technical Operation Group (TGC) should provide the country with all the technical assistance needed for the fleet. According to GlobalSecurity.org, the U.S.-backed TGC provides “a single point of contact for countries on all their technical concerns regarding their respective systems.” Through this membership, Honduras secured technical and engineering support in order to improve the “serviceability, maintainability, and reliability” of its F-5 fleet.
Nonetheless, complaints about the quality of the fleet and the United States' continued efforts to block all technical and mechanical assistance persist.
President Hernández has made the issue a very public matter in the country, attacking the U.S. at a national police ceremony in Tegucigalpa and openly accusing high-level officials of blocking the repairs. Directly addressing U.S. ambassador to Honduras Lisa Kubiske, he said "I feel like things have to be clear, Ms. Ambassador, clear as water: you are helping us or are not going to continue helping us, but it would be good to know with clarity."
Other countries in the region have stepped in to help Honduras improve its fleet, particularly Brazil. Last April its ambassador announced his government would be giving Honduras $2.5 million to repair 21 planes, including the F-5s. After initially agreeing to repair the planes, it now seems unlikely a deal will move forward, as the country would need to source parts from the United States.
Ambassador Kubiske avoided questions about the planes following the ceremony and the U.S. Embassy in Honduras has denied any knowledge of the issue.
In an email to news website América, a U.S. Embassy official said, “We are not informed of pending export licensing procedures for the Government of the United States to sell or transfer parts to repair or restore F-5 jets owned by Honduras.” It went on to say, “the State Department is not aware of having received official requests from foreign governments related to the review of applications to transfer parts or aircraft to Honduras.”
President Hernández has used the case to distance himself from being too closely tied to the United States, despite a recent increase in maritime and land security cooperation. On June 9th President Hernández announced that “a negotiation with Brazil, or any other country that can provide parts to Honduras and can stand up to the U.S. blockade, has been approved.”
According to Honduran newspaper El Heraldo, if the planes are not repaired, the Honduran government will either sell the fleet to another country or turn them into showpieces for the country’s Air Museum.