The American company Lockheed Martin may have improved its initial offer of twelve F-16 Block 70 fighter jets for US$3.42 billion to 24 units for US$3.5 billion, thereby aligning with the budget formally established by the Peruvian government to equip the Peruvian Air Force (FAP) with new combat aircraft.
This was reported on Tuesday the 14th by the Peruvian newspaper La República, which closely covers the issue, noting that this would be one of the main reasons why the “Fighting Falcon” appears to be the selected model, in addition to the “political criterion.”
In this lengthy selection process, now entering its final phase, the American company has been competing alongside France’s Dassault Aviation with the Rafale F4, and Sweden’s Saab with the Gripen E/F.
The latter recently warned, in a letter sent to the Peruvian Minister of Defense, that it had not been asked to submit its final offer and expressed its expectation that the process be conducted transparently.
The Lima-based news outlet, one of the most important in the country, states that from last March through the early days of April, officials from the Ministry of Defense held meetings with representatives of Lockheed Martin, citing visitor logs from the public entity.
“This newspaper asked the Ministry of Defense why interviews have not been conducted with officials from Dassault Aviation and Saab, as has frequently been the case with Lockheed Martin representatives, and the response was that it was not possible to provide details because the process is confidential,” the outlet added.
Last February, then-Prime Minister Ernesto Álvarez Miranda announced that the government had chosen the American model to strengthen the global security alliance with the United States. However, he later retracted his statement.
*Photographs used for illustrative purposes.
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