The Argentine Air Force's plan to introduce jet fighters, after a large circle, finally chose the Dragon Fighter. According to Argentine media reports: At present, the Argentine side has discussed with the Chinese side on the specific details of the introduction of the Dragon Fighter jet, and will send a delegation to China for specific negotiations in March. Argentina also said earlier: The biggest advantage of introducing the Dragon Fighter is that there will be no restrictions on its use!
Dragon Fighter
Why does Argentina take it so serious that there will be no restrictions on use? Because the Argentine Air Force has a very painful feeling about this! In the Falklands War in 1982, after the Argentine Air Force's "Super Flag" attack aircraft hit the British Navy's "Sheffield" destroyer with the "Flying Fish" anti-ship missile, the angry And frustrated Britain pressured France to produce all the performance data of the Flying Fish missile, and Argentina in the war needed to urgently purchase a batch of "Flying Fish" missiles, but France simply refused!
Super Flag attack aircraft carrying Flying Fish anti-ship missiles
The Argentine Air Force is indeed in urgent need of upgrading, the Argentine Air Force has no jet fighters available, and since the end of the Falklands War in 1982, Argentina has never given up the struggle for sovereignty over the Falklands, the other side of the Falklands issue, the United Kingdom is also tough on this, around the issue of sovereignty of the Falklands, Argentina and the United Kingdom, can not completely rule out the possibility of another military conflict, so if the conflict comes again, the Argentine Air Force only relies on dragon fighters to be enough?
The destroyer USS Sheffield, hit by a Flying Fish missile
It is true that the Dragon Fighter is a very good third-generation aircraft, which has a variety of combat capabilities for air supremacy and ground-to-sea attacks under the premise of low cost, especially the latest Dragon BLOCK3, equipped with active phased array radar, with the ability to fight with the top third-generation aircraft in the air. However, for the Argentine Air Force, if it is once again confronted by an alien aircraft carrier strike group because of the Falklands issue, the main problem is not defense, but to find a way to attack, because only by attacking and destroying the opposing fleet can we win victory, and blindly defending can never change the status quo of the problem.
Dragon fighters do have anti-ship combat capabilities, such as the Pakistan Air Force equipped with the Dragon Fighter can mount a range of 250 km CM-400AKG supersonic anti-ship missiles to attack the sea surface ships, but the introduction of the Dragon fighter for the Argentine Air Force, is the only air equipment that can be taken in wartime, if faced with a large aircraft carrier formation, the Dragon Fighter has too many tasks, not only to carry out air defense operations but also to carry out anti-ship operations, but in the case of a limited number of introductions, The Dragon is simply not enough in wartime.
Dragon fighter jets mounted with anti-ship cruise missiles
Moreover, although the Dragon Fighter has the ability to fight against ships, anti-ship combat is not the absolute strength of the Dragon. The Falklands are more than 500 kilometers away from the Argentine mainland, and the combat radius under the full load of the Dragon Fighter is about 800 kilometers, if the opposing fleet hovers on the sea east of the Falklands, the Dragon Fighters may not cover the opposing fleet on the East Sea of the Falklands with heavy anti-ship missiles, and at this time, the Dragon Fighters can only run in a straight line to the sea east of the Falklands, and a slight circle of combat radius may not be enough.
Land-based dragons had a hard time attacking the Eastern Falklands fleet
That is to say, if the Argentine Air Force only relies on the Dragon Dragon to fight against the large fleet of potential opponents that may appear again, the other side will use long-distance deployment to bypass the Dragon Fighter that took off from the Argentine mainland under the premise that the aircraft carrier strike group force can cover the Falklands, and because of the relationship between the combat radius, if the Dragon Fighter takes an almost straight line of attack routes, it will lose the concealment of the attack and be easily intercepted by the other side, so it is actually necessary for the Argentine Air Force to find a partner for the Dragon Fighter. Enhance its ability to strike at sea.
Fighter-bomber seven flying leopard fighter-bombers
At present, there are many fighters with the ability to strike at sea on the international arms trade market, but most of them are not suitable for the Argentine Air Force, such as the United States, France and other Western fighters will not be sold to its potential rival Argentina under the influence of the United Kingdom, even if there is an opportunity to buy, the Argentine Air Force may not dare to buy again, after all, the lessons of the "Flying Fish" missile are still vivid, and although the Russian Air Force has Sukhoi multi-functional fighters, the price of these heavy fighters is too expensive, and the Argentine Air Force cannot afford it. Looking around, I found that the mainland's J-7 "Flying Leopard" fighter-bomber was very suitable for the Argentine Air Force.
First of all, the flying leopard is a heavy fighter bomber, its combat radius can reach up to 1600 kilometers, and then the flying leopard fighter has a very strong anti-ship combat capability, the flying leopard can load up to 4 heavy anti-ship missiles, a 4-air flying leopard formation salvo of 16 anti-ship missiles has a great chance of breaking through the aircraft carrier's air defense network, and in terms of the combat radius of the flying leopard, it is completely possible to attack the opposing fleet unexpectedly around a circle, if the Argentine Air Force is equipped with a flying leopard fighter-bomber, Having the ability to launch an attack on the fleet on the southeastern Atlantic of Tsushima Island can greatly contain or even prevent the opponent's maritime support on Tsushima Island.
Attack surface fleets can not be without such attack aircraft
In addition, the equipment cost of the Flying Leopard fighter-bomber is much lower than that of fighters such as the Su-30, and the Argentine Air Force can afford it in terms of cost. Another of the most important advantages is that the Flying Leopard is a completely domestic fighter, and the Argentine Air Force does not need to worry about the situation of limited use if it is equipped with the Flying Leopard. At present, there are more and more new multi-functional fighters in our air force, and the flying leopard, which has not been in service for too long, is also about to usher in retirement, and if the Argentine Air Force introduces some flying leopard fighters, it can not only find a suitable partner for the dragon at a very low cost, but also comprehensively strengthen the Argentine Air Force's ability to strike at sea, and the Argentine Air Force equipped with the dragon and the flying leopard will once again have the strength to repeat the "Sheffield" incident!