Latinnews Archive
Caribbean & Central America - 7 May 1987
Honduran air force to acquire US jets;DELIVERY OF F-5Es SET FOR DECEMBER; ISRAEL LOSES OUT
The US says it will sell Honduras at least 12 F-5E fighter jets. Honduran officials claim the planes will be donated. Either way, the deal means Honduran air supremacy in the region.
The US deal has also renewed speculation about an increase of the conflict with Nicaragua. The F-5Es will take over the front-line defence from Honduras' ageing fleet of 12 French-made Super Mysteres. Four of the jets will be delivered by December. Honduras is the only Central American country outside Mexico to have jet fighters.
The Honduran government denies that the aircraft may mean an invasion of Nicaragua. 'President Jose Azcona has said that we will not be anybody's springboard for an attack on our neighbours,' says government spokesman Lisandro Quesada.
Observers are not so sure. Hewson Ryan, a former US ambassador to Honduras, recently commented that, from the US government's point of view, a Honduran air force equipped with F-5E fighters 'must be considered an asset in any possible escalation of the conflict'.
Planes for free
The Honduran government considers the deal a donation. 'It will not cost the Honduran people one cent,' Quesada said on 8 April, 'because it's a donation from the US' that falls within 'the framework of US military co-operation with Honduran air defence totalling to US$100m this year.'
US officials say the F-5Es, first offered last October (WR-86-44), will be sold to Honduras, though the US will finance the purchase. (This version was also voiced by the spokesman for the Honduran armed forces.) US officials add that the deal is part of the Reagan administration's plan to keep the military balance in the region. They note that Honduras has 17,500 regular troops, while Nicaragua has a 70,000-strong army.
HONDURAN AIR STRENGTH
| FIGHTER-BOMBER | NUMBER * |
| F-5E | 12 |
| Super Mystere | 12 |
| F-86 Sabre | 10 |
| A-37B Dragonfly | 10 |
* Minimum number as amount varies with the source.
US concern over the military balance has been expressed in other ways, too:
* Palmerola. In its fiscal 1988 budget, the Pentagon seeks US$10m to upgrade US barracks at the Palmerola military base (WL-87-05), from where the US-Honduran unit 'Joint Task Force Bravo' operates. US Senator James Sasser says the idea is to build a permanent infrastructure there 'to intimidate the Sandinistas' by showing 'that the US is capable of a very rapid and substantial military buildup.'
* San Lorenzo. The Pentagon is also seeking US$1m for a runway, to be used by US intelligence-gathering drone planes, at Honduras' San Lorenzo base.
* Operation Solid Shield. In mid-May, at least 5,000 US troops will join Honduran soldiers for these exercises (see Trends)
* Defence works. In the last year, US troops in Honduras have installed radar facilities at Cerro la Mole, dug a 16-kilometre anti-tank ditch near Choluteca and built a temporary runway at San Lorenzo.
Israeli price too high
Israeli officials had been confident that Honduras would buy a dozen Israeli Kfir fighters instead of the F-5Es (RM-87-02). The news of the US deal was a surprise, especially since Honduras had continued talks with Israel through March.
Obstacles were evident, though. Israel had reduced its original price of US$100m to US$75m, but that was not enough to beat the US terms. Moreover, the US -- after offering to finance a purchase of Kfirs if Honduras preferred these to the F-5Es -- reportedly later limited the financing to US$45m-50m.
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