Chile Agrees to Buy Lockheed Fighter Jets
Chile agreed to buy 10 Lockheed Martin Corp. F-16 fighter jets for $660 million in the first sale of advanced U.S. warplanes to South America in two decades.
Chilean President Ricardo Lagos agreed to the purchase in part because the air force secured an agreement by General Electric Co., which will make the F-16s’ engines, to build a center that will provide global technical support for the company’s civilian and military aircraft engines, Defense Minister Michelle Bachelet said.
Officials didn’t give a value for so-called offsets by GE and Lockheed.
Bachelet rejected criticism that such a purchase could trigger an arms race in the region.
The Chilean air force has tried for four years to buy the aircraft to replace 30-year-old A-37 fighters. The air force chose F-16s over Boeing Co.’s F-18 jet among others.
The sale would be the first since former President Clinton lifted a two-decade-old arms embargo to Latin America in 1997. The jets are scheduled to be delivered in 2004 and 2005.
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