USAF Focuses On Central American Cargo Deal

U.S. officials at the 12th Air Force, which interfaces with air forces in Central and South America, are hoping to move forward with plans this week from four Central American nations seeking to jointly collaborate on an aircraft modernization effort, says Lt. Gen. Norman Seip, who leads the command.

Seip is meeting with the regional air chiefs of Central America here during a Regional Air Chiefs Conference.

Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras have been in discussions in recent years with U.S. officials to proceed with a multi-pronged aircraft modernization effort that involves the purchase of a light cargo aircraft, small helicopter and, eventually, an interdiction platform. Seip says he hopes this week to secure an agreement from the four nations in the form of a letter of intent.

Though nonbinding, the letter would allow officials to move forward with platform selection of the first phase of the program, which involves the purchase of 16 light cargo aircraft.

The likely choice is the Cessna Caravan, a single-engine turboprop aircraft. However, the nations must approve a formal platform decision after signing the letter, says Dana Willis, the program's project officer for 12th Air Force.

The goal is to assign four aircraft to each country and get each nation to sign onto a sharing agreement in the event of certain mission needs such as a national disaster requiring humanitarian aid. Willis says he expects the aircraft to cost about $2.5 million per unit. The United States is likely to pick up the full cost of the aircraft purchases and an initial, contractor-logistics-support contract for maintenance. But Seip says each nation will be responsible for training crews to sustain and operate the systems beyond that initial agreement.

Previously, Seip was hoping to move forward with the purchase of the cargo aircraft, a helicopter (likely the Huey II) and a light interdiction platform in one program. However, funding is scarce and command officials now say they are focused first on deploying the cargo system. Work on the remaining two platforms should follow.

Purchases for 16 of each type of replacement aircraft - four per nation in each mission area - is anticipated to cost about $487 million, Willis says.

Yet, with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan demanding much of the Pentagon's attention, officials are looking for other funding sources for the aircraft modernization program. One potential source could be the Merida Initiative, a fund started by President George W. Bush in fiscal 2008 to support counter-narcotics activities in Central America and Mexico. Initially, the fund outlined about $500 million in aid for Mexico and another $50 million for Central America.

The initial $197 million of $400 million in FY '08 funds approved by Congress for the initiative were released in early December 2008 after an agreement was reached between the Mexican and U.S. governments (Aerospace DAILY, Dec. 5, 2008).

Photo: Cessna