{"id":6594,"date":"2022-06-01T12:00:48","date_gmt":"2022-06-01T11:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/?p=6594"},"modified":"2022-06-02T01:39:25","modified_gmt":"2022-06-02T00:39:25","slug":"argentine-super-etendards-flex-their-muscles-on-their-march-to-active-duty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/argentine-super-etendards-flex-their-muscles-on-their-march-to-active-duty\/","title":{"rendered":"Argentine Super Etendards flex muscles on their march to active duty?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The appearance of Australis’ Serie Aeronaval #40<\/em><\/strong> and a recent minor scandal originating in Navy Arsenal Comandante Espora (ARCE) provided us with a sterling opportunity to take a peek at Argentina’s fleet of Super Etendard naval fighters, the last of their type attempting to remain in active duty…<\/p>\n

A long and winding road<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In addition to providing a revised and updated type history (see \u201cSUE & SEM\u201d: Jorge N\u00fa\u00f1ez Pad\u00edn revisits four decades of Super Etendard in Argentine Navy service<\/a><\/span>), the monograph forecasts that the five ex-French Navy Super Etendard Modernis\u00e9 (SEM) are likely to take up aircraft codes<\/strong> 3-A-221 through 3-A-225, while we assume they are likely to take up Navy\u00a0serial numbers<\/strong> 0887 through 0890.<\/p>\n

Even though they maintain their original French colour schemes<\/strong> and serials, they already wear the Argentine flag on their rudders and two have received the original (1956) 2nd Fighter and Attack Naval Air Squadron (EA32) badge on their noses’ left side.<\/p>\n

\n
\"New<\/a>
SEM #41 was the first former French Aeronavale example to wear 2a Escuadrilla Aeronaval de Caza y Ataque badge (photo: Sergio Garc\u00eda Pedroche).<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

In an as yet uncertain future, the aircraft are expected to be repainted in their ultimate French scheme (two-tone matt low reflectance gray blue, French standards 5430\/2274 and \/2204) or in a comparative Argentine-adapted livery (two-tone semi-matt gray, Federal Standards 26176 and 26307).<\/p>\n

Since the aircraft arrived in Comandante Espora in mid-May 2019, getting them and EA32 back into flying conditions<\/strong> has been a protracted process dealing with an endless list of political, diplomatic, economical, technical, logistic, training and (last but definitely not the least) pandemic obstacles which have some optimistic observers forecasting an initial operational status since late 2020…<\/p>\n

The SEM project remains under close scrutiny from interest groups which are ready to cry wolf and criticize the purchase or its protracted restoration process; but government support<\/strong> appears to be solid and funding is slowly being made available for the purchase or repair of rotables, local or foreign rework and testing of aircraft systems as well as training of flying, weapons systems and maintenance crews.<\/p>\n

\n
\"First<\/a>
Off-loading of SEMs at Ingeniero White facilities (photo: Port of Bah\u00eda Blanca).<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

Regardless of Argentine Navy futile attempts to keep the process under wraps, a plethore of news, photos and videos continue to flow through the Internet showing progress of the SEM rework and the whereabouts of its SUE predecessors.<\/p>\n

In the latest (and most bizarre) event, pictures of SUE and SEM airframes stored at ARCE were published on social media while a crossfit competition was being held at this purportedly “media and spotters off-limits location” on Saturday, April 28th…<\/p>\n

Farewell SUE?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Ever since the original Super Etendards (locally referred to as “SUE”) flew for the last time in the early 2010s, rumours about their return to flying condition appear to be loosing traction as the limited resources available to revive EA32 promise to be more profitable if invested in the SEM machines rather than on their original counterpars.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Classic<\/a>
Will classic Super Etendard flight lines like this one become a thing of the past (photo v\u00eda Mariano Sciaroni)?<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

According to Pista 18 fleet research<\/a><\/span> and several other public sources, three of the original 14 aircraft were lost in accidents, a further 9 had been grounded at the very least three years when the squadron stood down in early 2013 (one of them now ostensibly alloted for preservation at the Navy Aviation Musem) and only two may be reasonably able to resume flying if and when spare parts are made available to complete their overhauls…<\/p>\n

Whatever the outcome of the process, Navy top brass is said to be determined to recover its Super Etendard strike capability<\/strong> and keep it fit for at least a decade (the expected lifetime of the five aircraft and nearly 700,000 spare parts purchased from France) by maintaining a two-to-four aircraft line-up flying an estimated 360 hours per year.<\/p>\n

Will all these facts mark the end of “good’ole SUE’s” career in Argentine Navy markings? Shall we see at least one SEM flying before the end of this year<\/strong>? Two good questions which I hope will find an answer before we open our 2023 calendars…<\/p>\n

\n
\"SUE<\/a>
A crossfit competition held at ARCE in the last weekend of April resulted in valuable images of SUE and SEM airframes in deep storage or overhaul (photo: Bah\u00eda Cross Gym).<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

Acknowledgements<\/strong>: Ariel Peral, Carlos Abella, Charlie Dacunda, Jorge N\u00fa\u00f1ez, Hern\u00e1n Casciani and Mariano Sciaroni contributed to this reporte with their social media posts. Other references<\/strong>: Aerom\u00e1quina, Armada Argentina, Bah\u00eda Cross Gym, Clar\u00edn, Defensa (EDEFA), Fuerzas de Defensa Argentinas, Google Translate, Infobae, Infodefensa, La Nueva Provincia, Ministerio de Defensa (Argentina), Scramble, Poder Naval, Puerto Bah\u00eda Blanca, Todo Noticias, Visi\u00f3n Estrat\u00e9gica, Wikipedia and Zona Militar.<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The appearance of Australis’ Serie Aeronaval #40 and a recent minor scandal originating in Navy Arsenal Comandante Espora (ARCE) provided us with a sterling opportunity to take a peek at Argentina’s fleet of Super Etendard naval fighters, the last of their type attempting to remain in active duty… A long and winding road In addition […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":6664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[3,54],"class_list":["post-6594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-defence","tag-aeromilitaria-argentina","tag-dassault-super-etendard"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/wp-content\/uploads\/3022\/05\/3-278864738_edited.jpg?fit=1024%2C576&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1JKRl-1Im","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6409,"url":"https:\/\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/jorge-nunez\/","url_meta":{"origin":6594,"position":0},"title":"“SUE & SEM”: Jorge N\u00fa\u00f1ez Pad\u00edn revisits four decades of Super Etendard in Argentine Navy service","author":"Carlos Ay","date":"Wednesday 30 March 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"In a striking numeric coincidence, Serie Aeronaval 40th edition celebrates 40 years of Dassault Super Etendard operations with the Argentine Navy. We gained access to and advanced Australis' manuscript and propose an \"early bird\" preview of Jorge N\u00fa\u00f1ez Padin's latest monograph.","rel":"","context":"In "Defence & security"","block_context":{"text":"Defence & security","link":"https:\/\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/category\/defence\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/wp-content\/uploads\/3022\/03\/2022-03-27-at-12.02.04-2.jpeg?fit=1024%2C726&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/wp-content\/uploads\/3022\/03\/2022-03-27-at-12.02.04-2.jpeg?fit=1024%2C726&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/wp-content\/uploads\/3022\/03\/2022-03-27-at-12.02.04-2.jpeg?fit=1024%2C726&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/wp-content\/uploads\/3022\/03\/2022-03-27-at-12.02.04-2.jpeg?fit=1024%2C726&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":25,"url":"https:\/\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/2010-military-exercises-index-argentina\/","url_meta":{"origin":6594,"position":1},"title":"The 2010 Argentine Exercises Index","author":"Carlos Ay","date":"Thursday 15 November 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"The first Argentine military aviation exercises index in the \u201cGaceta Aeron\u00e1utica Age\u201d comes packed with over 70 exercises, simulations and drills totalling at least 329 days of activity on the field. In spite of ever present budgetary limitations and a couple of congressional mishaps, Argentine armed and paramilitary forces managed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Defence & security"","block_context":{"text":"Defence & security","link":"https:\/\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/category\/defence\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/100308-N-4774B-056.jpg?fit=651%2C384&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/100308-N-4774B-056.jpg?fit=651%2C384&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/100308-N-4774B-056.jpg?fit=651%2C384&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1727,"url":"https:\/\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/the-2004-argentine-exercises-index\/","url_meta":{"origin":6594,"position":2},"title":"The 2004 Argentine Exercises Index","author":"Carlos Ay","date":"Thursday 21 February 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"In one more Argentine military aviation exercises index, we disclose an updated version of our original Aeromilitaria Argentina index for year 2004. This more complete alternative reviews nearly 50 exercises, simulations and drills totalling at least 240 days of activity on the field. Another \u201cinternational\u201d year, 2004 was packed full\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Defence & security"","block_context":{"text":"Defence & security","link":"https:\/\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/category\/defence\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/20040617-USN.jpg?fit=650%2C433&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/20040617-USN.jpg?fit=650%2C433&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/20040617-USN.jpg?fit=650%2C433&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1665,"url":"https:\/\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/the-2005-argentine-exercises-index\/","url_meta":{"origin":6594,"position":3},"title":"The 2005 Argentine Exercises Index","author":"Carlos Ay","date":"Thursday 29 November 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"The second Argentine military aviation exercises index in the \u201cGaceta Aeron\u00e1utica Age\u201d is actually an updated version of our original Aeromilitaria Argentina index for 2005. This more complete variant reviews more than 35 exercises, simulations and drills totalling more than 220 days of activity on the field. An apparently \u201cinternational\u201d\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Defence & security"","block_context":{"text":"Defence & security","link":"https:\/\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/category\/defence\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/AF_photo_65711a.jpg?fit=680%2C466&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/AF_photo_65711a.jpg?fit=680%2C466&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/AF_photo_65711a.jpg?fit=680%2C466&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5201,"url":"https:\/\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/gacetas-2018-calendar-pay-tribute-to-argentine-airmen-fighting-the-malvinas-war\/","url_meta":{"origin":6594,"position":4},"title":"Gaceta’s 2018 calendar pays tribute to Argentine airmen fighting the Malvinas War","author":"Carlos Ay","date":"Monday 9 October 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Building upon the experience of our first \"hard copy\" product (see\u00a02016 Calendar\/FIDAE Warriors),\u00a0Gaceta Aeron\u00e1utica is releasing a new calendar for 2018. This time, we pay tribute to Argentine airmen fighting the Malvinas War with a\u00a012-months calendar illustrated with photos showing civil and military aircraft in special markings earned for their\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Media & publications"","block_context":{"text":"Media & publications","link":"https:\/\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/category\/media\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/00-COVER-650px.jpg?fit=650%2C507&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/00-COVER-650px.jpg?fit=650%2C507&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/00-COVER-650px.jpg?fit=650%2C507&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3010,"url":"https:\/\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/the-2012-argentine-exercises-index\/","url_meta":{"origin":6594,"position":5},"title":"The 2012 Argentine Exercises Index","author":"Carlos Ay","date":"Friday 22 November 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The first new edition of the ARGEX series once again covers close to 50 exercises, simulations and drills totalling more than 200 days of field activity for the year ending 31 December 2012.","rel":"","context":"In "Defence & security"","block_context":{"text":"Defence & security","link":"https:\/\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/category\/defence\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/65355_10151145314171234_1776926780_n_800.jpg?fit=800%2C534&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/65355_10151145314171234_1776926780_n_800.jpg?fit=800%2C534&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/65355_10151145314171234_1776926780_n_800.jpg?fit=800%2C534&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/65355_10151145314171234_1776926780_n_800.jpg?fit=800%2C534&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6594"}],"version-history":[{"count":110,"href":"https:\/\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6594\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6919,"href":"https:\/\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6594\/revisions\/6919"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}