The Minister of Defense, Luis Petri, delivered a major presentation before the Defense Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, in which he outlined the main pillars of his administration and launched strong criticism against the previous kirchnerismo administration.
During his speech, Petri reaffirmed the government's commitment under Javier Milei to move toward salary equalization between the Armed Forces and the Security Forces, while denouncing irregularities at the Fábrica Argentina de Aviones (FAdeA) and defending the recent acquisition of 24 F-16 fighter jets.
One of the most notable points of his presentation was the assessment of the situation inherited at FAdeA. "We received an oversized company, where actresses were hired to give gender talks instead of building airplanes," the minister stated.
As an example of poor resource management, he mentioned the transfer of 63 million dollars for the IA100 Malvinas aircraft project, of which only a mock-up was completed. "This is the most expensive mock-up in history. We built that aircraft ourselves in 15 months of management," he added. He also reported payments for three Pucará Fénix units that were never delivered.
Petri highlighted the current administration's shift toward a policy of military re-equipment, achieved with the purchase of 24 multi-role F-16 jets. In this context, he strongly criticized the opposition: "Kirchnerismo is upset because they didn't buy anything. Debt was approved in Congress, but they didn't buy a single aircraft."
