The Uruguayan Air Force confirms its interest for the Northrop F-5E/F Tiger II.

World Aviation Defense & Security News - Uruguay

While stating that both the Yak-130 as its "brothers", the Italian Alenia Aermacchi M-346 and the Chinese L-15, are ideal for Uruguay platforms, resource scarcity makes Uruguay decide on buying the F-5 II, which will allow to purchase more units for less spending.

"I also assure you that the next defense investments will be focused on the acquisition of materials for the Air Force and the Navy, both institutions from which aspirations have been postponed during the last decades," said Eleuterio Fernández Huidobro.

While in the case of the Air Force has already chosen the plane, this first step only solves part of the problem, because all Uruguayan combat aircraft need immediate replacement. This process is compounded by the difficulty of maintaining airworthy five FMA A-58 Pucara fighter aircraft available to the Air Force, which will soon cease to fly if they are not subjected to a engine change and general maintenance of the body.

Because of this situation, the Uruguay might analyze various options. The first should be to gather the Fighting Squadrons 1 and 2 in one only combat unit, which would combine all the existing and to be acquired material.

Second option would be to acquire a substitute for the Pucara, may be thanks to the Embraer Tucano or Super Tucano, which have been selected by many other countries, but, once again, the economic factor will have huge implications on the final decision.