Air Force sells Aermacchi jet trainers

9.15am

The Air Force's fleet of 17 Aermacchi jet trainers has been sold.

The sale was in its final stages and was confirmed during the weekend by the international consultancy, Ernst and Young, which also confirmed it was about to close a deal to sell the air force's fleet of 17 mothballed Skyhawk fighter bombers.

The Skyhawks are being sold to a private American company, Advanced Training Systems International Limited of Arizona.

"We have got a purchaser for the Aermacchis," Gareth Morgan from Ernst and Young said.

He would not confirm the price of either the Skyhawk or the Aermacchi fleet or that the new owner of the Aermacchis was the Malaysian Government.

Last month Malaysian chief of defence force General Tan Sri Mohd Zahidi bin Hj Zainudin visited the Air Force's Ohakea base near Palmerston North where he sat in the cockpit of an Aermacchi and was given a quick rundown on the aircraft.

Recently the fleet of 17 Aermacchis has been progressively restored to flying condition after being mothballed along with the Skyhawks in December, 2001, after the Government's decision to axe the air force's air combat wing.

Mr Morgan said they were now working through a regulatory restraint before the sale of the Aermacchis was finalised.

However, he said the final sales documents for both the Aermacchis and the Skyhawks had yet to be completed.

"But I am confident and I think we will close," Mr Morgan said.

He said the sale of the fleets needed the approval of several regulatory authorities in several countries. Those countries were understood to include America, Britain and Italy and their approval was needed because of the components in both aircraft.

It is understood pressure from the Iraqi war has delayed some of the regulatory approvals from America and Britain.

Mr Morgan said he would strongly recommend ATSI to the Government as the buyer of the Skyhawks. If that did not happen, a back-up deal had been negotiated.

ATSI is based at the Williams Gateway Airport in Mesa Arizona.

"We think ATSI is a superb organisation and I have only the highest respect for the people, their professionalism and their capabilities," Mr Morgan said.

ATSI told NZPA during the weekend it anticipated the aircraft would be dismantled, packed into containers and leave New Zealand in three or four months.

The Skyhawks will join ATSI's existing fleet of 12 in Arizona and be used in a commercial deal to train air force fighter pilots, including pilots from the United States Air Force and other air forces.

Neither ATSI chairman Larry "Hoss" Pearson, nor Mr Morgan, would discuss the price of the Skyhawks, although within the last 18 months a Defence Ministry spokesman said $85 million for the 17 aircraft and spares would be a good price.

However, a defence commentator said on Saturday the Skyhawks could have been sold for $50 million to $60 million.

The Skyhawks have avionics and weapons systems identical to the F-16 fighter and Mr Morgan said it was a perfect advanced training aircraft.

ATSI was also negotiating with the Royal Australian Navy to resume training with Australian warships. The aircraft could be based at the Nowra naval base near Sydney where the New Zealand Air Force's No 2 Squadron had six Skyhawks based for several years.

- NZPA