No Skyhawks on Washington

The latest news from Brazil is that there will be no A-4s operating off the GW. The article from Robert Godoy was the first in this mornings CLIPs.

The Navy Command is taking between seven and 11 ships to Unitas 2008 - five escort units, one submarine and one patrol ship. The Air Force is also taking part, with a maritime surveillance squadron and, maybe, precision attack airplanes.

The aircraft carrier A12 Sao Paulo will not take part in the exercise. In for an overhaul and modernization since 2005, when it was damaged by a small fire, the flagship of the squadron was expected to return to sea this month. It will not. The expectation is that this will happen sometime this year still, "after the tests necessary following a long period of maintenance." The A-1 Skyhawk fighter jets on the A12 - of the 23 acquired second-hand in Kuwait at the end of the 1990s, only two are in a condition to be used - will not operate on the George Washington. Yesterday, in Buenos Aires, Argentine Defense Minister Nilda Garre said that navy fighter jets of will carry out landing and take-off tests on the CVN73.

It is good to see more news coverage of the GWs visit. Brazil is the future of this hemisphere, and we need to get very comfortable working with them, doing it is as often as possible. It is also both entertaining and interesting to observe the Brazilians, particularly as they discuss the GW.

Yesterday I was reading an article where the premise was Brazil should buy the Kitty Hawk if India doesn't, nevermind Brazil probably can't afford it, certainly doesn't have the money to operate it or buy enough aircraft to use it. None of that seems to matter though, ahh to be a dreamer though.