At a crucial moment of the process of acquiring a fleet of 24 combat aircraft for the Peru Air Force (FAP), the President Dina Boluarte and the Minister of Defense, Walter Astudillo, agreed to the resignation of the head of the Purchasing Agency of the Armed Forces (Acffaa), General EP (R) Aldo Cornejo Valverde.
Sustaining the current regulations, Cornejo sent reports to the Ministry of Defense arguing that the ACFFAA should intervene in the evaluation of the offers presented by the interested companies and in the negotiations with the company selected for the provision of the latest generation war aircraft.
However, the government of Boluarte would opt for the alternative to declare “national interest” the purchase of the fighter fleet through a supreme decree and proceed to contract directly with the factory selected by the technical studies of the FAP.
It will replace Aldo Cornejo Valverde, General EP (R) Erwin Solís Ochoa, who has fulfilled functions as director of the Central Military Hospital of the Army and military aggregate at the Peru Embassy in the People’s Republic of China.
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Cornejo’s position
During the almost 16 months of his management as head of the acffaa, Aldo Cornejo Valverde formulated changes and details on the procedures for acquiring military teams with foreign companiessuch as the “Directive of the Government to Government Contracting Process for Strategic Goods and Services of the Defense Sector”, as well as the “Hiring Manual in the foreign market version 9”. The Executive in general, and the FAP in particular, must comply with such regulations in the purchase process of the fleet of latest generation.
As the Republic (16.06.2025) reported at the time, from the interpretation of the aforementioned provisions it follows that it is mandatory that acffaa participates in the acquisition of combat aircraft, starting with the reception of the offers of foreign states, the training and appointment of the members of the technical work team and the negotiation committee.
The former head of the ACFFAA also determined that the military institutions (in this case the FAP) are the ones that elaborate the final study, the terms of reference and the initiation file of the process, but specify that it is the Negotiation Committee appointed by ACFFAA is responsible for awarding the contract with the supplier. Not the armed institute.
Aldo Cornejo insisted before Minister Walter Astudillo in the execution of the procedure established by ACFFAA, in the case of acquiring the 24 fighters for which a budget of US $ 3.5 billion has been assigned. Even since May of this year, versions of Cornejo’s resignation to office were circulating, so it is not ruled out that this has been the reason for the acceptance of his resignation letter before the president Boluarte and Minister Astudillo.
For the FAP, the application of the new provisions of the ACFFAA demanded too much time, violating the planned schedule, which endangered the realization of the project to buy the fleet of combat aircraft for this year.
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The next outcome
Curiously, In similar circumstances, the former head of the acffaa, Vice Admiral (R) Manuel Váscon Morey, was dismissed by Minister Walter Astudillo For disapproving the army application several times to acquire 30 8×8 armored vehicles of the Turkish company Otokar, for a price higher than other proposals, and that did not meet the technical specifications.
When the Army then decided to acquire the armored ones from the Korean company Hyundai Rotem through the state company of Army Army and ammunition factory (FAME) -the model K808 White Tiger had been discarded by the Castrense Institute for its high cost-, the then Chief of the Acffaa, Aldo Cornejo, did not file any objection.
Now Cornel He lived in his own flesh what happened to his predecessor, Manuel Váscones, so He presented his renunciation letter.
Liberated from the acffaa stumbling block, now the Executive would authorize the direct acquisition of the FAP fighter fleet through the modality of government to government.
