MONTREAL, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Peru will probably decide

in October which fighter jet it will choose to replace its aging

fleet, the commander of the country's air force said on Sunday

in an interview.

Among the candidates are the F-16 from principal contractor

Lockheed Martin ( LMT ) and Gripen from Swedish defence firm

SAAB.

Commander General Carlos Enrique Chávez Cateriano said on

the sidelines of the International Civil Aviation Organization's

Innovation Fair in Montreal that the new planes are important

for Peru's defense.

"We urgently need to buy new ones. If we don't do this,

we're going to be unprotected," he said.

The U.S. State Department said last week it approved the

potential sale of F-16 aircraft and related elements of

logistics and program support to Peru in a deal valued at an

estimated $3.42 billion, the Pentagon said on Monday.

The final price for the aircraft "is not yet known," Chávez

Cateriano

Peru is looking to eventually acquire a total of 24 jets,

but a first deal would be for 12.