RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Four years after the sinking of the ARA San Juan, the Government started to take steps for the acquisition of a submarine for defense purposes to give a signal not only to the Argentine military but also to the countries that look at the South Atlantic as a strategic space at world level.
The Minister of Defense, Jorge Taiana, already held talks with the French company Naval Group to sound out the possibility of purchasing a submarine to replace the loss of the ARA San Juan that cost the lives of 44 crew members in November 2017.
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This French company is one of the most important worldwide in constructing submarines. Other countries could manufacture this vessel, although under nuclear propulsion parameters that Argentina does not commune with for Defense.
A German company that manufactures these ships was also in the spotlight, and the possibility of repairing the Navy’s submarines at the Tandanor shipyard was mentioned at some point. However, the Ministry of Defense dismissed these two possibilities out of hand.
Thus, it was confirmed that the purchase negotiations are moving forward, and the idea of Argentina dreaming again of having a submarine is a concrete fact.
It has not been defined yet -at least in the formal talks held by the Minister of Defense with business people or sector referents- the model, cost, and estimated time Argentina will purchase the submarine.
However, it was confirmed that there was a political decision between President Alberto Fernández and Minister Taiana to move in this direction. The aim is to make a gesture in the region and send a signal within the Armed Forces.
The Brazilian military has 5 submarines in the region alone, Chile has 4, Peru has 6, and Colombia has 2.
The acquisition of a submarine may take a couple of years because it is not a simple operation, and its manufacture requires time.
But it is evaluated in Defense that part of this purchase could begin to be channeled through the Defense Fund (FONDEF), which was created by law and composed of 0.5% of the current income foreseen in the Annual Budget National Public Sector.
For the fiscal year 2021, it was US$34 billion. Furthermore, as explained by those close to Minister Taiana, in the following years, this percentage will increase to 0.65% of the current income foreseen in the Annual Budget of the National Public Sector for the year 2022, until it reaches 0.8% for the year 2023, maintaining this last percentage for the following budget years.
PATROL BOATS AND REPAIRS
The Ministry of Defense has incorporated Multipurpose Oceanic Patrol Vessels (OPV) for the Navy. This year the third unit, the “ARA Storni”, was received, and the fourth, “ARA Cordero”, was launched at the French shipyard. All of them will be used for patrolling operations in the South Atlantic and as a deterrence tool in case of possible incursions of foreign fleets.
At the same time, the manufacture and design of tugboats for the Navy in Tandanor (2022) is on the Defense roadmap. It was learned that the prototype tugboat is already under construction.
Therefore, Minister Taiana is convinced of the need to purchase a submarine.
During the last stage of Mauricio Macri’s administration, the then Minister of Defense, Oscar Aguad, evaluated the possibility of Argentina having a submarine again, but he never fulfilled his objective.
It was analyzed that the process of half-life repair of the ARA Santa Cruz be set in motion because they understood that it was the least expensive and fastest way for Argentina to have a submarine again.
However, experts on the subject believe that the repair of the ARA Santa Cruz submarine would require about US$250 million and assess that there would never be a certainty that the vessel would be in perfect conditions.
No government will risk such a move for the Navy to go out into the Atlantic with a submarine that could potentially suffer a sinking similar to that of the ARA San Juan tragedy.