Argentina strengthens its military projection in Patagonia with the deployment of Pampa III aircraft

The Argentine Air Force (FAA) has ordered the permanent deployment of three Pampa III Block II aircraft at the Río Gallegos Military Air Base, intending to increase military presence and projection in the south of the territory.

To this end, the Ministry of Defense has decided to re-establish the Río Gallegos Military Air Base, from where Mirage aircraft once operated.

As detailed to Infodefensa.com by the head of the FAA, Brigadier General Xavier Julián Isaac, this unit will be the only brigade with diverse air and surveillance means, with attack planes, transport planes, radar, and artillery.

In addition, the Air Force expects to have Mi-171Es before the end of the year for Antarctic logistic support and military search and rescue services.

In addition to the aircraft, which were based at the VI Air Brigade, located in Tandil, personnel, and material were assigned, no longer as a deployment squadron, as was done on several occasions last year, but permanently.

The Pampa, equipped with a 30 mm cannon and two Colibri subalar pods while waiting for the completion of the tests of the FN Herstal HMP400 LCC 12.70, will operate once a month from the joint base to be strengthened in Ushuaia.

Since May 2022, an RPA-170M radar produced by Invap, which increased surveillance capabilities, has been operating in the city of Río Grande in Tierra del Fuego.

During the ceremony, the Minister of Defense, Jorge Taiana, stated that the reopening of the X Air Brigade responds to the need to deploy forces with combat capabilities to the south in a strategic area of the territory.

“The reopening of the X Brigade is directly linked to the vision of an Argentina that projects towards the South, towards the Atlantic, the islands and Antarctica, which are strategic components for the country’s development”, he said.

For his part, Isaac pointed out that Río Gallegos is the deployment base, the point of projection towards all Antarctic operations, and from where the military radar operates every day of the year.

“We have anti-aircraft artillery pieces, but we lacked the air assets, that is why we brought the Pampa III block 2; in the future, this unit deserves a better performance weapon system”.

With information from Infodefensa