Argentina Puts a Number on Its Ushuaia Naval Base
ARGENTINA · DEFENCE
Key Facts
- —The money More than 300 billion pesos (about US$199 million) allocated to the integrated naval base at Ushuaia.
- —Who said it Defence Minister Carlos Presti.
- —The tenders Five or six public tenders to be launched.
- —The start Construction to begin in January.
- —What it is A naval base for submarines, marine infantry and naval aviation, functioning as a logistics hub toward Antarctica.
- —The distance Roughly 700 kilometres from the Falkland Islands.
The base was announced in 2022, paused by austerity, revived in August. It now has a number attached and a month to start.
Argentina has allocated more than 300 billion pesos to the integrated naval base at Ushuaia and will begin construction in January, according to Defence Minister Carlos Presti.
What Is Being Built
The Base Naval Integrada at Ushuaia is designed to host submarines, marine infantry and naval aviation, and to serve as a logistics hub for Argentine operations toward Antarctica.
The allocation is stated as more than 300 billion pesos (about US$199 million at September 2026 rates). Presti said five or six public tenders would be launched so that construction can start in January.
The site sits roughly 700 kilometres from the Falkland Islands, which is the distance that gives the project its political reading whatever its stated purpose.
The Project’s History
It was announced in 2022 under the previous government, then paused during the first phase of Javier Milei’s austerity programme, and revived in August 2026.
That sequence is worth keeping in view. A government that cut defence spending hard in its first year is now funding a base near the disputed islands, in the same weeks it has created a foreign-policy compliance system aligned to the sovereignty claim.
The announcement itself is not new. What is new is the funding figure and the start date, and those are what make it a project rather than an intention.
The Antarctic Half
The Antarctic logistics function is not decoration. Ushuaia is the closest significant port to the Antarctic Peninsula and handles a large share of the world’s Antarctic tourism and research traffic.
Argentina maintains permanent Antarctic bases and the 1959 Antarctic Treaty freezes but does not extinguish territorial claims, including overlapping Argentine, Chilean and British ones.
A base that supports Antarctic logistics from Tierra del Fuego therefore serves a real operational need and strengthens a long-term claim at the same time. Both readings are correct.
What It Does Not Change
A submarine and marine infantry base 700 kilometres from the islands does not alter the military balance in the South Atlantic, and nothing in the announcement suggests it is intended to.
Argentina’s naval capability has been severely constrained since the loss of the submarine ARA San Juan in 2017, and the fleet’s readiness problems are structural rather than a matter of basing.
What the base does is establish permanent infrastructure and a permanent presence, which is a different objective and a slower one.
Why Ushuaia
Ushuaia sits on the Beagle Channel at the southern tip of Argentina, closer to Antarctica than any other significant port in the Americas.
That position is the whole argument for the base. Antarctic logistics, South Atlantic patrol and the approaches to Cape Horn all run through the same stretch of water.
The Wider Contest
Antarctic and South Atlantic presence has become a point of strategic competition, with several states expanding logistics capacity in the region on scientific and commercial grounds.
Argentina’s claim to an Antarctic sector overlaps with Chilean and British claims, none of which is recognised under the Antarctic Treaty system that suspended the question in 1959.
What the Funding Does Not Settle
A funded start date establishes that construction begins. It does not establish the final cost, the completion date or the operational capacity the finished facility will have.
Argentine infrastructure projects of this scale have a history of extended timetables, and the fiscal programme under which this one is being financed leaves limited room for overruns.
More: Argentina news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is allocated?
More than 300 billion pesos, about US$199 million at September 2026 rates.
When does construction start?
January, following five or six public tenders, according to Defence Minister Carlos Presti.
What is being built?
A naval base for submarines, marine infantry and naval aviation, also serving as an Antarctic logistics hub.
How far is it from the Falklands?
Roughly 700 kilometres.
Is the project new?
No. It was announced in 2022, paused under austerity and revived in August 2026. The funding figure and start date are what is new.
Sources: Los Andes, El Cronista, Infobae, Cooperativa.
This article was drafted with automated assistance and reviewed before publication. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief
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