Argentine Army: “The TAM is going to be the most modern tank in the region”

The deputy chief of the General Staff of the Argentine Army, Major General Diego Martín López Blanco, spoke to Infodefensa.com about the current situation of the Cavalry Arm, its projects, and challenges.

He is currently the president of the Superior Council of the Cavalry Arm and the oldest active officer of the Cavalry Arm.

Lopez assured that “the backbone of the Cavalry is its tanks” and that the force “has all its hopes set on recovering its TAM (Argentine Medium Tank) vehicles”, immersed in a modernization process -with several years of delay- after which the units, he says, will have capabilities that other tanks in the region do not have.

WHAT IS THE STATE OF THE CAVALRY?

The backbone of the Cavalry is undoubtedly its tanks.

The Cavalry was not in the best condition due to budgetary constraints and the lack of progress in the TAM project.

It must be taken into account that the most expensive brigades (GUC) to maintain and operate are the armored and mechanized ones, which need to be provided with a large volume of fuel, large caliber ammunition, and a lot of vehicle maintenance work.

Today, the Cavalry Arm has all its hopes set on recovering its TAM vehicles.

Another aspiration is to equip the units with scouting and reconnaissance vehicles.

The idea is to be able to start, little by little and through the National Defense Fund (Fondef), to acquire some vehicles to start equipping the scouting units, which are extremely necessary for the Argentine Army, considering that there should be scouting units in all brigades, regardless of the weapon.

HOW IS THE CAVALRY STRUCTURED IN THE COUNTRY?

The most important are its two Large Armored Combat Units, the I Armored Brigade ‘Brigadier General Martín Rodríguez’ and the II Armored Brigade ‘General Justo José de Urquiza’, with its six tank regiments.

In addition, the tank regiments are the reserve of the Mechanized Brigades and the Scouting Regiments in the rest of the Large Combat Units deployed throughout the country.

Both Armored Brigades mentioned above have a Mechanized Infantry Regiment.

In the rest of the Large Combat Units, there is also some Cavalry element, depending on the nature of the same.

For example, we can mention the Tank Regiment 9 and the Tank Regiment 11, belonging to the IX Mechanized Brigade and the XI Mechanized Brigade, respectively, or the Tank Regiment 13, belonging to the X Mechanized Brigade.

On the other hand, there are the scouting elements of the IX Mechanized Brigade, the VI Mountain Brigade, the VIII Mountain Brigade, or the V Mountain Brigade, with their specific missions.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE THE TAM?

Due to its characteristics and capabilities, the TAM (Argentine Medium Tank) is a combat vehicle that adapts in a distinctive way to the features of the geographical environment of the region.

Broadly speaking, there are two types of tanks: the so-called MBT (Main Battle Tank) and lighter or fighter or support tanks.

The TAM came to be a battle tank for South America.

Today, we must be realistic and not believe that we will face a tank battle as in World War II, but it does constitute a vital deterrent element, the example we have today in the Russian-Ukrainian war.

That is why, once its modernization is completed, the TAM will be the most modern tank in the region because it will have a capacity that nobody has today.

This motivates us very much because let us remember that national companies will carry out this modernization to a great extent.

What will be acquired abroad are only the optronic components.

WHAT DOES THE TAM PROJECT CONSIST OF?

In five years, the TAM 2C project proposes modernizing 74 tanks with a complementary stage of 30 additional units, estimated to manufacture more than 100 tanks in the foreseen time.

Through Fondef funds, the company Industrias Metalúrgicas Pescarmona Sociedad Anónima (Impsa) was contracted to carry out the metal-mechanical part.

This same company had already participated in the 80s in making tank bearings.

The optronic instruments will be supplied by the Israeli company Elbit Systems.

We are currently working on all this, although we are a little behind schedule due to the delays caused by the worldwide logistic complications caused by the war in Ukraine, which have made it impossible to deliver materials and components on schedule.

WHAT ELSE CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT MODERNIZATION?

Brazil and Chile are currently interested in knowing what we are doing with the TAM because, with the new equipment, this vehicle will be more modern than the Leopard 2A4 that the Chilean Army has, being the most modern tank in the region.

This modernization will double or triple its combat survivability.

Facing the new challenge posed today by drones, it will have a warning system that when a threat illuminates the tank, the crew will automatically be able to detect and combat it.

From the point of view of lethality, it will automatically track two targets simultaneously.

As for its mobility, it will maintain its mobility, which has always been very good for a 30-ton tank, which can reach 32 tonnes with additional armor, something we are also studying.

Once the tanks are produced, I see the possibility of equipping some of them with anti-drone weapons as an additional defense, no longer passive but active.

This system is a drone detection radar with a gun and specific anti-drone ammunition. This equipment could be installed in a ratio of one per tank squadron, as they are not very expensive systems.

WHEN DO YOU EXPECT TO SEE THE FIRST RESULTS?

We expect the prototype to be ready in March.

We aspire that by the end of this year, we will have the first 10 or 12 tanks manufactured on our production line.

ARE MECHANIZED INFANTRY VEHICLES ALSO GOING TO BE MODERNIZED?

Yes, in December, we signed a contract with Impsa to make all the bearings.

These bearings are not only for the TAM; since the tank’s tank pan is the same as the VCTP, they are necessary for both vehicles.

The only thing missing is the caterpillar, but the support wheel, boogies, tensioning wheel, and traction wheel will be made in Argentina.

With this, we guarantee the logistic support of the whole TAM family.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO RECOVER THE TAM LINE? WHAT TAMSE USED TO BE?

Designing and manufacturing tanks is something we could do as a country, but unfortunately, we have lost some basic capabilities; for example, we can no longer manufacture armor as it was done before in Altos Hornos Zapla, that was lost.

We are also considering manufacturing armor plates, which is beyond the Army’s scope.

We continue studying technologies adaptable to our industry in the 21st century.

WHAT ARE THE MAIN NEEDS OF THE CAVALRY?

The primary needs and challenges are: to recover its material and, perhaps the most immediate, to keep the people of the weapon motivated.

Today it is a challenge to motivate the youngest officers and NCOs professionally, and to achieve this, we must generate positive expectations for the future, both professionally and in terms of salaries.

WHAT DO YOU SEE FOR THE FUTURE?

We are motivated by the hope of having, once again, a modern tank as we had in the 80s.

At that time, Argentina was on the verge of exporting tanks to the Middle East.

Today, the Brazilian Army is concerned about modernizing its tanks, so they have come here to see how the project is being carried out.

With information from Infodefensa