Relatively recently, the armed forces of Argentina were the strongest in Latin America and quite impressive even by world standards, in addition, the country had a fairly developed defense-industrial complex. However, the defeat in the war for the Falkland Islands from Great Britain and the subsequent financial and economic crisis, the consequences of which are still felt in this country, dealt a fairly strong blow to the army and navy.
For decades, the military equipment in service with the Argentine army has practically not been updated, and the samples entering service are either modernizations of old equipment, or have very low tactical and technical characteristics. The problem is also the poor maintenance of military equipment, as well as the lack of necessary spare parts. Based on this, the level of combat training of the Argentine troops has seriously decreased, especially in the Air Force, said Alexander Khramchikhin, a military expert, deputy director of the Institute of Political and Military Analysis.
At the same time, by the time the Falklands War began, Argentina really had a sufficiently powerful armed forces that allowed the country's leadership, the dictator Lieutenant General Leopoldo Galtieri, to challenge Great Britain, which, although it had not been the ruler of the seas for a long time, remained a strong European power with nuclear weapons.
"Super Etandar" of the Argentine Navy. The silhouette of the Atlantic Conveyor container ship sunk by this aircraft is visible in front of the squadron's emblem.
In the war, Argentina relied on its aviation, rightly judging that it would not be able to compete with the British fleet with the help of its navy. With attacks from air bases on the mainland, the Argentine military expected to inflict unacceptable damage on the British fleet. At some point, British Admiral John Forster Woodward mentally admitted the possibility of defeat (he later wrote about this in his memoirs), but Argentina simply did not have enough serviceable aircraft to carry out large-scale air raids. Argentina is believed to have lost about 100 aircraft and helicopters during the fighting, including 22 American-made A-4 Skyhawk attack aircraft, about a quarter of its fleet. As a result of the actions of the Argentine aviation, Great Britain lost two frigates, two destroyers, including the latest destroyer Sheffield, the loss of which was a real blow to the whole kingdom, a landing ship and a landing boat, as well as a container ship Atlantic Conveyor, which sank along with the helicopters being transported and equipment to create an airfield on the British-captured bridgehead. In addition, 3 destroyers, 2 frigates and one landing ship were seriously damaged.
And yet Argentina lost. For the country, this defeat was a very painful blow to national pride. It was the direct cause of the fall of the Argentine military junta. Already on June 17, 1982, General Leopoldo Galtieri resigned under the influence of mass demonstrations. At the same time, the need for war and its historical significance are still the subject of truly fierce disputes in Argentina, and the country's authorities still do not abandon their claims to the islands. We can say that the Falklands War was the point of the highest flourishing of the Argentine armed forces, since then a lot has changed for the worse.
Army of Argentina today
Today, Argentina's armed forces are made up of central command, ground forces, the air force and the navy. In accordance with Argentine law, they are designed to "prevent and repel any external state aggression in order to guarantee the protection on a permanent basis of the vital interests of the nation, which include independence, sovereignty and self-determination, as well as the territorial integrity of the country, freedom and security of citizens." At the same time, Argentina lacks a military doctrine in the form of a single document that would reflect the national strategy in the field of defense and security. The supreme commander in chief of the Armed Forces of Argentina is the President of the country. The President is empowered to declare war with the approval of the National Congress, he can also declare a state of emergency in the country, appoint senior officers and mobilize the population. He also determines the main directions of military policy, the construction and use of the armed forces. The country also has the Joint Headquarters of the Armed Forces - the supreme executive and planning body, with the help of which the Supreme Commander-in-Chief exercises the operational control of the Argentine Armed Forces.
Units of the 9th mechanized brigade of the Argentine army in tactical exercises; November 2017
The total number of the country's armed forces (excluding civilian personnel) is about 74, 4 thousand people, including: ground forces - 42, 8 thousand people, the air force - 12, 6 thousand people, the navy - 19 thousand people (Foreign Military Review. 2016, No. 8, pp. 17-23).
Land Forces of Argentina
The main and most numerous type of the Argentine armed forces is rightfully considered to be the ground forces. After 2006, within the framework of plans for the long-term construction of "Army-2025", three military districts were formed on the basis of three army corps. At the same time, the army corps were reorganized into three divisions. In addition to these forces, the commander of the ground forces has a so-called strategic mobile reserve - the rapid reaction forces (RRF), consisting of special forces units, an airborne brigade and the 10th mechanized brigade.
The ground forces of Argentina consist of infantry, armored, mechanized, artillery, airborne, mountain infantry and other units and subunits. In this case, the main unit in the structure of the ground forces is the division. In addition to the three divisions, the Argentine Army includes the military garrison of Buenos Aires, army aviation units, military educational institutions of the Army, as well as separate units and subdivisions of central subordination. As part of the 1st division: 2nd armored, 3rd and 12th infantry brigades for operations in the jungle; as part of the 2nd division - the 5th, 6th and 8th mountain brigades; 3rd Division - 1st Armored, 9th and 11th Mechanized Brigades.
Argentine tanks TAM
Formally, they are armed with a fairly large number of armored vehicles. Only the tank park of Argentina has about 400 combat vehicles, but in fact it can be called zero, according to the deputy director of the Institute of Political and Military Analysis, Alexander Khramchikhin. The basis of the country's tank fleet is 231 TAM tanks, which were created specifically for Argentina in Germany. This combat vehicle is a rather peculiar hybrid of the chassis from the BMP "Marder" and the turret from the tank "Leopard-1". This tank, by modern standards, has an extremely low level of protection, and its armament is also outdated. Also on the balance of the ground forces are 6 American "Shermans" from the Second World War, which completely lost their combat effectiveness, 113 old light Cuirassier tanks of Austrian production, 39 French AMX-13 tanks of the same venerable age and 4 tanks of their own production "Patagon" (the turret from the AMX-13 tank on the "Cuirassier" chassis), the latter will not be serially built due to lack of funds and low performance characteristics.
The ground forces are armed with 108 VCTR BMPs, which are the same TAM, on which only the turret has been replaced (armed with a 20-mm automatic cannon). There are about 600 armored personnel carriers - from 329 to 458 tracked American M-113, French AML-90 (32 units) and AMX-13 VCPC (up to 130 units). To participate in UN peacekeeping missions, the Argentine armed forces have purchased 9 British armored vehicles "Tactics", as well as 4 Chinese armored personnel carriers WZ-551. The gendarmerie is armed with 111 Swiss armored personnel carriers "Grenadier", 40 German UR-416 and 20 British "Shorlands".
Another version of the TAM tank in the Argentine ground forces is the VCA self-propelled artillery mount, on which the tower of the Italian 155-mm self-propelled gun "Palmaria" was placed. There are 19 such self-propelled guns in the Argentine army, there are also 24 French F3 self-propelled guns (also caliber 155 mm) and 6 extremely outdated American M7 self-propelled guns. The towed artillery of the ground forces includes up to 10 American 105-mm M-101 howitzers (during the Second World War) and up to 52 Italian 105-mm light M-56 howitzers, as well as 108 155-mm L-33 howitzers and 4 Argentine CALA30 howitzers. Mortars - 39 VCTM (self-propelled version), 338 AM-50 (120 mm), 923 (81 mm), 214 (60 mm). There are also about 50 local SAPBA MLRS and 4 Pamperos, up to 9 installations of the American Tou ATGM. The air defense of the land forces of Argentina includes three French Roland air defense systems, six Swedish RBS-70 air defense systems and about 500 anti-aircraft guns of various calibers.
Argentine 155-mm howitzer CALA30
Army aviation is an impressive force in size: more than 50 aircraft and about 100 helicopters. It is represented by multipurpose and transport aircraft: 4 SA-226 Merlin, one each Saberliner-75, Beach-65, Cessna-550, Cessna-560, 3 C-212, 4 Cessna- 208 ", up to 5" Cessna-207 ", 2 DNC-6. Training aircraft: 2 T-41, 3 DA42. Attack helicopters - from 2 to 5 A-109 helicopters. Transport, multipurpose and rescue: 45 UH-1H, 3 AS332, one Bell-212, 5 Bell-206, 2 SA315B.
Common to the country's ground forces is that all military equipment is significantly outdated. The only exceptions are the Chinese WZ-551 armored personnel carriers, but there are only 4 of them and 155-mm howitzers of their own production CALA30, which in the future should replace almost all the barreled artillery, if the necessary funds are found.
Argentine Air Force
The backbone of the Argentine Air Force is combat aviation. In addition, the Air Force has auxiliary aviation, as well as air defense forces and assets, including fighter aircraft, air defense systems, radio-technical means of airspace control. In total, the Argentine Air Force has eight aviation brigades: three fighter-bomber, one assault, mixed and reconnaissance brigades, as well as two transport brigades.
Light attack aircraft IA-58 "Pukara"
The Argentine Air Force has 27 attack aircraft each - American A-4 Skyhawk and its own IA-58 Pukara. At the same time, the Skyhawks, apparently, are no longer able to take off. Among the reconnaissance aircraft: 4 American "Learjet-35A". Fuel tankers: 2 KS-130N. Transport aircraft: 3 С-130Н, one L-100-30, 6 DHC-6, 4 F-28, one Lirjet-60, 4 Saab-340, 2 Commander-500, 2 RA-25, 2 RA-28, 2 RA-31, one RA-34, one Cessna-180, 18 Cessna-182. Most of the aircraft are training vehicles, which, if necessary, can be used in the role of combat: 16 EMV-312 "Tucano", 4 T-6S (there will be 24 in total), 2 T-34S, 12 IA-63 "Pampa", 9 Grob -120. Helicopters - up to 3 Hughes-369, 3 SA315, 7 Bell-212, 2 Bell-412, 2 S-76V, one S-70A, 5 Mi-17, 9 MD-500D.
The Argentine Air Force is unique in the sense that despite the presence of more than 100 combat aircraft (including those in storage), among them there are no fighters not only of the 4th, but even of the 3rd generation. This makes the Argentine Air Force one of the most archaic in the world. Comparatively new in the air force of this country are only Argentine-made training aircraft "Pampa" and Russian Mi-17 helicopters. Attempts by Buenos Aires to acquire at least 3rd generation fighters (French Mirage-F1 or Israeli Kfirs) were once successfully blocked by London.
Argentine Navy
The highest operational formation of the Argentine Navy is the operational command. It consists of 5 commands: submarine forces, surface forces, marines, naval aviation and transport fleet, as well as a rescue service at sea, a search and rescue service and an operational situation, weapons and electronic warfare service. In addition, the territorial components are directly subordinate to the command of the Navy - the river zone, the Atlantic zone, the southern zone and the country's main naval base, Puerto Belgrano.
The combat strength of the Argentine Navy includes: the formation of the fleet (a division of URO frigates, URO destroyers, ships and boats of sea patrols, landing transport ships and auxiliary ships, patrol boats, a division of minesweepers and a group of hydrographic vessels), the formation of naval aviation (two patrol and anti-submarine squadrons, one fighter-bomber, one reconnaissance, training and auxiliary squadron), the formation of the marines.
Corvette type MEKO 140 / Espora
The Argentine Navy has two submarines (one of the TR1700 "Santa Cruz" type, one of the project 209/1200), 4 destroyers "Almirante Brown", their "classmate" destroyer "Sheffield" is currently used as an amphibious transport, almost all the ship's armament was dismantled; there are also 9 frigates (sometimes classified as corvettes: 6 type MEKO 140 / Espora and 3 type A-69 / Drummond), 2 missile and 5 patrol boats. All warships were built either in Germany or in Argentina, but exclusively according to German designs. An exception to this rule is the English Sheffield, which was bought from Great Britain before the Falklands War, and French-built frigates (Drummonds).
Formally, naval aviation, like the Air Force, is quite large in composition, and coast guard aircraft and helicopters can also be added to it. But of the combat vehicles in service, only one French supersonic carrier-based attack aircraft "Super Etandar" (10 more vehicles are in storage). The aircraft were previously used as carrier-based aircraft until the only aircraft carrier was decommissioned from the fleet. Anti-submarine aircraft of naval aviation are represented by: American R-3V (3 units) and S-2UP (4 units). Training aircraft: 10 T-34S. Anti-submarine helicopters: 6 SH-3H (ASH-3H) and one S-61, 4 AS555. Multipurpose: up to two SA316B. Coast Guard aircraft: 5 S-212, 2 Beach-350, 4 RA-28. Coast Guard helicopters: 4 AS365, 2 SA330 (1 L, 1 J), 2 AS355, up to 6 S-300C.
The Argentine Marine Corps includes battalions: amphibious armored personnel carriers, artillery, air defense, communications, as well as the 2nd to 5th battalions of the marines. They are armed with 14 ERC-90F1 BRM, 68 armored personnel carriers (31 Panar VCR, 21 LVTP-7, 16 LARC-5), 20 towed artillery pieces, 82 mortars, 8 MLRS (4 VCLC and 4 Pampero), 6 SAM RBS-70, 12 anti-aircraft guns GDF-001.
Argentine Marines
Summing up, it can be noted that the existing level of combat readiness and combat effectiveness of the Argentine armed forces provides the country's leadership with the necessary level of political freedom in decision-making and protection of the territorial integrity of the state. Along with this, there remains a significant technological lag of the Argentine Armed Forces from the armies of the leading countries of the world. To the greatest extent, it manifests itself in the material and technical support of troops (which is also hampered by the large variety of combat vehicles in service, some of which are represented literally by the piece), radar and reconnaissance support, communications, military equipment of the Ground Forces, the Air Force and the Navy, as well as in vehicles (sea and air). The technical re-equipment of all types of the Argentine Armed Forces is being carried out with a significant backlog of plans due to insufficient funding and the desire to priority load the Argentinean industry, which at the moment is simply not able to independently produce high-tech weapons and military equipment.
Even despite the significant reduction in the number of the British Armed Forces over the past few decades, the Argentine Armed Forces have no chance of returning the Falkland Islands by force. At the same time, there are currently no direct military threats to the country in South America, since neighboring Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay have purely symbolic armed forces, and Argentina has never had serious conflicts with Brazil, notes Alexander Khramchikhin. At the same time, in the past, the country was in conflict with Chile, the armed forces of this state have now achieved overwhelming military superiority over Argentina.
