German and French manufacturers have made offers to build three submarines for Argentina and revamp its drab naval fleet as the country seeks to advance its claim to the Falkland Islands.
President Javier Milei previously warned his country would ‘recover’ the Falklands and told the UN General Assembly in New York that Argentina could be forced to ‘take matters into our own hands’.
Earlier this month Argentina’s military chief said his government wanted three new hunter-killer submarines.
And Admiral Marcelo Dalle Nogare, chief of the joint staff of Argentina’s armed forces, said Germany and France had both offered to manufacture them.
He said: ‘Whichever of the two options we choose, they are among the best submarines in the world today.’
French company Naval Group offered its Scorpene submarines while Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) proposed its Type 209NG models.
Both governments have offered to finance the submarine deal in full before Argentina repays in instalments, Mr Dalle Nogare said.
TKMS had reportedly submitted a formal bid to Buenos Aires and said a decision in principle on the deal was expected this year.
Defence firms in Germany and France have both offered to build submarines to revive Argentina’s ailing fleet. Pictured: A French Scorpene vessel
Argentina has stepped up its claims to the Falkland Islands in recent months
Argentina previously bought German-manufactured Type 209s in the 1970s.
These included the ARA San Luis, which patrolled and unleashed torpedo attacks against British forces during the Falklands War in 1982.
Though it landed no hits it evaded British anti-submarine forces and remained in service until 1997.
Both firms in the Argentine submarine race are major actors in the defence industry, with TKMS’s British arm, Atlas UK, providing submersible countermeasures to the Royal Navy.
Any deal to supply Buenos Aires with submarines would need permission from the relevant government before export.
Mr Dalle Nogare said the ‘final decision will ultimately be a geopolitical one, based on interests and, above all, financing’.
He said he expected the boats to be delivered six years after any contract is signed.
And he added: ‘I’ve always said that I believe the Falklands will eventually be recovered on the day it is no longer economically feasible for the United Kingdom to maintain them.’
His comments echoed Mr Milei’s as Argentina’s government continued to sharpen its line on the Islands in the face of domestic problems including high inflation.
But Mr Milei said this week he would rule out military action to claim the islands and pledged to use ‘diplomatic means’.
A German Type 209 submarine manufactured by TKMS, a company with a British subsidiary that supplies the Royal Navy
Argentina’s President Javier Milei has stepped up rhetoric on the Falklands amid a difficult domestic backdrop, including an inflation rate of more than 30 per cent
Reform UK MP Andrew Rosindell said the British Government should summon the German and French ambassadors to ‘demand a full account of their actions’ after news of the talks broke.
Mr Rosindell said he received a ‘non-answer’ from ministers when he submitted a written question on the issue in Parliament.
Earlier this month British paratroopers staged a mock invasion of the Falklands as tensions over the islands escalated.
Around 150 soldiers joined 100 local reservists for a six-day military exercise which saw troops storm beaches, march 20 miles through the night and launch simulated attacks on enemy positions.
The latest British military drills, codenamed Exercise Cape Upholder, are understood to be the first in years to simulate the amphibious landings that helped Britain recapture the islands more than four decades ago.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham previously vowed to do ‘whatever it takes’ to keep the Falklands British, insisting that remaining part of the UK was the ‘clear and declared will of the islanders’.
