At the end of 2024, the purchase of four AW109M helicopters for the Argentine Navy was confirmed—more specifically, to equip its French-built offshore patrol vessels, currently in service with the Maritime Patrol Division based at the Mar del Plata Naval Base. However, since then there had been no further updates regarding the process of incorporating the aircraft.
Recently, through a publication in local media, it was revealed that a meeting took place at the Libertador Building, headed by the Minister of Defense, Luis Petri, together with senior officials from the Ministry of Economy, with the aim of securing funding sources for military equipment acquisition operations, among which is the incorporation of the aforementioned AW109s.
The acquisition of the mentioned helicopters from the Italian company Leonardo is no minor matter, as the French-built offshore patrol vessels currently lack an organic embarked asset, having to rely on the —limited— availability of the AS-555 Fennec platform, whose primary function is not specifically suited for maritime surveillance and patrol operations, such as search and rescue.
According to what was mentioned by Edgardo Aguilera, the meeting, in addition to the head of the National Defense portfolio, included the participation of the Secretary of Finance, Pablo Quirno, and the Secretary of the Treasury, Carlos Guberman, as well as representatives of the Armed Forces and the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces.
Although no figures were mentioned, with the green light for the funding sources for the operations, the Armed Forces in general—and the Navy in particular—will be able to sustain the current re-equipment plans underway, the most notable being the incorporation of 24 F-16AM/BM fighters from Denmark, and initiate processes such as that of the Italian-made AW109M.
Finally, in the case of the Argentine Navy aircraft, the commercial agreements reached with the Italian company include financing by governmental credit agencies such as SACE (Servizi Assicurativi del Commercio Estero), an agency specialized in supporting such export operations.
The operation, as previously reported and barring delays in the schedule, would involve delivery of the first aircraft at the end of the current year 2025, and the last two in 2026.
You may also like: With the progress in the transfer of its F-16s to Argentina and Ukraine, Denmark is reportedly negotiating the purchase of additional F-35A fighters from the United States
