Despite efforts made in recent months to bring it back into service, the Argentine Navy is considering the definitive retirement of its last Grumman S-2T Turbotracker anti-submarine warfare aircraft—an event that would mark the end of an era for the Naval Aviation Command, which began more than half a century ago with the arrival of the first units and the creation of the “Antisubmarine Naval Squadron” in 1962.
As highlighted in various reports, the Argentine Navy is the last military operator worldwide of the Grumman S-2 Tracker, which for decades and throughout much of the Cold War was the main carrier-based platform for anti-submarine warfare missions.
In the case of the Argentine Navy, the aircraft’s original incorporation dates back to the early 1960s, when the first units arrived in the country, coinciding with the creation on May 31, 1962, of the “Antisubmarine Naval Squadron” (EA2S). The unit’s aircraft witnessed what was perhaps a golden era for national naval aviation, marked by the Navy’s growing power projection capabilities, with deployments from the aircraft carriers ARA Independencia and later ARA 25 de Mayo, as well as their active participation in the South Atlantic conflict over the recovery of the Malvinas Islands.
Far removed from those glory days, the EA2S has been reduced to its bare minimum, embodied in the sole Grumman S-2T Turbotracker, tail number A-AS-23. After months of work, the aircraft began test flights as part of efforts to restore it to service. However, this does not change the fact that the aircraft has been in service for decades, and its sustainment is becoming increasingly difficult.
Against this backdrop, sources consulted have painted a bleak picture of the plans currently under evaluation, which would first and foremost involve withdrawing the aircraft from service—plunging the future of the Antisubmarine Naval Squadron into uncertainty.
These plans unfold in the context of the Naval Aviation Command’s recent acquisitions, such as the four P-3C/N Orion aircraft purchased from Norway, the first of which arrived in September 2024 and was assigned to maritime surveillance and patrol missions along the country’s vast coastline.
Lastly, although there is still no official confirmation, the reality shows that the long decline of Argentine Naval Aviation continues, limited to just a handful of aircraft and specific acquisitions that hardly suggest any trend reversal in the short term.
Photographs used for illustrative purposes – Cover photo: Credits and thanks to Nicolas Ramírez.
You may also be interested in Cabinet Office Report No. 144: The Argentine Navy is expected to receive its second P-3C Orion during October
