The afternoon of yesterday, December 3, the Argentine Army held the official ceremony for the incorporation of the first 8×8 Stryker ICV, which were acquired from the United States and had arrived last week at the port of the city of Zárate. The ceremony, where the first four armored vehicles of a total of eight former U.S. Army units were presented, was headed by the Minister of Defense, Luis Petri, and the Chiefs of the Joint Staff—General Xavier Isaac; the Navy General Staff, Admiral Carlos Allievi; and the Air Force General Staff, Major Brigadier Gustavo Valverde.
Throughout the afternoon, the official speeches delivered by the Chief of the Argentine Army General Staff, Lieutenant General Presti, as well as the current head of the ministry, focused on the milestone represented by the incorporation of a long-desired capability for the force as part of its modernization efforts. However, as has been detailed on several occasions, the authorities indicated that this is the first concrete step of the IFV Program, which envisions the successive incorporation of additional batches of vehicles from the Stryker family.
Additionally, the event, held at the Directorate of Armaments in the town of Boulogne, marked the official handover of these first four Strykers—corresponding to the armored personnel carrier variant and equipped with Protector remote weapon stations—to the 6th Mechanized Infantry Regiment “Grl. Viamonte” (RI Mec 6), which is not a minor detail.
The incorporation of the Strykers seeks to energize and renew the material currently used by the Rapid Deployment Force (FDR) of the Argentine Army, whose core is the 10th Mechanized Brigade “Tte. Gral. Nicolás Levalle,” based in the province of La Pampa, of which RI Mec 6 is a part.
Also, in the words of the Minister of Defense, Petri, he stated that the incorporation of the Strykers takes place within a broader framework of capability renewal for the Army in particular and the Armed Forces in general, reflected in the upcoming arrival of the F-16s for the Argentine Air Force and previously of the P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft for the Navy, to name a few examples.
About the M1126 Stryker incorporated by the Argentine Army:
You may also like: After more than 60 years of service, the Argentine Navy retired the last of its S-2T Turbo Tracker anti-submarine warfare aircraft
