Argentina buys four P-3 Orions
The Argentinian government has signed an agreement with the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency (NDMA) to acquire four P-3 Orion fixed-wing aircraft for use by its navy
The agreement was signed by Argentina’s Minister of Defense, Jorge Taiana, and Admiral Julio Guardia, head of the Argentine Navy, on 17 October. Also present was Magnus Hansvold, Director of NDMA, and Halvor Sætre, Norway’s Ambassador to Argentina.
The aircraft will be used by the Argentine Navy to conduct search and rescue (SAR), and aerial surveillance and control operations in the South Atlantic.
Three of the Orion aircraft are in the P-3C maritime patrol configuration, while the fourth is in the P-3N mobile logistics support and SAR configuration.
“The acquisition of these aircraft is a great contribution to strengthening the policy we are developing to improve the surveillance and control of our waters,” said Taiana. “To do this, we created the Joint Maritime Command, and under its direction the four new ocean patrol boats are used, but, in addition, we needed a long-distance observation aircraft such as the Orion, which will be based in Trelew, a specific observation station of the Naval Aviation.”
Taiana also confirmed that the government was in the process of purchasing maritime helicopters for use on ocean patrol boats.
The Argentinian government also purchased six Bell 407GXi SAR helicopters for use by its army and air force earlier this year.