Post-Falklands policy still haunts Argentina’s Navy but opportunities remain
Shephard forecasts that Argentina will procure replacement frigates in the next few years to replace the Argentine Navy Almirante Brown-class destroyer. (Photo: US Navy)
Post-Falklands political constraints have eroded Argentina’s naval capability, leaving its maritime territory, which is twice the size of its land area, increasingly vulnerable to illegal fishing fleets. As procurement modernisation slowly gains momentum under the Milei government, defence suppliers should take interest.
Argentina’s maritime ambitions have long outpaced its naval resources. With a maritime territory roughly twice the size of its land area, encompassing swathes of the South Atlantic and stretching towards Antarctica, the Argentine Navy (Armada Argentina) faces a structural mismatch between its sovereign obligations and deployable capabilities that has deepened over the decades.
The roots of that mismatch lie partly in politics. Following Argentina’s defeat in the 1982 Falklands War, successive Peronist administrations constrained defence budgets and introduced legislation limiting the military’s role in internal security – measures designed to prevent any return to the era of military dictatorship. The
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