After announcements — some quite recent — about the possible purchase of second-hand submarines and frigates, the Argentine admiralty has raised the bar, prioritizing quality over quantity.

In recent days a master plan worth a total of $3.5 billion was unveiled, aimed at procuring 3 new-build submarines and 2 new-build multirole frigates, with options for additional units.

A sharp change of course from the period when Buenos Aires was eyeing vessels such as Italy's decommissioned MAESTRALE-class frigates — contemporaries of the 4 MEKO-360s built for the Argentine Navy (Armada de la República Argentina, ARA) in the early 1980s, and no less worn out — or Brazil's recently retired Type 209 submarines. That said, both Brazil and Italy could still play a role in the new programs, potentially transferring decommissioned units free of charge as gap fillers.

The submarine program, valued at an estimated $2.3 billion and aimed at reconstituting the ARA's underwater capability — at a standstill since the catastrophic loss of SAN JUAN in 2017 (the remaining 2 German-built boats have not yet been formally struck off but are limited to static training activities) — had already seen TKMS and Naval Group enter the competition in recent years. The German giant is offering the NG (Next Generation) variant of the TYPE-209, backed by financial support guaranteed by Berlin. France's Naval Group is instead moving in partnership with Brazil, where the new Itaguaí shipyard is building the 4 RIACHUELO-class boats — a SCORPENE derivative — and is proposing a similar solution to Argentina, leveraging the Franco-Brazilian facility for logistic and maintenance support. On top of that, the Brazilian Navy (Marinha do Brasil) could transfer at least 1 of its Type 209/1400 submarines, now being phased out, to help retrain Argentine submariners.

For the 2 frigates, an allocation of $1.2 billion is envisaged. While that budget could theoretically fund the acquisition of 3 to 4 recent-build second-hand units — such as Denmark's IVER HUITFELDT-class or Norway's NANSEN-class, whose availability timeline remains uncertain — the focus has now shifted to a pair of brand-new ships. Among the front-runners are the TAMANDARÉ-class frigates, also under construction for Brazil. They represent a heavily evolved version of the MEKO A-100 design — the same family Argentina selected 50 years ago — and, like the RIACHUELO/SCORPENE submarines, are being built at Brazilian yards, with obvious logistic and maintenance advantages. However, Italy's FREMM appears to be gaining traction among the alternatives, although the planned allocation would not cover the EVO variant (priced at roughly €750 million excluding logistic support), and the transfer of 2 decommissioned MAESTRALEs as gap fillers appears to pose complications.

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