In October 2023, former Argentine Defense Minister Jorge Taiana had signed a letter of intent with Leonardo for the acquisition of eight AW109 light helicopters to replace the Argentine Navy’s AS550/555 Fennecs, but now plans seem to have changed.
During the current edition of the International Air and Space Fair (FIDAE) in Santiago de Chile, Leonardo’s Media Briefing took place, in which the director of the helicopter unit explained the company’s commercial prospects for the Latin American region.
Asked about the status of the potential purchase of eight AW109 helicopters for the Argentine Navy, Leonardo stated that the formal proposal (which includes all the technical, commercial and financial aspects required by the Argentine Ministry of Defense) was already submitted and they were waiting for Javier Milei’s government to make a decision to move on to the next phase of negotiations.
However, a few days before, the Aviacionline team spoke in Chile with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Brigadier General Xavier Julián Isaac about the Argentine Armed Forces capability recovery plans. About the Argentine Navy, Brigadier Isaac commented the following:
“The plans we have today in the Navy is the P3, which is obviously already on track, then see how we continue the rest of the year and year 25 to complete the other 3 (purchase of 4 maritime patrol aircraft). We want to see how we can recover the Fennecs, of which there is only one in service and we believe that it is a capacity so that at least, minimally, our ships can obtain the capacity to project themselves and make a better control of mile 200”.
The brigadier also added that, together with the head of the Navy, they are now “very focused on the project to recover the transport ship Patagonia, which is a central capacity for the supply of our fleet, regardless of the size of the fleet, whether or not it has the ships in service that it should have. But the Patagonia will be one of our priorities in this first year of management”.
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The project to purchase the Leonardo AW109 was not mentioned among the priorities of the Argentine Navy, and the intention to recover the full operability of the fleet of four Fennec helicopters would indicate that this acquisition is far from being materialized.
