Argentine Air Force Saab 340 lands in Antarctica for the first time

On Monday, February 26, the first landing of a Saab 340 aircraft of the Argentine Air Force took place at the Marambio Joint Base in Antarctica.

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This is the first air operation in which the Saab 340 weapon system of the Argentine Air Force (FAA) lands on the white continent.

HITO HISTÓRICO

Así se vivió la llegada del Saab 340 a la Base Conjunta Marambio. Se trata de la primera operación aérea en la cual este Sistema de Armas aterriza en el continente blanco #OrgulloDePertenecer #FuerzaAéreaArgentina????????✈️ #UnaFuerzaQueNoSeDetiene pic.twitter.com/4kuA3OoKso

— FuerzaAéreaArgentina (@FuerzaAerea_Arg) February 26, 2024

The operation was recently announced by the new head of the Argentine Air Force, Brigadier Major Fernando Luis Mengo, during the ceremony to receive the second Embraer ERJ-140 LR incorporated, the T-96 «Paloma Gaucha». During the ceremony, Brigadier Mengo informed that «The operation will be carried out with the aim of landing at the Petrel joint base before the end of the 2023/2024 Antarctic campaign. That milestone is very important because it will be the first time an aircraft lands (at that base).»

The itinerary began on February 25 in the morning, when the Saab 340 (registration T-34) took off from the X Air Brigade in Río Gallegos, then the aircraft made a stopover in the city of Ushuaia, province of Tierra del Fuego, to finally arrive at the Marambio Joint Antarctic Base, landing smoothly on its unpaved runway.

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From Marambio Base, the Saab 340 will take off to Petrel Base, which was recovered during the 2021/2022 Antarctic campaign as a permanent integrated Antarctic base for logistic support. The recovery and conversion works started during 2013.

With the deployment of the FAA’s Saab 340, the Argentine Joint Antarctic Command (COCOANTAR) will have an adequate and cost-effective tool to supply the Petrel Antarctic base with various types of light cargo, such as food, medical supplies, fuel, clothing, etc., without having to depend on the more costly naval logistics for their transport.