As we reported yesterday, the Argentine Minister of Defense Jorge Taiana signed today in Bangalore a Letter of Intent with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for a number of LUH (Light Utility Helicopter) Mk1 helicopters to be determined, but also for Medium Utility Helicopters, possibly the HAL DHRUV.
Minister Taiana’s visit to India, together with an important delegation, is another step in the interaction between the two countries, following the visit received by a HAL delegation to Argentina, in which they promoted their light fighters LCA Tejas and their range of helicopters for revitalization of the Argentine Armed Forces.
HAL and the Ministry of Defence of The Republic of Argentina have signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) on productive cooperation and acquisition of Light and Medium Utility Helicopters for the armed forces of the Argentine Republic. pic.twitter.com/Gwk4iKPVl1
— HAL (@HALHQBLR) July 20, 2023
The Letter of Intent (LOI) was signed by Mr. Jorge Taiana, Argentine Minister of Defense and HAL President and CEO, Mr. C B AnanthakrishnanSr, in the presence of Mr. Francisco Cafiero, Ambassador Hugo Javier Gobbi, Ambassador Dinesh Bhatia and senior officials from the Argentine side and HAL. Minister Taiana noted «that the day had been interesting and a further step on the road to a growing and stronger collaboration with HAL».
During their visit to HAL, Taiana and his entourage were able to learn about the technological and productive capabilities developed by this company, toured the different plants where the «Tejas» combat aircraft and helicopters are manufactured, and observed a flying exhibition of different aircraft models.
It should be recalled that cooperation with the HAL company has grown significantly; recently an agreement was signed with the Air Force for the maintenance of the engines of its Lama helicopters and an agreement was also signed with the Argentine Aircraft Factory (FAdeA) for joint development in the aerospace sector.
In Bangalore, the Argentine delegation also met with representatives of iDEX, an organization that brings together young startups dedicated to technological development and innovation for defense. Taiana said that «there is a lot of work and cooperation that we can continue to develop between India and Argentina».
En Bangalore, nos reunimos con representantes de @India_iDEX organización que aglutina a jovenes empresas startups dedicadas al desarrollo y la innovación tecnológica para la Defensa.
Hay mucho trabajo y cooperación que podemos seguir desarrollando entre India y la Argentina. pic.twitter.com/E777of7ULM
— Jorge Taiana (@JorgeTaiana) July 20, 2023
The big absentees in the LOI
The greatest expectations are undoubtedly focused on the possible acquisition of some fifteen LCA Tejas Mk-1A fighters and, to a lesser extent, on the purchase of some 20 LCH Prachand light combat helicopters (the latter is a report originating in the Indian media), but there is still no confirmation that these possibilities are close to being realized.
For now, the closest the Argentine Ministry of Defense has come to the HAL Tejas is the photo of Ministers Taiana and Cafiero on board one of the two-seater Tejas, designed for training purposes. But it is also evidence that there are serious talks about it, which should mainly revolve around the needs to change any component (software or hardware) of UK origin and the financing.
The appeal of BRICS
A major attraction of Indian defense products, from the Argentine perspective, is that they are politically «neutral» ( regarding the growing hostility between the US and China for global dominance), affordable, with presumably advantageous financing and possibly not to be paid for entirely in dollars (purchase and life-cycle maintenance). The latter is a very attractive possibility for Argentina, which is making every effort to lose as few dollars as possible from its reserves, while being a strong candidate to join the BRICS, an entity that is seriously considering developing its own currency in order to stop depending on foreign currency in trade exchanges among member states.
For all these reasons, it is very likely that serious progress will continue to be made in the acquisition of Indian defense products for the recovery of the capabilities of the Argentine Armed Forces.
