While the British military leadership deploys its Sky Sabre system and declares "maximum alert" in the South Atlantic, the Argentine Navy has finally buried one of the most scandalous operations in its recent history. The national government has decided to formally decommission the five Super Étendard Modernisé (SEM) aircraft acquired during Mauricio Macri's administration , confirming that the 13 million euros invested were, in practice, a waste of money for aircraft that were never airworthy.

A purchase against the technical reports

The 2022 audit by the General Audit Office of the Nation (SIGEN) had already been damning. Its report revealed that the then Ministry of Defense, under the leadership of Oscar Aguad, proceeded with the purchase in 2017, disregarding warnings from the Argentine Navy itself. Preliminary reports had already indicated that the aircraft's potential was "weak" and that the French Navy had already retired them from service due to obsolescence .

The original objective was for these aircraft to provide security for the G-20 summit in 2018, but the reality was quite different: the planes arrived in the country in May 2019, six months after the summit for which they were supposedly needed. Now, at the time of their decommissioning, the aircraft have been in the country for seven years, out of service due to a lack of critical spare parts, such as ejection seat components. One of the most serious shortcomings detected by SIGEN (the Argentine General Audit Office) was the omission of the fact that several essential spare parts are of British origin , which made their acquisition impossible due to the military embargo that London has maintained on Argentina since 1982 .

France's final slam of the door

Attempts to salvage the investment also failed. It was reported that during Alberto Fernández 's administration, a formal request was made to France for assistance in obtaining the missing parts. The French Ministry of Defense's response was definitive: after evaluating all possibilities, they reported that it was not possible to make the aircraft airworthy .

Geopolitical Contrast: Shields vs. Scrap Metal

This scandal takes on a greater dimension when intersected with the current situation in the Malvina Islands. While the head of the RAF, Sir Harv Smyth , boasts of a defense established in the usurped Argentine territory, the current British deployment exhibits overwhelming technological superiority in its three components:

·         Air Power (RAF): The UK maintains four Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets on 24-hour Quick Reaction Alert (QRA). These aircraft are equipped with long-range air-to-air missiles and are supported by C-130 Hercules transport aircraft operating from Mount Pleasant Air Base.

·          Ground Defense: The archipelago is guarded by approximately 1,000 light infantry soldiers . The centerpiece is the £250 million Sky Sabre missile system, capable of simultaneously intercepting fighter jets, drones, and laser-guided smart bombs at a range of 25 kilometers.

·          Naval Power (Royal Navy): The maritime presence permanently includes an ocean patrol vessel, support ships and the ability to intermittently deploy destroyers, frigates or nuclear submarines of the Trafalgar or Astute classes equipped with Tomahawk missiles.

The operation not only included the 12.5 million euros for the material, but the Argentine State assumed all the removal and transport costs, totaling a figure close to 14 million euros for planes that ended up being museum pieces before touching the runway.

Lessons from a Stolen Defense

The Super Étendard debacle will stand as a monument to disinvestment, administrative malpractice, and fraud. In a context where the South Atlantic is once again a focal point of global tension, Argentina is decommissioning millions of dollars' worth of "junk" while neighboring countries and the Malvina Islanders reinforce their borders with 21st-century technology.