The destroyer ARA Sarandí (D-13) of the Argentine Navy and the icebreaker HMS Protector (A173) of the Royal Navy plan to operate together in the international naval exercise Unitas 2024 that will be carried out by the Chilean Navy between September 2 and 12. Coquimbo, Valparaíso and Punta Arenas.
The destroyer ARA Sarandí
According to an infographic published by the Chilean Navy on its website, these two units will join another 17 ships, 19 aircraft and 4,268 troops from 24 countries on the American continent that will participate in this naval exercise that has been taking place since 1959 and that It is the oldest in the world.
Last planning meetings for UNITAS CHILE 2024 held
Preparations have been developed with the participation of representatives from more than 20 countries https://t.co/zVLfSlpDAK 👈 #ArmadaPorChile pic.twitter.com/UqAOOYvo2D
Unitas (Unity in Latin) is an exercise created by the United States Navy and its objective is to strengthen security cooperation, optimizing training in operations with allied forces or coalitions in a variety of simulated maritime scenarios and generating links of trust and increasing interoperability between its participants.
Although on this occasion it adds a British icebreaker that operates the usurped Argentine maritime territory in the South Atlantic, in South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, and in what the Chilean navy considers British Antarctic territory.
The icebreaker HMS Protector operating in the South Geogian Islands
“This ship carries out Antarctic patrol and sovereignty duties in the British Antarctic Territory, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and nearby maritime areas and carries out inspections, hydrographic charts and support for scientific research,” interprets the information website, InfoDefensa. .com
The assistance of ARA Sarandí (D-13) to Unitas is subject to the approval of the bill that authorizes the entry of foreign troops and the departure of members of the Argentine Armed Forces from the national territory, to participate - in this case -, of the combined fiscal year from September 1, 2024 to August 31, 2025.
For its part, the icebreaker HMS Protector (A173) of the Royal Navy is currently returning to the southern hemisphere bound for the Malvinas; after setting sail last week from the US Navy's Naval Station Norfolk after completing a deployment to the Canadian Arctic.
Fountain:
