What began on Saturday the 17th as a "logistical bridge" between the Malvina Islands and Chile has escalated into a direct provocation at the heart of Argentine Antarctic sovereignty. On Monday the 19th and Tuesday the 20th of January, a Royal Air Force (RAF) Airbus A400M Atlas military transport aircraft (registration ZM413) not only consolidated its presence at Chilean bases, but subsequently carried out a flyover of the San Martín Permanent Antarctic Base , one of our country's most emblematic scientific installations.

The itinerary of impunity: From Mount Pleasant to Antarctica via Chile

Thanks to reports from Infodefensa and Canal 26 , it has been possible to reconstruct a large-scale military operation that reveals the usurper's freedom of action:

1.    Saturday, January 17: The ZM413 arrives at the Pudahuel military base (Santiago, Chile) from the NATO base in the Malvinas.

2.    Monday, January 19: The aircraft moves to Punta Arenas Airport , where it is assisted by Chilean personnel.

3.    Tuesday, January 20: Under the call sign RRR4000 , the giant four-engine aircraft took off for Antarctica. During the 10-hour mission, it performed in-flight refueling maneuvers with an Airbus Voyager KC2 tanker aircraft (ZZ333) and, in a clear act of provocation, flew over the Argentine San Martín Base before returning to Santiago.

Violation of the Antarctic Treaty and Argentine weakness

The overflight of a foreign military aircraft over a national scientific base, without prior communication or coordination , is an act that should have generated an immediate diplomatic outcry. Antarctica, under the Antarctic Treaty , must be a zone of peace and demilitarization. However, the United Kingdom uses its presence in the Malvina Islands and its infrastructure support in Chile to flex its military muscle in front of our own bases.

As Canal 26 points out, this incident did not occur in a vacuum. It follows the recent incursion of British Typhoon fighter jets which, on December 10, operated at the limit of Argentine radar range in Río Grande, defying the Exclusive Economic Zone.

A pincer movement: Oil, Fighter Jets, and Logistics

While Javier Milei's government limits itself to issuing "strong condemnations" of the illegal oil exploitation by Rockhopper and Navitas Petroleum in the Sea Lion field, the reality on the ground shows a British military presence that Argentina is not controlling.

Recent Act of Aggression

Impact on Sovereignty

Overleaf at San Martín Base

A direct challenge to Argentina's scientific and territorial presence in Antarctica.

Cazas Typhoon and SEA

Military intimidation over the Argentine Sea and the province of Tierra del Fuego.

Malvinas-Chile Air Bridge

Breaking the diplomatic isolation of the colony and consolidating regional military logistics.

Sea Lion Exploitation

Plundering of natural resources in disputed waters under the protection of military force.

Argentine airspace and sea, along with the Antarctic sector, are being patrolled by an usurping power amid the passivity of a government that has renounced the material defense of the Nation's territory.

The use of Punta Arenas as a logistics hub for the RAF to fly over Argentine bases is a painful reminder that the geopolitics of the South Atlantic is being defined by the force of faits accomplis, while the Argentine Foreign Ministry takes refuge in social media rhetoric that the UK simply ignores.

This is not merely a technical stop; it is a combat and resupply patrol on our territory. Silence in the face of British arrogance is, ultimately, complicity.