Patrullero Oceánico Multipropósito ARA “Piedrabuena”
Since the early 2000s there had been talk of a project of the Argentine Navy for the acquisition of 5 (five) OPV (Offshore Patrol Vessels) patrol boats [PAM / POM (Patrullero de Alta Mar / Patrullero Oceánico Multipropósito = High Seas Patrol / Multipurpose Ocean Patrol Boat) , which would replace the veteran ATA (ARA “Alférez Sobral”) y ATF (ARA “Comandante Gral. Irigoyen”, ARA “Francisco de Gurruchaga” y ARA “Suboficial Castillo”).
On July 31, 2017, through Decree of Necessity and Urgency (DNU) 595/2017, the Executive Power made a series of modifications to the national Budget. In the form attached to Article 2 of the DNU, important military purchases are authorized through the mechanism for taking credits in foreign currency. These include the acquisition of >Patrullero Oceánico Multipropósito (POM) for the Argentine Navy (ARA) for 362 million euros.
The Patrullero Oceánico Multipropósito units will contribute through the naval presence with the surveillance and control of maritime spaces, the protection and control of renewable and non-renewable natural resources; as well as with maritime search and rescue and humanitarian support operations, among others. Its incorporation aims to improve maritime surveillance and control in the oceanic area of interest, whose extension is 1,159,063 km² in the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Argentine Republic.
The contract between Argentina and France provides for the construction of three new units and the remodeling of the OPV L'Adroit, which the Naval Group developed and built with its own funds and was made available to the French Navy in 2011. L'Adroit will be fully reviewed and updated prior to delivery to Argentina. The other three IPOs will be built in France. The OPV87 ships built for Argentina will measure 87 meters long, displace 1,650 tons and will have a flight deck capable of accommodating a 10-ton helicopter. They will have greater autonomy due to a better fresh water production capacity on board. The three OPVs built in France will be reinforced against ice, to allow cold water navigation in the South Seas. All units will be equipped with a telephone-operated 30mm gun.
The patrol boats can stay more than three weeks on the high seas, and are specially adapted for navigation in the icy waters of Antarctica. The addition of the Gowind-class ships represents the Navy's first acquisition and addition of new large-tonnage vessels in more than three decades. These ocean patrols are light-duty, artillery units. They are 87 meters long, 13.6 meters wide, 3.8 meters deep and reach a displacement of 1,650 tons. They are designed for a basic crew of 40 members and have an additional capacity to board 19 people. Its autonomy is 7,500 nautical miles (13,890 km.) Sailing at 12 knots and it can reach a maximum speed of 21 knots (approximately 38 km / h.).
Responsibilities for maritime safety led to a series of requirements, especially that of having the means for the protection of marine resourcesus, the application of the laws at sea, the protection of the environment and the safeguardingof human life in the sea. Thus was born, with its various name changes, the Multipurpose Ocean Patrol Boat program, according to which the German shipyards FASSMER was hired to buy the license to build the hull of the vessel OPV 80, in service in the Chilean and Colombian navies. Despite the constant announcements, it all came to nothing, while the rest of the naval assets continued to age at an alarming rate.
In the field of Defense, a cooperation agreement was established between the Government of the Republic of France and that of the Argentine Republic, signed on October 14, 1998 and approved by Law No. 25,251. Among other commitments, the support of the French Republic was established in the modernization of the Argentine Defense; and support for the regional integration process on the topic of Defense and Security.
In this same order, on February 24, 2016, a Letter of Intent was signed between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development of the Republic of France and the Ministry of Defense of the Argentine Republic, reiterating the common will to strengthen the cooperation in the field of Defense, particularly in the modernization of the Argentine Armed Forces, through the acquisition of French Defense equipment. This agreement was made effective with the signing of contract No. 1/2018 for the supply of four multipurpose ocean patrol boats. The patrollers will be in charge of maritime safeguard missions: rescue at sea, illegal immigration, fisheries police, fight against pollution, fight against drug trafficking, maritime surveillance, etc.
At the end of 2016, in the midst of the need to adjust expenses, the government of Mauricio Macri launched a multi-year plan for the recovery of military capacity for the Armed Forces. "We have to recover military capacity. In the 12 years of Kirchnerism, equipment, logistics and training were lost. And there is a decision by the President to recover the Army, Air Force and Navy," Defense Minister Julio Martínez told LA NACION. Minister Martínez, however, does not rule out a presidential authorization for a multipurpose ocean patrol boat OPV for $ 7,200 million. Until 2019, the Navy planned to invest in the purchase of a marine patrol plane, a Multipurpose Ocean Patrol (POM), a polar vessel -or its rental- and another multipurpose vessel for a total of $ 15,102 million.
After months of waiting, in December 2018 the country finally allocated a final budget to acquire the Gowind-class patrol vessels from the Republic of France. The item, which amounts to a total of € 287,600,000, enables the acquisition and incorporation into the ranks of the Argentine Navy of four OPV-type vessels which must be ready to operate. The contract, financed by a line of credit provided by the French institution Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, Natixis and Banco Santander for an amount of € 319,034,680, involves the transfer of the already manufactured L'Adroit and three other new boats to be manufactured in French territory. The order for the ships was made in July 2018, but due to economic difficulties and administrative delays, the item could be signed by the Chief of Staff almost at the end of the year.
Under the command of the frigate captain Daniel Eduardo Giudici, the “Bouchard” - named in homage to the French sailor captain Hipólito Bouchard, who fought in the service of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata and Peru - departed on 15 January 2020 from the Toulon Naval Base, located in the south of the European country, with a crew of 37 sailors -among them five women-, who after passing through Buenos Aires will continue to the Mar del Plata Naval Base, where they will have their seat in the Maritime Patrol Division.
Defense Minister Agustín Rossi received this afternoon the multipurpose ocean patrol boat ARA “Bouchard” P-51, which arrived in the country after 20 days of sailing from France: “The arrival of this ship is very good news for all Argentines and, mainly, for the Navy that needs to have means and equipment that allow it to fulfill its functions, and thus strengthen its self-esteem ”.
It is the first of the four vessels of this type acquired by the Argentine State from the French company Naval Group, which will make up the Maritime Patrol Division of the Argentine Navy, "with the aim of improving surveillance and control of our marine resources, and stop using other boats, ”said the official, accompanied by the head of the Navy, Admiral José Luis Villán.
This incorporation means "an important fiscal effort for the government of President Alberto Fernández and also for future governments," said Rossi, who clarified that the purchase was made through "a very good financing to be paid in 11 and a half years." He emphasized "Argentina can be a great Nation and every great Nation has great Armed Forces: Argentines are very good people," after which he recalled the 44 divers who lost their lives in the ARA "San Juan". And he specified: “The decision to purchase these four ships was from the management that began in 2015, so today we invited the former Minister of Defense, Oscar Aguad; I did not want to appropriate anything that did not correspond ”.
The multipurpose ocean patrol vessel ARA “Piedrabuena” was launched 19 October 2020 at the Kership Shipyard, in the town of Concarneau (France). It is the second in a series of four multipurpose ocean patrol boats that will be incorporated into the Argentine Navy, the first of which is the ARA “Bouchard”.
Present at the launching ceremony, on behalf of the Argentine Embassy in France, were Minister Silvina Murphy; by Empresa Naval Group, the Commercial Manager for Latin America, Mr. Michel Olivie, and the Director of the OPV ARA Program, Mr. Jean-Cloude Flandran; the president of the Kership Shipyard, Mr. Patrick De Leffe; civil, military and ecclesiastical authorities, and special guests. The Chief of the Main Naval Inspection Commission for the Construction and Incorporation of four Multipurpose Ocean Patrol Vessels, Captain Víctor Ortiz, in his words thanked the authorities for their presence and highlighted the importance of this naval tradition, which is the implementation of the sea of a new surface unit for the Argentine Navy.
“This class of ship will provide a reinforcement and renovation to continue with the task of surveillance, control of the sea and the defense of maritime resources of the Nation in the extensive Argentine Sea; as well as the safeguarding of life at sea by carrying out long-range rescue, search and rescue tasks, ”explained Captain Ortiz.
“With the launch of this unit, the preliminary manufacturing and assembly stages, carefully carried out by this shipyard, are completed, and the integration tests begin. I take this moment to highlight the tireless and dedicated work of all the men and women that make up this shipyard, as well as the members of the Naval Group company, who in due time and form overcame the obstacles of a pandemic, their work not being affected, complying with all, according to the commitment assumed ", he stressed.
The ocean patrol boat was baptized by Mrs. Marcela Andrea Latorre on behalf of her godmother, Ambassador Susana Myrta Ruiz Cerruti. The name by which this ship will be recognized belongs to Commander Luis Piedrabuena, born in Carmen de Patagones on August 24, 1833, an Argentine patriot sailor whose actions in Patagonia consolidated territorial sovereignty. At just 15 years old, and as first officer on a schooner, he arrived in the Falkland Islands. In 1850 he sailed through the Fuegian canals, meeting the Tehuelche peoples there, in whom he instilled a love for sovereignty.
In 1854 he traveled to New York, where for two years he completed his nautical studies. Numerous were his navigations along the Patagonian coasts, the Malvinas Islands and Tierra del Fuego, saving numerous lives of shipwrecked people in what would be the beginnings of the search and rescue missions of the Navy. The Argentine sailor and patriot died on August 10, 1883 in Buenos Aires when he was only 49 years old.
The Piedrabuena, the first of three offshore patrol vessels built by Naval Group and Piriou in Concarneau (Finistère) and Lanester (Morbihan), was delivered on 13 April 2021 to the Argentine navy. Two other patrollers will follow by spring 2022. The Piedrabuena , the first of three offshore patrol vessels built by Naval Group, Piriou and Kership, a subsidiary of the two groups, in Concarneau (Finistère) and Lanester (Morbihan), was delivered as part of the contract signed by Naval Group with Argentina in 2019 for four multi-mission ocean patrol vessels including the Bouchard , ex- Adroit , which previously belonged to the French Navy. Being fitted out at Concarneau, the second OPV (Offshore Patrol Vessel) should be delivered within six months, the third within a year.
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