• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

TAM Tanque Argentino Mediano

To acquire weapons for its ground forces in 1941, Argentina created the totally autonomous Direccion Generale de Fabricantes Militar (Directorate General of Military Production) (FM) which directed the production of military goods. In the early 1960s FM produced the TAM (Tanque Argentino Mediano, Argentine Medium Tank), a medium tank. In early 1970s a contract was awarded to German Thyssen-Henschel to develop a 30-tonne tank, armed with a 105-mm gun and an infantry fighting vehicle (VCTP) with as much common components as possible.

Thyssen-Henschel outfitted the existing German Army Marder IFV as a combat tank featuring a full-sized traversing turret and large-caliber armament, and an IFV sporting a more compact turret with autocannon and fighting compartment for passengers. The Germans - with Argentine input - developed three prototypes of each vehicle and these underwent extensive tests and trials while still in Germany. The TAM and the IFV version, the VCTP (Vehiculo de Combate Transporte de Personal, combat vehicle personnel transport) were shown as prototypes in the mid-1970s.

The brisk business amounting to millions of deutsche marks began quite legally. With Bonn authorization Argentina in the late seventies had acquired prototypes and licenses for the TAM infantry tank from Thyssen—Henschel in Kassel, the tank bearing a striking resemblance to the Marder vehicle manufactured for the West German Armed Forces.

The armament desired by the generals in Buenos Aires was the Bundeswehr—tested canon of 20mm and 105mm caliber. Since the export of arms, arms parts and ammunition was subject to authorization under the war materiel control law, Rheinmetall applied for export licenses with the Economics Ministry in Bonn in November and December 1978. The people in Bonn gave their approval without much hesitation.

Upon successful completion of the trials, the vehicles were shipped to Argentina tothe TAMSE (Tanque Argentino Mediano Sociedad el Estado) factory, established at Buenos Aires for serial production. Some 70% of the vehicle was Argentine with the remainder of components being German in manufacture with final assembly in Buenos Aires.

The TAM is a the 40 tons class tank based on the German Marder 1 IFV. Principle differences include different powerpacks and slightly heavier armor for the tank version. The TAM is armed with a 105mm cannon, 2 machine guns (one coaxial), and a smoke grenade launcher. Thyssen's (Thyssen Nordsoewerke) of West Germany supplies some of the tank's design as well as special steel, and Argentina manufactures both the cannon and the turret locally.

The initial Argentine Army order called for 512 vehicles (200 TAM tanks and 312 VCTP IFVs) to stock its inventory though budgetary constraints forced the order to be cut to 350 units and, even then, only 250 units were completed (150 TAM tanks and 100 VCTP IFVs).

The TAM and the IFV version, the VCTP are the standard equipment of the Argentine army mechanised units. A family of derivative vehicles in various stages of development included the VCPM mortar carrier, VCRC recovery vehicle, VCTC command vehicle, VCLC rocket launcher, and a self-propelled howitzer carrying a local version of the italian Palmaria gun.

The first few TAM's were equiped with the locally produced variant of the L7A1. Later vehicles were armed with the Rheinmetall LTA2, and the last produced vehicles were equiped with a locally produced modified version of the French CN-105-57, produced in the TAMSE military factory of Rio Tercero, in Cordoba province.

In 2010, Argentina’s Ministry of Defense decided to hold a deep modernization of TAM tanks. In October 2011, Argentine Army announced the selection of the Israeli Company Elbit Systems to upgrade its TAM medium tank following a closed selection process. The Argentine Army received the first TAM tank modernized by the Isreali Company Elbit Systems in early 2013. The upgraded version includes some new features as the replacing of hydraulic mechanisms of the turret by an electrical system, the commander is now equipped with a panoramic sight with night and day capabilities. The new TAM is also fitted with an warning system to detect laser range finder and radar.