China offered Argentina tanks and planes that its Armed Forces no longer use

The Argentine Armed Forces have long needed re-equipment. In fact, the Government aspires to buy planes, armored vehicles and other military supplies. In this context, the Government of the People's Republic of China emerges as one of the potential suppliers,although the war material it is offering is no longer used in that Asian country. Both the ZBL09 armored models and the J-17 fighter jets are sold to Third World countries, in general, at a low price, as happened with Venezuela in 2012.

During this week the head of the Defense portfolio, Agustín Rossi, participated in two meetings in which he sought to advance the negotiations. First he met virtually with the Chinese ambassador in Buenos Aires, Zou Xiaoli, and then personally at the Casa Rosada with the envoy of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Admiral Flavio Viana Rocha. Xiaoli spoke about the NORINCO company , which manufactures 8x8 wheel armored vehicles. And with Viana Rocha of a vehicle that competes in this area, the Guaraní 6x6, from the Iveco firm, from Minas Gerais.

The version of the Chinese armored vehicles that is offered does not quite convince the Argentine authorities. Why these types of vehicles are only compatible with Chinese technology and significant setbacks were reported in military exercises that were carried out in Kenya and the Philippines.. NORINCO (North Industries Corporation) is a Chinese company created in August 1988 that produces a wide variety of vehicles for military and civil use.But the quality of this armored machinery is what worries the most.

The Argentine military authorities had requested when negotiations began that 60 of the armored vehicles carry turrets with a 30 mm cannon, and that the rest have a single 12.7 mm machine gun. In addition, the Army requested that they have the capacity to transport armed soldiers and a ramp to go down, instead of the doors that the ZBL09 has. This one comes prepared for a crew of 3 and can carry another 8, although this was designed according to oriental parameters and here the manning should be reduced.

That version of armored vehicles was only sold at a very low price to Venezuela in 2012, while other Third World countries such as Thailand, Kenya and Gabon showed some interest in adding them to their Armed Forces. The ministry led by Rossi could buy the unarmed units and then assign them to Tandanor or Tamse, who have idle capacity to rebuild the armor that would arrive from China.

The Argentine Army needs to have a Wheel Armored Combat Vehicle (VCBR) after having signed a memorandum with Chile where the formation of the Joint Peace Force (FPC) called “Cruz del Sur” was agreed. That force from the two countries includes air, naval and land components. It is in this last area that each nation must make available equipment with mechanized wheel means.

Accompanied by the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces, Brigadier General Juan Martín Paleo , and other officials from his ministry, Rossi had visited the Iveco factory in Minas Gerais, Brazil in November 2020, where he had shown interest before Brazilian businessmen in the acquisition of the Guaraní 6x6 armored vehicles, of which some parts, such as engines and chassis, are produced at the Iveco plant in the province of Córdoba. On that occasion, the minister acknowledged that there were also conversations with other suppliers of this material such as General Dynamics Land Systems (which manufactures the Stryker model in the United States) and the Chinese company NORINCO.

Regarding the possible purchase of the JF-17 fighter jets that are developed by Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation and by Pakistan Aeronautical Complex since 2007, they would be assigned to the Argentine Air Force to replace the old Mirage III / Mirage V fighters and the Chengdu F-7.

Regarding the purchase of armored vehicles by the Ministry of Defense, it is not the first time that a Kirchner government has tried to acquire vehicles of this type from the Chinese company NORINCO. Towards the end of 2015, Cristina Kirchner endorsed the purchase of 110 armored vehicles, which was suspended due to the change of government. In August 2020, talks with Beijing started again. The commercial operation would be for around 200 vehicles of the ZBL09 model.

In July of last year the State Department and the United States Congress had approved an order from our country for the sale of 27 Stryker M1126 vehicles and their associated equipment that consisted of 27 M2 Flex machine guns, the AN / VAS-5 Driver's Vision Enhancer (passive thermal vision systems for the drivers of those vehicles) and smoke grenade launchers. It also included US logistical and technical support, although the tanks are made in Canada. This transaction cost 100 million dollars and was initiated by the government of Mauricio Macri. Minister Rossi, at that time, said that they should analyze the issue and paralyzed that business.

That purchase, according to the previous Defense administration under Oscar Aguad, was to be complemented with the acquisition of four P3 aircraft that were to be used to control illegal fishing in the South Atlantic.

Then, in October 2020, the National Congress approved a law that allowed the creation of the National Defense Fund (FONDEF), which will have double parliamentary control, in order to have a specific financing fund and promote the development of the national industry for defense. With that money, which in the 2021 Budget will reach 34,000 million pesos, the Argentine State is preparing to recover, modernize and / or incorporate material for the re-equipment of the Armed Forces.

On Tuesday, January 19, for example, the Arsenals Directorate of the Argentine Army called a public tender to buy 17 thousand spare parts that will be used for the maintenance of TAM (Medium Argentine Tank) combat vehicles, according to the website www.infodefensa .com.

This Article Originally Published in Infobae.