France is already making an ocean patrol boat for the navy

The first cut of the naval plateau to build in France the ocean patrol boat that launches the series of three for the Argentine Navy is already a fact. Last Wednesday, the French shipyard Naval Group (formerly DCNS), with public participation, received a transfer of some 50 million euros from the banks that finance the purchase ordered by the Argentine government.

The Naval Group plant in Lorient specializes in the design and construction of warships between 1,000 and 8,000 tons. In this place of production and naval engineering that already manufactured two twin ships for the French and Egyptian navies, the preparations for a process that will culminate in 2023 when the last of the three OPV (acronym for Ocean Patrol Vessel, translated ship ocean patrol) to the Creole navy.

The official approval of the financing contract for the purchase of four ocean patrol ships, of which three new and one used, took place in November 2018. In Decree No. 1078/2018 published in the Official Journal, Mauricio Macri has approved the line of credit agreement. signed between Argentina and the banking institutions Santander SA, Crédit Agricole Corporative and Investigation Bank and Natixis, which finance the project to restore the marine patrol capability. An amount of € 319,034,689 was authorized for the acquisition of four OPV-90 OPVs from Gowind. The operation began in 2016, due to some drawbacks badociated with pressure exerted by lobbyists in the government of Cambiemos, who had promoted the offer of a Spanish shipyard despite the fact that it was in the middle of the year. completion of the price race and that the Navy had already chosen the French Naval Group option. Nicolás Dujovne breathed a sigh of relief when the French government maintained in 2018, at the time of signing the contract, the active interest rate conditions for 2016/17, while the country risk (Embi, according to English acronyms) pbaded from 330 to 832 basis points

The transfer of one million euros made this Wednesday is the first step of the master plan of production of the series OPV. It is identified as To (zero) and starts the manufacturing program of the three units to meet the delivery deadlines established in the commercial contract.

The fourth ship is used and is subject to upgrades and system upgrades requested by Argentine sailors. This is the Adroit and is operated by the French Navy since 2011; he traveled to Buenos Aires and other ports in the region in 2016 to spread his operational capabilities. The Navy has appointed Captain Víctor Ortiz responsible for the mission of auditing the manufacturing process in France. The seafarer performed similar duties during the renovation of the icebreaker ARA Irizar and during the inspection of the four support vessels acquired. to the Russian Federation.

On February 5 in the afternoon, Defense Minister Oscar Aguad received the ambbadador of France, Henri Guignard. The agenda – the transfer of To – n 'was not yet finalized – was to comment on new developments in the construction of PVO, the situation of the transfer to Argentina of the five modernized Super Etendard aircraft purchased on behalf of Naval Aviation and other regional affairs. of the naval equipment. Political priorities; Aguad asked that the delivery of the ship L `Adroit be eager to count on him before the presidential election. It could have been expected to also refer to the operational urgency; Without enough ships, the navy can only fly control and surveillance of the coast and record overfishing by foreign vessels bordering the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The biggest illegal fishing pressure is concentrated in the "mile 201", at the intersection of the Argentine EEZ and London-controlled waters around the Falklands where arrive each year between February and March more than a hundred foreign "jiggers" (fishermen specialized in cephalopods) to fish for squid. Estimates from the Undersecretariat for Fisheries based on different sources, including the National Fisheries Research Institute (Inidep), report an annual loss of 200-800 million dollars for poaching.

This number prompted the Navy High Command to evaluate the modernization of the three corvettes of French veterans A-69 who make up the maritime patrol division and who sits in Mar del Plata. With little money, the plant, sensors and sea conditions of the hull could be updated, naval sources said.