Taiana visits Brazilian submarine shipyard

Taiana visits Brazilian submarine shipyard

Argentina’s Defense Minister Jorge Taiana toured a Brazilian shipyard in Rio de Janeiro, the official news service Télam reported Thursday. The state-owned facilities are specialized in submarines and were opened in 2009.

The Itaguaí Construcciones Navales shipyard is a defense company focused on naval nuclear engineering which is capable of assembling the French-designed “Scorpene” submarine, a type of unit Argentina plans to add to its fleet.

Taiana was escorted by Navy Chief of Staff, Admiral Julio Guardia, and executives from the Argentine company Tandanor. During his visit to the facilities, Taiana “was able to learn about the construction process of the ‘Scorpene’ submarine, one of the models that Argentina is considering to recover its submarine capacity,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement quoted by Télam.

“We are still looking for the best submarine offer for our country to recover that strategic capacity that it does not have today and which is essential to have real control and surveillance of our national jurisdiction waters, our continental shelf, and our natural resources,” Taiana said.

“In July 2022, Taiana led a tour of France and Germany, where he visited the shipyards of the company Naval Group and the firm Thyssenkrupp to evaluate and learn about the production processes, financing conditions, and technology transfer with Argentine participation through the Tandanor shipyard,” the Ministry’s statement went on.

Itaguaí was founded in 2009 with the aim of consolidating the naval modernization of the Armed Forces in Brazil after the cooperation agreements signed between then-French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, for the construction of four submarines, as well as to receive the technology transfer of the French diesel-electric submarines. (Source: Télam)