MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine Navy receives refurbished Sea King helicopters

The Argentine Navy received two of a lot of six UH-3H Sea King helicopters, four of them refurbished in Maryland and two for spares, following an agreement signed last year by the Argentine Defence Ministry and the US Navy.

Two of the refurbished units are to replace a similar number lost in April 2007 when Argentina's icebreaker ARA "Almirante Irizar" caught fire in the South Atlantic returning from Antarctica. Sea Kings are stationed at the Navy airbase Comandante Espora in Bahía Blanca. Argentina first received 4 Sea Kings in 1971 equipped for antisubmarine warfare and later a fifth one but they were rapidly adapted to other tasks given the versatility of the aircraft, such as search and rescue, troops and cargo transport, and most important for supply and support of Argentina's effort in Antarctica operating from ice patrol vessels. In the eighties Argentina incorporated another four units, built in Italy by Agusta under Sikorsky licence, specifically for cargo and support tasks. Unfortunately two were lost when the ARA Bahía Paraíso went down in Antarctica in the austral summer of 1989. The following two refurbished Sea Kings are scheduled to be delivered in March 2009 together with the two units for spares. The US Navy is decommissioning its fleet of different Sea King models. "We want to make sure our colleagues from the Argentine Navy are completely satisfied with the helicopters. We would like to see the first two totally operational for the coming Antarctic season", said Chuck Morgan Assistant Manager of the H-3 Logistic Program from the US Navy which is responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of helicopters. However Argentine defence sources admit that some new model will have to be acquired to replace the ageing Sea King in a near future, since they are technologically behind and spares are increasingly difficult to obtain. Even the US which has the Sea Kings for transporting US presidents will soon be replacing them with the Agusta Westland EH-101, US version specially reconditioned for such a responsible task. In related news the Argentine Coast Guard informed Comodoro Rivadavia mayor Martin Buzzi that the force is incorporating a new aircraft for fisheries and contamination control and in the near future the local station will have two helicopters available for similar duties.