MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Missing missile from 2015 found in La Plata

The authorities had said in 2015 that the projectile was useless without a launcher and none of those were missing, but one was found Thursday

A group of laborers doing trenching work in the city of La Plata Thursday found a missile that had vanished from Argentine Army barracks years ago when current Federal Intelligence Agency Chief Agustín Rossi was Defense Minister, it was reported.

After finding a TOW rocket launcher and a missile in very bad condition, the workers notified the authorities, who would later determine it was the missile missing from an Army unit in La Plata since 2015.

The weapon was found Thursday at noon some 11 kilometers from where it had disappeared, an 18-minute drive, according to local residents.

UN MISIL EN LA PLATA

Con un perímetro de varias cuadras a la redonda, hicieron explotar el misil hallado ayer en Los Hornos. Es el que habían robado en 2015 en la guarnición militar de Arana. pic.twitter.com/zPIR1hop1D

— MARCELO FAVA (@MARCELOFAVAOK) July 15, 2022

The Buenos Aires Police's Explosives Division handled the device, which was destructed on the spot before the case was handed over to the La Plata Federal Court Number One.

Army Chief of Staff General Guillermo Pereda reportedly briefed Defense Minister Jorge Taiana on the finding. The minister then relayed the news to Rossi, according to Infobae.

On January 16, 2015, defense authorities issued a statement admitting to “the absence of sensitive material” from an Army unit in La Plata. At that time, the case was already handled by the same federal court.

The 2015 communiqué argued that “the missing missile is inoperable as such” without a launcher. However, a “TOW BGM-71E-4B rocket launcher with its respective rocket” was found Thursday, Infobae pointed out.

The TOW 2 (Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided) US-made device is a versatile weapon and can be launched from a tripod or a vehicle. By 2015 it was the most widely used anti-tank guided rocket in the world, costing approximately 50 thousand dollars and weighing just over 21 kilograms (28 kilograms in the launcher). It measures one meter and 17 centimeters, has a maximum firing range of 3,750 meters, and reaches a speed of 329 meters per second.