MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina, US set to stage ‘Atlantic Dagger’ in high-profile special forces drill

The same report said US participants are expected to include Army Green Berets, elements of the Air Force Special Operations Command, and potentially MARSOC units

Argentina and the United States are finalizing plans for “Daga Atlántica” (Atlantic Dagger), a joint special operations exercise expected to become one of the most politically significant bilateral defense activities in recent years—aimed at boosting interoperability, shared procedures and combined planning.

According to Infobae, two senior sources in Argentina’s presidential palace said the exercise is penciled in for 6 April, while the exact location remains undisclosed for operational reasons. The same report said US participants are expected to include Army Green Berets, elements of the Air Force Special Operations Command, and potentially MARSOC units.

The drill fits into a cooperation track that Buenos Aires has been formalizing since 2025. In a government release on bilateral coordination, Argentina said its Joint Special Operations Command and the US special operations component were strengthening ties to improve coordination, training and procedures—part of a broader push to institutionalize operational exchanges.

Local business daily Ámbito Financiero previously reported that Argentine and US commands had been working on the exercise as a complex special forces training cycle designed to refine coordination across multiple units operating simultaneously at high tempo.

While official statements have not identified the Argentine units involved, the format is consistent with SOF exercises focused on combined planning, communications, doctrine alignment and standard operating procedures. A 2025 Argentine parliamentary document described “DAGA ATLÁNTICA” as a joint-combined special operations exercise intended to build experience in the planning and synchronisation of such missions.

Atlantic Dagger also comes against the backdrop of a broader political and military realignment between Buenos Aires and Washington under President Javier Milei.

Beyond training, defence cooperation has included modernisation and procurement narratives. In 2024, AP reported on Argentina’s push to deepen Western defence ties—alongside moves to modernise capabilities, including the F-16 acquisition.

For now, neither government has issued a detailed public schedule for Atlantic Dagger. Officials on the Argentine side have stressed that the core value lies less in spectacle than in interoperability: aligning tactics, techniques, procedures and command-and-control standards, while signalling a more structured security partnership between the two countries.