Germany and France have each offered to finance the full purchase of three submarines for Argentina’s Navy, repayable in installments, Adm. Marcelo Dalle Nogare, head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Oct. 7.
Dalle Nogare told the Rotary Club of Buenos Aires that both proposals have their governments’ backing and are with Milei’s government, which will decide. They come from Naval Group of France, with its Scorpène design, which Brazil’s navy also uses, and ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) of Germany, with the Type 209NG. Both meet the technical requirements of the Navy’s Submarine Force Command, he said. “Either option we choose, they are among the best submarines in the world today.”
The military side of the choice is finished: Navy chief Adm. Juan Carlos Romay sent a technical report to the Defense Ministry, which passed it to the Executive. “The final decision will end up being geopolitical, one of interests and above all of financing,” Dalle Nogare said. Full financing does not mean a free boat: the interest rate, repayment schedule and guarantees will set what each offer is worth.
The first submarine could arrive five to six years after a contract is signed, Dalle Nogare said. The boats would be based at Mar del Plata, the Submarine Force’s historic home, where shore facilities would need upgrading.
The money has a place in the 2027 budget bill now before Deputies. It would let the government take on public debt of up to US$2.3 billion for three conventional submarines, plus US$1.2 billion for two multi-mission frigates for the Puerto Belgrano naval base. That authorization is not a contract and does not pick a supplier.
Until now the government’s talks had centered on France. Milei said in a November 2025 interview with the French broadcaster Public Sénat that Argentina was moving toward buying submarines from France, and the government’s efforts since then pointed to three Scorpène boats.
The government now has to pick a builder, negotiate the credit terms and sign contracts, while Congress takes up the budget that carries the borrowing authorization.
