The ''Almirante Brown'' class is a class ( MEKO 360H2 type) of warships built for the Argentine Navy. They were commissioned between 1983 and 1984, after the Falklands War. The class comprises four ships; , , and . They are classified as either frigates or destroyers by different publications. The MEKO 360 type warships are based on modular designs which allow quick changes to the vessel's armaments depending on mission requirements. The modular nature of the construction also allows the ships to be modernized or refitted with greater ease. Six vessels were initially ordered, however two ships were cancelled and replaced with orders for MEKO 140 type hulls. Ordered in 1979, construction of the ships was delayed as the British turbines were embargoed after the Falklands War. Furthermore, the acquisition of

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

s for the vessels has seen many incarnations. They were initially intended to be equipped with

Westland Lynx The Westland Lynx is a British multi-purpose twin-engined military helicopter designed and built by Westland Helicopters at its factory in Yeovil. Originally intended as a utility craft for both civil and naval usage, military interest led t ...

helicopters, but the order was cancelled in 1982. The planned replacement Agusta-Bell AB 212 helicopters were not funded and instead, all of the ''Almirante Brown'' class deploy with AS 555 Fennec, while only ''La Argentina'' and ''Sarandí'' can employ SH-3D Sea King helicopters. ''Almirante Brown'' took part in

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

operations in 1990. All of the ships can be used as flagships.

Design and description

Six vessels were ordered and four vessels of a second variant, MEKO 360H2, were constructed for Argentina. They were locally named the ''Almirante Brown'' class. They are considered frigates and destroyers by different publications. The design is based on the concept of modular systems and is capable of changing the armament of the ship swiftly and can be modernized/refitted with more ease. Each ship is capable of being used as a flagship. The ships have a

standard displacement The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...

of and at full load. The vessels are

long overall __NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, an ...

and

between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the ster ...

with a beam of and a draught of . The vessels are powered by a

COGOG Combined gas or gas (COGOG) is a propulsion system for ships using gas turbine engines. A high efficiency, low output turbine is used for cruising speeds with a high output turbine being used for high-speed operations. A clutch allows either turb ...

system driving two

shafts ''Shafts'' was an English feminist magazine produced by Margaret Sibthorp from 1892 until 1899. Initially published weekly and priced at one penny, its themes included votes for women, women's education, and radical attitudes towards vivisection, ...

composed of two Olympus TM 3B gas turbines rated at and two Tyne RM-IC gas turbines rated at . The ships have a maximum speed of while using their Olympus gas turbines at using their Tyne turbines. The MEKOs have a maximum range of at 18 knots. The Argentinian vessels are armed with eight

Exocet The Exocet () is a French-built anti-ship missile whose various versions can be launched from surface vessels, submarines, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. Etymology The missile's name was given by M. Guillot, then the technical director ...

MM-40

surface-to-surface missile A surface-to-surface missile (SSM) or ground-to-ground missile (GGM) is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea and strike targets on land or at sea. They may be fired from hand-held or vehicle mounted devices, from fixed ins ...

s in two quad launchers mounted centrally and one octuple launcher for

Aspide Aspide (the Italian name for the asp) is an Italian medium range air-to-air and surface-to-air missile produced by Selenia (then by Alenia Aeronautica, now a part of Leonardo S.p.A.). It is provided with semi-active radar homing seeker. It is ...

surface-to-air missiles mounted aft of the superstructure. The MEKO 360H2 are also equipped with one OTO Melara /54

calibre In guns, particularly firearms, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the finished bore match ...

naval gun forward of the superstructure, eight Bofors 40 mm/70 calibre guns, and two triple-mounted ILAS

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s. The ships are equipped with a Graseby G1738 towed decoy countermeasure system, two Breda SCLAR chaff rocket launchers with each launcher sporting 20 tubes. For

electronic support measures In military telecommunications, electronic support (ES) or electronic support measures (ESM) gather intelligence through passive "listening" to electromagnetic radiations of military interest. They are an aspect of electronic warfare involving ac ...

, the vessels are armed with the Sphinx system and the Scimitar system for

electronic countermeasures An electronic countermeasure (ECM) is an electrical or electronic device designed to trick or deceive radar, sonar, or other detection systems, like infrared (IR) or lasers. It may be used both offensively and defensively to deny targeting info ...

. The class is equipped with two

Signaal Thales Nederland B.V. (formerly Hollandse Signaalapparaten B.V. or in short Signaal) is a subsidiary of the French multinational company Thales Group based in the Netherlands. The firm was founded as ''NV Hazemeyer's Fabriek van Signaalapparate ...

DA08A air/surface search

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, we ...

operating on the F band and Signaal ZW06 surface search radar operating on I band. They have Decca 1226 navigational radar operating on the I band and their fire control systems are controlled by the Signaal SEWACO Link 10/11 system supported by Signaal STIR radar operating on the I/J and K bands, Signaal WM25 operating on I and J band, along with LIRODA radar systems that control the 40 mm gun mounts. For sub-surface search, the vessels have Atlas Elektronik 80 hull-mounted active search

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect objects on o ...

. All of the ''Almirante Brown'' class are equipped with a

helicopter deck A helicopter deck (or helo deck) is a helicopter pad on the deck of a ship, usually located on the stern and always clear of obstacles that would prove hazardous to a helicopter landing. In the United States Navy, it is commonly and properly ...

and

hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

. They all deploy with AS 555 Fennec helicopters, while only ''La Argentina'' and ''Sarandí'' can employ SH-3D Sea King helicopters. The ships have a

complement A complement is something that completes something else. Complement may refer specifically to: The arts * Complement (music), an interval that, when added to another, spans an octave ** Aggregate complementation, the separation of pitch-clas ...

of 200, including 26 officers.

Ships

Construction and career

Initially, six vessels were ordered, but this was later reduced to four after an order for six MEKO 140 type ships was placed. All four vessels were constructed at the Blohm+Voss shipyard in Hamburg, Germany. However, construction was delayed during the Falklands War as the British-built gas turbines were placed under

embargo Economic sanctions are commercial and financial penalties applied by one or more countries against a targeted self-governing state, group, or individual. Economic sanctions are not necessarily imposed because of economic circumstances—they m ...

. The class was intended for

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are t ...

(ASW) and an initial order for

helicopters was made to complement the ships. The order was cancelled in 1982 and a planned replacement, the Agusta-Bell AB 212 helicopters, was not financed. Until the delivery of the AS 555 Fennec helicopters in 1996, the Argentinian Navy used Aérospatiale Alouette SA 319 helicopters aboard the ships. The first ship, ''Almirante Brown'' entered service in 1983 and the fourth and last, ''Sarandí'' in 1984. ''Almirante Brown'' took part in

operations in the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bod ...

in 1990. In 2006, ''La Argentina'' completed a two-year refit which included extensions to the flight deck to accommodate the Sea King helicopters. ''Sarandí'' underwent a similar refit in 2008–2010. The four vessels form the 2nd Destroyer Squadron, based at

Puerto Belgrano Naval Base Port Belgrano Naval Base ( es, Base Naval Puerto Belgrano - BNPB) is the largest naval base of the Argentine Navy, situated next to Punta Alta, near Bahía Blanca, about south of Buenos Aires. It is named after the brigantine ''General Bel ...

. The Argentine Navy struggles to meet maintenance and training requirements because of financial problems and import restrictions. The ''Almirante Brown'' class were reported to be short of spares and suffering engine problems. In addition it has been reported that the ordinance for the ships is past its expiration date. As of 2020, work was reportedly underway to maintain the operational relevance of both the aging Exocet and Aspide systems.

Design and description

Ships

Construction and career

See also

Notes

Bibliography

Further reading

External links