2023-11-04 11:00:38
A discouraging scenario for combat cars,
by Paulo Roberto Bastos Jr
The South American scenario in terms of armored forces, which was already dealing with endemic obsolescence, has seen how the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has greatly aggravated this situation and affected all countries in the region.
Brazil, Chile and Argentinawhich have significant fleets of combat vehicles of German origin, face a chronic shortage of components and spare parts, both for the Marder and derivatives as for MBT Leopard 1 y 2.
The Austrian SK-105which sold well on the continent, is at the end of its life for most operators, as are modified models of the AMX-13 and derivatives. Old T-55 in different versions, generally adapted with Israeli technology, are also in the process of being completely demobilized due to lack of parts and supplies. Some countries have real working relics, if they work at all.
Emergency measures are being applied, such as the nationalization of critical components (when possible) and/or the acquisition of generic consumables on the international market as a way to contain the exponential increase in the unavailability of these combat vehicles.
The modernization programs for the platforms that still exist in quantity, such as the TAM 2CA2 in Argentina, or the Leopard 1A5 in Brazil, they have been suspended. In the case of EAall technology is supplied by Israel, at war with the terrorist group HAMAS since early October, and the status of customer support engagement by the Israeli companies responsible for supplying the sensors and associated systems is unknown.
In the Brazilian case, the situation is even more critical, since the contract with KMW is approaching its end (2027), and the unavailability of the fleet has greatly increased in the period 2022/2023 due to the chronic lack of parts and spare parts on the international market. In the anticlimax, the EB announced that it had given up on modernizing the Leopard 1A5focusing its actions on keeping at least part of the fleet in working and combat conditions until — at least — 2035.
The nominal documentary situation, in terms of the South American countries that have armored vehicles that fall within the scope of the Special, in alphabetical order, begins with Argentinawhich has produced 232 TAM VC and currently has about 220 in stock (plus another 198 in other versions). There is a modernization program initiated with the Israeli company IMI (now managed by Elbit Systems) denominated TAM 2Cwhose prototype was delivered in 2013. In June 2015 it was announced that the modernization of 74 units had been contracted.
In May of that same year, the first prototype called TAM 2CA2. The EA has also lined up about 100 tank destroyers SK-105 Kurassier y 4 Flatten (turret AMX-13 on chassis SK-105 – Canceled program), but these armored vehicles fulfill a fire support function in the Mechanized Brigades.
For its part, Bolivia has 54 tankettes SK-105A1 Kürassier in cargo, which have never been subjected to a modernization process and about which little is known about their operability and availability.
Brazil has 220 Leopard 1A5BR42 Leopard 1A1 BR (Leopard 1BE) y 35 M60A3 TTS. Los Leopard —ex-Belgian or ex-German—are in very poor operating condition due to lack of parts (especially the 1A1) and the modernization process of 1A5 of the German contract has been canceled due to the lack of parts on the international market. Despite these obstacles, Brazil announced in October the approval of nationalized training ammunition from 105 mm (blue tip), which will allow the crews to continue training.
Los M-60 A3 TTS will not be modernized and have low availability, similar to the Leopardand are used on the Central-West border in the Agulhas Negras Military Academy and in the Armor Training Center. Although it does not fall within the scope of the Special Report, the Marine Corps (CFN) has 17 examples of the tank destroyer SK-105A2S Kürassierbut its level of operation is also critical, with between four and five vehicles for immediate use, even for short periods of time.
On the other hand, Chile has 136 CC Leopard 2A4CH, a slightly modified version introduced locally by the Chilean company Reports. These vehicles face the same problems as their Brazilian counterparts, the lack of spare parts due to the war in Ukraine. In July this year, Famae announced a partnership with the Turkish company Aselsan to try to make the recovery and maintenance of these vehicles viable.
As to Ecuadorits ground forces have lined up a hundred ENTERPRISES AMX-13/105equipped with a French cannon 105 mm and low recoil (similar to SK-105 A2S Brazilian). Peruwhich has about 200 T-54/T-55 CC, has been trying to modernize or replace its fleet for 30 years. Has evaluated possibilities such as Norinco MBT-2000 (VT1) Chinese in 2009 and the T-90S Russian in 2013, but none of these initiatives have been successful. It is currently prioritizing its re-equipment with wheeled armored vehicles 8×8.
Supposedly presented as a nation with a large armored force, at least on paper, Venezuela has 92 T-72B1V Russians and 82 AMX-30B/V, but its operational capacity is unknown due to lack of official information. In 2014 it was announced that the AMX-30 would be recovered and modernized by Cemablinto be called AMX-30VEbut it is not known for sure through official means how many have been subjected to this process and what the magnitude of the work is.
In the case of Uruguaywhich has prioritized obtaining military equipment through donations from friendly nations, has 15 combat vehicles in stock Ti-67 Tiran 5 (T-55 modified in Israel and equipped with a cannon 105 mm), plus 22 light combat vehicles M41A1 WATCH y 15 M41C Caxias, donated by Brazil. They can all be considered obsolete.
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