France and Germany push killer subs for Argentina over Falklands

France and Germany’s top defence firms are offering Argentina a new fleet of hunter-killer submarines that Downing Street has been warned could be a “game changer” for Britain’s ability to protect the Falkland Islands, even as Andy Burnham pushes closer ties with the European Union.

President Javier Milei’s navy is being courted with advanced boats while Argentina keeps an aggressive line on the British territory. Admiral Marcelo Dalle Nogare, Chief of the Joint Staff of Argentina’s Armed Forces, told the Rotary Club of Buenos Aires on October 7 that Germany and France had both stepped forward. “Whichever of the two options we choose, they are among the best submarines in the world today.”

The bids come from France’s Naval Group with its Scorpène design and Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems offering the Type 209NG. According to the admiral, Paris and Berlin had offered to finance the deal in full, with Buenos Aires repaying in instalments. Neither government has publicly confirmed those financing arrangements. GB News can confirm TKMS has submitted an offer “based on the Argentine Navy’s requirements” and expects a decision in principle in 2026, with delivery roughly six years after any contract.

Argentina already runs German-built Type 209 boats from the 1970s. In 1982 the ARA San Luis patrolled and fired torpedoes at British ships, scored no hits, yet slipped British anti-submarine forces. Milei has also taken delivery of 12 F-16 Fighting Falcon jets from Denmark, with another 12 due in 2028. At the United Nations he demanded control of the Falklands and warned his nation could be forced to “take matters into our own hands”, while insisting he did not “believe in military solutions”.

Britain cannot treat this as someone else’s problem. European partners arming a country that still claims British soil, while London talks up reset deals with the same capitals, leaves the South Atlantic weaker and the taxpayer carrying the risk. Sovereignty is not a slogan for summits; it is the duty to keep the Islands secure and the Islanders’ choice final.

Labour’s Europe reset meets a South Atlantic warning

The timing lands after the Prime Minister pledged to “bring the UK closer to Europe” following talks with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and the ratification of the 2025 Kensington Treaty. Andy Burnham has said he was open to Germany joining the Global Combat Air Programme with Britain, Italy and Japan, and told the Commons it would be a “dereliction of duty” to turn down a closer relationship with Brussels ahead of a summit next month.

Reform UK MP Andrew Rosindell called the submarine offers shocking from “two of our supposed closest allies”, accusing them of “rewarding threats of aggression, changing the balance of power in the South Atlantic, and undermining the security of the Falkland Islands”. He demanded the ambassadors be summoned and lodged a written question. Armed Forces Minister Louise Sandher-Jones replied that the UK “regularly engages with our French and German allies on a range of issues” and that the Ministry of Defence is “committed to maintaining a defensive military presence in the South Atlantic to ensure the protection of the Falkland Islands”.

Robert Midgley of the Friends of the British Overseas Territories branded the potential rearming by Nato allies “a diplomatic failure of the British state”, noting Islanders have repeatedly voted against any transfer of sovereignty. Former Army officer Henry Bolton warned eroded British leverage means London struggles to stop allies acting against UK interests. Former naval officer Stuart Fawcett recalled French Exocet strikes in 1982 that sank HMS Sheffield and SS Atlantic Conveyor and cost 46 British lives. Admiral Dalle Nogare has also said he believes the Falklands will be recovered “on the day it is no longer economically feasible for the United Kingdom to maintain them”.

Original source: GB News

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