Monday, August 24th 2026 - 06:22 UTC
The retirement forms part of the Plan Dédalo, a five-year restructuring of Naval Aviation drawn up from a study begun in 2025 and approved by the Navy's General Staff
Argentina's Navy has announced the definitive retirement of its Super Étendard strike aircraft, the French-built jets that attacked the British fleet with Exocet missiles during the 1982 Falklands war. The announcement was made on August 20 by the commander of Naval Aviation, Rear Admiral Román Enrique Olivero, at a ceremony at Punta Indio Naval Air Base. The withdrawal will take place this year, on a date yet to be set.
The first five aircraft arrived in the country in 1981 and were assigned to the Second Naval Fighter and Attack Squadron. Equipped with AM39 Exocet missiles, they took part in the attacks that sank the destroyer HMS Sheffield and the logistics ship Atlantic Conveyor. The official statement referred to “more than four decades of glorious historical trajectory” and to their performance in the conflict.
The aircraft had not flown for years because of a lack of spare parts and discontinued components. In 2018 Argentina bought five more from France, in the upgraded Super Étendard Modernisé version, with the aim of restoring naval strike capability. They arrived in May 2019 and never entered service.
