ARGENTINA..MISILES Y PODER NUCLEAR

Missile Programs

Argentina was working, at varying levels of commitment, with Egypt and Iraq on the Condor II (Egyptian designation Badr-2000) medium-range surface-to-surface missile (SSM) from 1984 until May 1991, when Argentina's minister of defense announced the project's demise. Just how far along the missile's development progressed remains unclear. Iraq withdrew from the project in 1988, as its own missile program flourished. According to one Argentine press account, the missile was tested in March 1989 over a 504 km distance in Patagonia. But according to another report, the first test flight was planned for 1989, and it now appears that the missile was never flight tested.

The Condor II drew on the technology of the Condor I, a single-stage, solid-fuel sounding rocket, with a range/payload capability of 100 km/400 kg, which Argentina manufactured in the late 1970s. Argentine officials maintained that the Condor II was part of a peaceful satellite launch program, devoid of military objectives, but the project drew much attention and criticism. Britain, especially, was and remains concerned that the Condor's 1,000 km range would allow a strike on the Falkland Islands (Malvinas), while Israel continues to be concerned that the Egyptian and Iraqi ties to the project might presage its spread throughout the Middle East. Israel reportedly asked Argentina to drop Egypt from the venture and promised the delivery of twelve aircraft - said to have been embargoed in response to the Falklands War - in return.
In early 1993 Argentina's government decided to hand over most of the components of the secretive Condor II ballistic missile project to the United States for destruction.


In March 1995, Argentine Defense Minister Oscar Camilion said that Argentina is restudying its missile program in the context of space exploration. All missile developments, indigenous or purchased from another country, would take place within the limits set by the MTCR, which Argentina joined in 1991 when it abandoned the Condor II project.

The remaining ballistic missile in service in Argentina is the Alacran (200 km/500 kg). (6) 1. According to Carus and Bermudez,

RESOURCES

Nuclear Weapons Program
Argentina pursued a covert nuclear weapons program for many years, refused to accede to the NPT, and did not sign the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America (the Tlatelolco Treaty). A gaseous diffusion enrichment plant was built. Construction of reprocessing facilities was pursued for some years, but was suspended in 1990. A number of sites and facilities were developed for uranium mining, milling, and conversion, and for fuel fabrication. A missile development program was pursued for some years. Argentina's nuclear program was supported by a number of countries: power reactors were supplied by Canada and West Germany, a heavy water plant was supplied by Switzerland, and the Soviet Union was another supplier of nuclear equipment. Hot cells operated from 1969-1972, with no international safeguards; figures on the amount of spent fuel treated in the hot cells vary greatly.

In 1992 Argentina constructed with Brazil a bilateral arrangement to place both countries' nuclear material and facilities under their mutual supervision, and signed along with Brazil a comprehensive safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency. On 24 March 1993 the Argentine Senate ratified the Treaty of Tlatelolco, moving Argentina one step closer to becoming the 25th country to join the 1967 agreement calling for a nuclear-free zone in Latin America and the Caribbean.


In February 1995 Argentina acceded to the NPT as a non-nuclear weapon state. The European Union said that Argentina's accession to the NPT confirms its commitment to nuclear non-proliferation, already demonstrated by the quadripartite agreement on nuclear safeguards concluded among Argentina, Brazil, ABACC (Argentinean-Brazilian Agency for Accounting and Control) and IAEA, and by the Treaty of Tlateloco.
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