Almirante Brown-class destroyer

The Almirante Brown is a class (MEKO 360H2 type) of warships built in Germany for the Argentine Navy. They were commissioned between 1983 and 1984, after the Falklands War. Argentina classifies them as destroyers, reflecting the fact they are the main warships of the Argentine fleet, but they are similar to general-purpose frigates of other nations.

The Argentine Navy struggles to meet maintenance and training requirements because of financial problems and import restrictions. The Almirante Brown class are reported to be short of spares and suffering engine problems, plus all their ordnance is past its expiry date.

Specifications

 * Displacement: 2,900 tons (empty); 3,360 tons (full load)
 * Length: 413 ft (125.9 m)
 * Beam: 49 ft(15 m)
 * Draught: 19 ft(5.8 m)
 * Propulsion:
 * 2 shafts
 * 2 Rolls-Royce Tyne RM-1C cruise gas turbines, 10,200 shp tot.
 * 2 Rolls-Royce Olympus TM-3B boost gas turbines, 25,800 shp tot.
 * Max shaft horsepower: 51,600 shp max
 * Speed: 30.5 kn
 * Range: 4500 nmi at 18 kn
 * Armament
 * 8xMM40 Exocet SSM
 * 1x8-cell Albatros SAM (24 Aspide missiles)
 * 1x5/54 DP
 * 4xtwin 40 mm 70-cal. OTO Melara AA
 * 12.7 mm machine guns
 * 2xtriple 324 mm ILAS-2 ASW torpedo tubes (18 torpedoes tot.)'
 * 1xdepth charge rack (9 depth charges)
 * Aircraft: aft helicopter deck and hangar; 1 Alouette III or 1 AS-555-SN Fennec
 * Complement:224
 * Radar: DA-08A air/surface search
 * Sonar: Krupp-Atlas 80 hull
 * Fire Control: WM-25 gun control, STIR SAM control
 * Electronic Warfare
 * Racal Scimitar jammer, 2 20-round OTO Melara SCALR decoy
 * 1 Graseby G1738 towed torpedo decoy
 * Concept/Program: German-built general purpose frigates; they are the main surface asset of the Argentine navy.
 * Builders: Blohm + Voss, Hamburg, Germany.
 * Design: MEKO 360 modular design.

Ships in the class

 * ARA Almirante Brown (D-10)
 * ARA La Argentina (D-11)
 * ARA Heroína (D-12)
 * ARA Sarandí  (D-13)