| Argentine Naval Prefecture Prefectura Naval Argentina | |
|---|---|
 Emblem of the Prefecture. | |
| Abbreviation | PNA |
| Motto | Robur et quies iuxta litora et in undis Valour and safety in coasts and waters |
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | June 1810 |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Federal agency (Operations jurisdiction) | Argentina |
| Operations jurisdiction | Argentina |
| Legal jurisdiction | As per operations jurisdiction |
| General nature | |
| Specialist jurisdiction |
|
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | Ave. E. Madero 235,Buenos Aires |
| Elected officer responsible |
|
| Agency executives |
|
| Parent agency | Ministry of Security |
| Zones | |
| Facilities | |
| Helicopters | 7 |
| Planes | 10 |
| Website | |
| argentina.gob.ar/prefecturanaval | |
| Phone: 54 11 4318 7400 March:March of the Naval Prefecture | |
TheArgentine Naval Prefecture (Spanish:Prefectura Naval Argentina orPNA) is a service ofArgentina'sSecurity Ministry charged with protecting the country's rivers and maritime territory. It therefore fulfills the functions of other countries'coast guards, and furthermore acts as agendarmerie force policing navigable rivers.
According to theArgentine Constitution, theArmed Forces of the Argentine Republic cannot intervene in internal civil conflicts, so the Prefecture is defined as a civilian "security force of amilitary nature". It maintains a functional relationship with theMinistry of Defense, as part of both the National Defense System and theInterior Security System. It therefore maintains capabilities arising from the demands required by joint military planning with the armed forces.
The PNA is a large organization for a coastguard. With a strength of 45,750 sworn members, the PNA is a larger organization than most national navies, and is in fact slightly larger than theArgentine Navy – the organization upon which it had been attached for a long time until the 1980s, when it was transferred to direct control of the Ministry of Defense.
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The Prefecture's predecessor is the ports service founded by the first autonomous Argentine government in June 1810, six years before Argentina declared independence. In Argentina this is considered the official founding date of the PNA. The first commander of the force was ColonelMartín Jacobo Thompson, a Porteño of partially English descent who had served against the British in theinvasions of 1806–7. Thompson was given the title of "Captain of Ports" ("Capitán de Puertos").
Although the PNA traces itself back to its predecessor of 1806, the modern Prefecture was in fact founded in the late nineteenth century as the "National Maritime Prefecture" on the initiative ofManuel Florencio Mantilla, a well-known Argentine senator who was also a respected academic and intellectual. The law pertaining to it was enacted in October 1896.
The Prefecture had a minor role in theFalklands War (Spanish:Guerra de las Malvinas). As with other Argentine military services, participation in this conflict is given considerable weight in the institutional memory of the service.
Two PNA patrol vessels,Islas Malvinas (GC-82) andRio Iguazu (GC-83), were sent to provide an Argentine coastguard service to the islands. According to Argentine sources,Rio Iguazu came into contact with a BritishSea Harrier aircraft on 21 May and one member of the vessel's crew was killed while firing a 12.7 mm machine gun at the British jet. The ship ran aground, but most of its cargo -among them two 105 mmhowitzers- was recovered later.
The crew of the patrol boat claimed the shooting down of the aircraft, but this was later proved to be unfounded. The sortie was actually carried out by two Sea Harriers of 800 Naval Air Squadron, Nº XZ460 and XZ499, which strafed the vessel with 30 mm cannon fire.[1] The patrol vesselIslas Malvinas was captured and operated by the Royal Navy, asHMS Tiger Bay.
The Argentine Naval Prefecture purchased fiveShort SC.7 Skyvan unarmed light transport aircraft in 1971, which they gave the call signs PA-50 to PA-54. During the Falklands War these aircraft were assigned to conduct search and reconnaissance, rescue and transport duties. PA-50 arrived at BAN Río Grande on 15 April 1982 and was joined by PA-54 arrived on 17 April 1982.[2] PA-54 was subsequently deployed toStanley/EAN Malvinas on 20 April 1982 and was joined on the Falklands by PA-50 on 30 April 1982, which was based at Pebble Island/EAN Calderón.[2] Meanwhile PA-51 was deployed to EAN Río Gallegos on 24 April 1982 and PA-52 to BAN Río Grande on 11 May 1982.[2]While waiting to be put into service PA-54 was damaged while sitting on the Stanley racecourse byBritish naval gunfire on the evening of 3 May 1982. It did not fly again and was finally destroyed by shellfire during British bombardments on 12/13 June 1982. PA-50 saw some action at Pebble Island, but it ended up becoming bogged down in the soft ground, and on 15 May 1982 it was destroyed by aBritish raiding party.[3]At the conclusion of the war PA-51 and PA-52 returned to Aeroparque Jorge Newbery/Buenos Aires on 26 June 1982.
The Prefecture is constantly battlingillegal fishing vessels in the Argentineexclusive economic zone (EEZ),[4] mostly from eastern countries. TheArgentine Naval Aviation also collaborates in detection of such ships with theirCASA 212 S68 andBeechcraft 350ER' maritime surveillance aircraft.[citation needed]
Thesinking ofChian-der 3 was an incident which occurred on 28 May 1986 when the Taiwanese flag naval trawlerChian-der 3 was detected, tracked, shot, set on fire and finally sunk by the PNA. The sinking was carried out by PNA vesselPrefecto Derbes. Two Taiwanese fishermen were killed; four others were injured. The Taiwanese fishermen's union called the incident a "barbaric act" and the British government condemned it as "unjustifiable and excessive".[5]
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The PNA is subordinate to theMinistry of Security. The organization is headed by the National Naval Prefect (Prefecto Nacional Naval), currently Prefect-General Carlos Edgardo Fernandez, assisted by the Deputy National Naval Prefect (Subprefecto Nacional Naval), currently Prefect-General Ricardo Rodriguez.
The Prefecture's main facility is located in theEdificio Guardacostas (which translates as "the Coastguard Building") at 235 E. Madero Avenue,Buenos Aires.
The PNA headquarters is divided into three main departments, each headed by a Director-General with the rank ofPrefecto General. These are each divided into a number of directorates, each headed by a Director with the rank of Prefect-General (Prefecto General).
TheIntelligence Service (Servicio de Inteligencia) is directly responsible to the National Naval Prefect and is also headed by a Prefect-General.
The PNA is divided into ten zones:
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The highest rank of the service, Prefect-General, is held by both the National Naval Prefect and Deputy National Naval Prefect, as well as by many of the most senior officers of the prefecture, such as the heads of the different directorates of the national headquarters. While the rank itself equals that of Rear Admiral in the Argentine Navy, the National Naval Prefect and the Deputy National Naval Prefect titles are both equated to the ranks of Admiral and Vice Admiral, respectively, and wear corresponding insignia.
Officer ranks are as follows:
| Rank group | General / flag officers | Senior officers | Junior officers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Argentine Naval Prefecture |  | | |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prefecto General (Prefecto Nacional Naval) | Prefecto General (Subprefecto Nacional Naval) | Prefecto General | Prefecto Mayor | Prefecto Principal | Prefecto | Subprefecto | Oficial Principal | Oficial Auxiliar | Oficial Ayudante | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| EquivalentU.S. Coast Guard Rank | Vice admiral | Rear admiral | Rear admiral (lower half) | Captain | Commander | Lieutenant Commander | Lieutenant | Lieutenant (Junior Grade) | Ensign | No equivalent | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The non-commissioned officer and enlisted ranks of the Prefecture are as follows:
| Rank group | Senior NCOs | Junior NCOs | Enlisted | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentine Naval Prefecture |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ayudante mayor | Ayudante principal | Ayudante de primero | Ayudante de segundo | Ayudante de tercera | Cabo primero | Cabo segundo | Marinero | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| EquivalentU.S. Coast Guard Rank | Master Chief Petty Officer | Senior Chief Petty Officer | Chief Petty Officer | Petty Officer First Class | Petty Officer Second Class | Petty Officer Third Class | Seaman | Seaman Apprentice | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Argentine Naval Prefecture use the following ships for patrol purposes.[6]
At least other 50 vessels on the 8–15-ton range.
| Aircraft | Origin | Type | Variant | In service | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transport | ||||||
| CASA C-212 | Spain | maritime patrol | 5[12] | |||
| Piper PA-28 | United States | utility | 2[12] | |||
| Beechcraft King Air | United States | transport | 350 | 1[12] | ||
| Helicopters | ||||||
| Schweizer 300 | United States | patrol | 7[13] | |||
| Eurocopter AS355 | France | utility | 2[13] | |||
| Eurocopter AS365 | France | SAR | 365 N2 | 4[13] | ||
| Eurocopter EC225 | France | SAR / transport | EC225LP | 2[14] | ||
Previous helicopters operated by the Coast Guard were theAérospatiale Puma (3),Hughes 369 (6),Bell 47J (5), and theSikorsky H-5 (1).[13]Previous fixed-wing types includeGrumman G-21 Goose (6),de havilland DH.104 Dove (2),Nord 1203 Norécrin (4),Douglas C-47 (2),Short SC.7 Skyvan (5)[15]
| Model | Origin | Type | Caliber | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beretta 92 |  Italy | Pistol | 9×19mm | Service pistol[16] |
| Bersa TPR9 |  Argentina | [17] | ||
| Heckler & Koch MP5 |  Germany | Submachine gun | ||
| FN FAL | Argentina | Battle rifle | 7.62×51mm | Service rifle |
| SIG SG550 |  Switzerland | Assault rifle | 5.56×45mm | Used byGrupo Albatros |
| IWI X95 |  Israel | |||
| FN MAG |  Belgium | Machine gun | 7.62×51mm | |
| Benelli M3 | Italy | Shotgun | 12 gauge | |
| Franchi SPAS-15 | Used by Grupo Albatros | |||
| SIG Sauer SSG 3000 | Switzerland | Sniper rifle | 7.62×51mm |
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