The US has approved the sale of four Black Hawk military helicopters to Argentina in a $140mn (£103mn) deal, sharpening the focus on Washington’s position in the long-running Falklands dispute with Britain.
The State Department said the UH-60L helicopters would strengthen Argentina’s ability to “meet current and future threats”, with the package also including navigation and radar systems, spare parts and repair equipment.
The announcement comes less than two weeks after US President Donald Trump suggested Britain might not receive Washington’s backing in a future conflict over the South Atlantic islands, which Argentina continues to claim as its own.
The timing of the arms sale is likely to attract scrutiny in London as tensions between Britain and Argentina have increased over sovereignty and the future of the Falklands.
Argentine President Javier Milei used a national address to reiterate Buenos Aires’ “historic” claim to the islands, arguing that Argentina “needs to recover” the “Argentinian” territory. He has also threatened sanctions against oil companies operating around the Falklands.
The British government has described sovereignty of the islands as “non-negotiable”.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham told MPs on Wednesday that Britain would be “relentless” in defending the Falkland Islanders’ right to remain British. The islands’ population overwhelmingly supports maintaining the territory’s British status.
Trump returned to the dispute during a visit to Dublin on Saturday, saying he could “settle” any future confrontation between Britain and Argentina.
He suggested Britain would not “be willing to travel that far” if Argentina launched an invasion similar to the 1982 conflict, noting that it would be “weeks by boat”.
“I’m sure I’ll be called into that potential disaster, but if they do, I’ll probably be able to settle, settle it out,” he told reporters alongside Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin.
The comments have complicated the diplomatic backdrop to the helicopter agreement, although Washington described the sale in broader strategic terms.
The State Department said the deal would support US “foreign policy goals and national security objectives”.
It said this would be achieved “by improving the security of a major non-NATO Ally that is a force for political stability and economic progress in South America”.
The sale reflects Washington’s wider effort to deepen defence ties with Argentina, which has sought to modernise its armed forces and strengthen its military capabilities.
The UH-60L Black Hawk is a longstanding US military transport helicopter capable of carrying up to 11 troops. The aircraft entered US service in 1979 and has an operational range of up to 370 miles.
For Britain, however, the deal comes at a politically sensitive moment, with questions over the reliability of US support in any future Falklands crisis likely to remain closely watched in Whitehall.
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