Ok, so I guess there is no military block.

There is a project to create a single nation based upon the Mercosur, this has already started building a basic frame of military cooperation, Argentina is starting to build weaponry with Brazil as a partner and Hugo Chavez is asking for the creation of a Cuban, Venezuelan, Bolivian and Nicaraguan military pact.

Os dois mais poderosos exércitos do Brasil e da Argentina uniram esforços para desenvolver uma nova viatura leve para ser adotada principalmente por suas unidades para-quedistas. Denominado “Gaúcho”, o segundo protótipo do veículo foi apresentado recentemente na Argentina e se espera que uma encomenda para a produção do modelo ocorra em breve. Clicando aqui você poderá ler um pouco mais sobre o veículo e baixar um vídeo com o mesmo.

This article talks about this simple Jeep developed by Brazil and Argentina and will be produced for the armies of both nations in a joint venture

http://para-quedas.blogspot.com/2006_06_01_archive.html

HUGO CHAVEZ CALLS FOR DEFENSE PACT BETWEEN VENEZUELA, CUBA, NICARAGUA, BOLIVIA
President Chavez called for the creation of a common defense.

President Hugo Chavez called for the creation of a common defense pact between Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and Bolivia, while the Latin American bloc announced the creation of a development bank to finance joint projects.

Chavez said Wednesday that the four-nation Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, or ALBA, which began as a socialist-leaning trade group, should cooperate militarily to become more independent of U.S. influence.

http://www.gkcaracas.um.dk/da/menu/Eksportraadgivning/Markedsmuligheder/SidsteNyt/HugoChavezCallsForDefensePactBetweenVenezuelaCubaNicaraguaBolivia.htm

Yes they could buy them off the shelf but then they should shut up about being independent of the west :rolleyes: . It is not DRDO’s arrogance that GTRE is a big f**k up. If you don’t have a clue about why India went with Lockheed and not the French just say so. There are enough people on BR who will enlighten you. By your standards even pakistan has a fighter, kudos to them.

Man you misunderstand a lot Latin america, in fact one of the first persons to have ever flown was a Brazilian, Santos Dumont, Argentina was one of the first jet makers in the world, since the early 1920s Mexico, Brazil and Argentina had aircraft built locally, so then why only Brazil has succeed?

Number one is Brazil has chosen the right partner:France
Number two Brazil has made civil aircraft that do make profit and number three Brazil takes technology transfers from nations willing to do it and does not depend upon a single partner has diversified its partners

Argentina is not different is probable that if Argentina would had followed the right policies they could have now a nuclear submarine and several jet fighters even balistic missiles.

The Bombi an aircraft designed in argentina
http://magazineaereo.blogspot.com/2007/08/aviones-de-la-fma.html
In Latin America the wrog policies have slowdown the development, this has send many latin american scientists to work over seas and the unwillingness of some potential partners to transfer technology has also slow down the very limited budgets of latin american military programs.

The reason you have not seen real military programs in Latin american is simply because there has not been willingness and a jet engine is also a technology not impossible to adquire however without the right policies and economic benefits it is impossible to get it.

In few words Latin america can build fighters however the unwilligness of past governments have dented the capability to do it and many nations do not see a real economic benefit in doing so.

One of the most remarkable products offered by INVAP is the only power station wholly designed in Argentina, the CAREM, a small 27,5 MW plant. This is a third generation or “inherently-safe” station, which may also be designed of a larger size (up to 350 MW apiece). Furthermore, CAREM is modular: several similar units may be coupled to add power. The construction of a first prototype on Argentine soil remains a pending issue to the nation.

The reward for the completion of such issue could prove to be substantial. If research reactors represent a side niche within the nuclear market, power stations are its heart. Only a handful of small reactors were sold throughout the world during the 1990s, but there are 36 power stations under construction to date, and for sums that are incomparably higher.

The CAREM is the only Argentine answer to this huge market. Although its revolutionarily simple and safe design is already being copied by companies from Japan, South Korea, and the US, the Argentine supply remains more viable than its imitations because our project is more developed.

The export potential for CAREM has been conservatively estimated between 4 to 20 units, which for Argentina would mean cashing from 400 million to 2 billion dollars, and the creation of a new niche of its own in the nuclear station market.

this reactor is what according to argentine reports will be the basis for the nuclear reactor submarine

http://www.invap.net/nuclear/index-e.html

CNEA and its associated company INVAP, have developped the CAREM project: a low power nuclear plant (100 MWth, 25 MWe net), conceived with a new generation, innovative design.
-The CAREM NPP has a pressurized water reactor with several steam generators, whose characteristics make it different:

* integrated and self pressurized primary system cooling by natural circulation

*passive safety systems

*no plant requirments of Diesel emergency electric generators

* plant control performed by a distributed software system

Safety enhancement is basically the result of two facts:
– many events that would lead to accidental conditions are rendered impossible by the innovative design

http://www.savoiapower.com/nuclear.html

TAM was designed by German Thyssen-Henschel and the IAe.27 Pulqui I by french man Émile Dewoitine and IAe.33 Pulqui II by kurt tank. The osorio seems intersting but sad it went under. Once again were the powerplants for any of these built by SA nations or were they simply bouht from europe? The Ch-14 on the otherhand seems wholly made in argentia?

Man the Nuclear weapon in the US was developed by European scientist, Einstein, Openhiemer, Edward Teller, the helicopter by a russian Igor Sikorsky, the AC by Nicola Testla and the space program lead by a Nazi named Werner Von Braun so what?

What you are trying to say there is no local ingenuity in South America, but that is far from the truth in fact the US takes lots of Latin american scientists each year, however in the modern world Latin american still needs tech transfers but definitively the local industries are getting knowledge to build things domestically and a good example is Embraer.

In fact many American or European companies have research centers in latin american G&E for example designs some jet engine control systems in Mexico these are designed by mexican engineers, what is really happening now is in Latin america the South american nations have realized that they can build the same technology locally and for domestic companies

If they have learned the right lessons from the Falklands war they will procure a powerful submarine force before they get a carrier.

The Nuclear submarine project is older than many think, Argentina offered Brazil after the Falklands war the plan of developing a nuclear subamrine to close the tech gap with England

Tras la Guerra de las Malvinas, el titular de la CNEA, vicealmirante Carlos Castro Madero, en forma reservada puso en marcha la idea de construir un submarino a propulsión nuclear como una forma de cerrar la brecha tecnológica con Gran Bretaña.

Since Argentina in the 1980s was working on a Nuclear submarine project and the project was very advanced and in Argentina that they considered they had enough technology to build it however the price was USD$200 million dollars instead of the USD $120 million dollars the conventional submarine costed to Argentina, however the project was cancelled during the Mennen presidency

http://www.defesanet.com.br/notas/argentina_nuclear_sub.htm

So ? It will be 11 or more likely 12th country to join the list congrats. How long before it can launch its on weather, comm and recon sats? It will take 3 decades easily. The c-390 is seems like a useful option but who is providing the engines?

The R-99 is eyerie (swedish) fitted on the embrarer damn it! AMX was built with italian help and can brazil or SA make a fighter on its own? Yes, I would guess in 3-4 decades. Leave the CH-14 out it is a very basic light attack heli with more use in COIN or anti Drug warfare that real wars. But its a start, kudos to argies. The CBERS seems more of chinese initiative but if brazil can built its own satellites at a later date, good for them but again will take atleast a couple of decades to build comm sats. When exactly was SA not independent? The Nuke sub unless its a boomer seems of little use in maintaining a deterrence but again to reach there easily 3 decades.

Brazil already leads the SA space program. Whats your point? Are you saying they will share it with other SA countries?

So you already have a member who will not join the SA union? YEs I can see that a FTA with local SA nations can be beneficial especially to Brazil and argentina but do you seriously see the block challenging US or EU economically in another 3-4 decades? I certainly don’t.

Your stimates still reflect an ultra simplistic view of South america, number one under the current regional view a common army for all of south america is needed, this also means a commun defence industry where the common border is south america.

see

Un proyecto militar de esa magnitud sólo podía materializarse bajo condiciones como las actuales, con gobiernos como los de Cristina Fernández y Lula da Silva con la misma visión sobre la defensa regional, donde la frontera es Sudamérica. Como señaló Jobim, “el sentido de las Fuerzas Armadas sudamericanas es disuasorio y no expansionista. Pero ese poder de disuasión sólo se ejerce si hay por detrás una industria militar regional que nos independice de los suministros extranjeros”

A military project of this size can only be realized only under the current conditions and Governments of Lula da Silva and Cristina Fernandez, that share the same view in matters of regional defence where the common border is the South american continent.

The South american armed forces are not expansionist in nature but purely defensive, however to achieve that deterrance it is needed a common regional defence industry that free us from foreign arms suppliers

source http://www.defesanet.com.br/al1/arg_k_l_2.htm

In fact what is happening is very similar to the Panavia Tornado program but in this case of a nuclear submarine where Argentina and Brazil will develop a very small nuclear reactor based upon the argentine nuclear reactor CAREM in order to create a nuclear submarine..

The whole point is Brazil by 2020 very likely will have nuclear submarines, cargo aircraft and satellite rocket launchers.

O Ministro da Defesa , Nelson Jobim, explicou nesta segunda-feira (25/2) que o Brasil e a Argentina deverão criar uma empresa binacional para desenvolver reatores nucleares destinados exclusivamente à produção de energia elétrica. A iniciativa insere-se no acordo assinado entre os dois países na última sexta-feira (22/2) durante visita do presidente da República, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, ao país vizinho. O acordo visa à cooperação na área nuclear e energética, entre outros pontos.

O Ministro da Defesa negou, no entanto, que a parceira Brasil-Argentina se estenda à construção do submarino nuclear brasileiro, diferentemente do que foi publicado no fim de semana em jornais argentinos. “É apenas para produção de energia”, esclareceu Jobim. O submarino nucelar, segundo o ministro, deverá ser produzido com tecnologia nuclear desenvolvida pelo Brasil, tendo à frente os centros de pesquisa da Marinha, em Iperó (SP).

However the Brazilian defence minister said that Brazil will develop the nuclear reactor for the Brazilian nuclear submarine with Brazilian nuclear technology and the main treaty with Argentina was to create civil nuclear reactors to supply energy to cities

http://www.defesanet.com.br/md1/sub_ar.htm

I doubt they would be stupid enough to try Falkland-2. It will take atleast a decade to get the SSN in water and another decade tobe proficient in using it. Moreover a couple of astutes will deter them.

i doubt they will attack again, i see no probability, however not because of the lack of weaponry in future years, in fact i think South america might become a military block and in future years might become a nuclear armed zone or at least a new military power, Brazil aims is to create a South american nation alongside Venezuela`s bolivarian revolution but with an economy as large as Germany or even Japan in the next 15 years.

The first step theya re planing is keep South american for the South americans and that measn several nuclear submarines aircraft carriers and local made weapons already they have AWACS, light attack aircraft and soon to be joined by an Brazilian-Argentine made transport aircraft