DefenseArgentina inspects first F-16 fighter jets to arrive in the country in December
Argentine Defense Minister Luis Petri traveled to Denmark to monitor the preparation work on the first six second-hand Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter jets acquired by the country in 2024.
Petri was at the Aalborg logistics base and even posed in the cockpit of one of the F-16s, which will be delivered to the Argentine Air Force (FAA) in December of this year.
The first six aircraft will be delivered to the 6th Air Brigade in Tandil, which will have a maximum supply of 24 F-16 A/B units, acquired from Denmark.
The 24 F-16 fighter jets will have weapons purchased from the US for around US$350 million, including missiles such as the AIM-9 Sidewinder and AIM-120 AMRAAM, among others.
On social media, Petri said: “This one you are seeing is one of the F-16s that will be in Argentina in December. Concrete actions protect and defend the Argentine people. This is how sovereignty is built.”
In Tandil, the FAA is carrying out work to improve the conditions of the runway, hangars and other facilities, according to the newspaper La Nacion.
F-16 and budgetary limitations
With an approximate cost of US$25 million per unit and US$20,000 per flight hour, Argentina’s F-16s will arrive in the country in a batch of four single-seaters and two two-seaters, initially moved to the Río Cuarto Military Area air park in Córdoba.
After that, the six aircraft will begin operations in Tandil, thus restoring the FAA’s ability to fly supersonic fighters, which it lost many years ago.
A drastic change in the force’s doctrine is expected with the operation of the F-16, equipped with more modern avionics than the aircraft currently operated by the FAA, as well as a state-of-the-art weapons system.
Some of this has already begun there with a static training model for pilots and technicians, which arrived in December, when the FAA held an event to officially present the F-16.
However, according to the Argentine outlet, military sources warned that plans for the F-16 come amid a restriction on flight hours within the FAA due to budgetary constraints.
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