Argentina has received its first tranche of secondhand Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter jets under a deal with Denmark.
Six F-16A/Bs were ferried from Denmark to Argentina on 6 December, marking the restoration of supersonic fighter capability for the Argentine air force (FAA) after decades of crippling restrictions following the 1982 Falklands War.
Argentina’s Ministry of Defence described the milestone as the country’s most significant military acquisition in 40 years and a “historic transformation of national defence”.
Four two-seat F-16Bs and two single-seat F-16As made the transatlantic journey in four legs, with aerial refuelling support from US Air Force KC-135 tankers.
Video footage provided by the FAA shows aviators wearing the Danish flag at the stick of each F-16, while Argentinian officers occupied the back seat of the four F-16Bs.
The ferry flight was completed in four legs, launching from the Royal Danish Air Force’s Skrydstrup fighter base with intermediate stops in Zaragosa, Spain; the Canary Islands; and Natal, Brazil.
As part of the route, the fighters completed a formation flyover of Argentia’s capital Buenos Aires with a US KC-135, which provided tanking support to the flight during the leg that crossed the South Atlantic.
The transfer was completed at an Argentine air base in Rio Cuarto, where the six fighters were met by Argentina’s president Javier Milei and defence minister Luis Petri.
Milei described the arrival of the tactical jets as a “step forward on this path to greatness”.
“These planes are a symbol of the Argentina we are building. These F-16s are the new guardians of Argentine airspace,” Milei said on 6 December.
The US embassy in Buenos Aires says the rest of the jets will be delivered over three subsequent flights, with the last batch of six set to land in Argentina in December 2028. The fighters will initially operate from Rio Cuarto before transitioning to a permanent base in Tandil.
Argentina has not operated a modern jet-powered fighter since the retirement of its last Dassault Mirage IIIs in 2015. The country’s paltry fighter inventory includes 23 aged Douglas A-4 subsonic light-attack jets and 11 indigenously produced IA-63 Pampa III trainers, assembled by Fabrica Argentina de Aviones.
Following Argentina’s defeat by the UK in the 1982 Falklands War, Argentina has been heavily restricted from acquiring advanced military technology, including new fighters.
Buenos Aires had for years sought new tactical jets, including replacement Mirages, Swedish Saab Gripens, Israel Aircraft Industries Kfirs and Korea Aerospace Industries FA-50 light fighters.
The UK had successfully blocked those efforts by barring Argentina from accessing UK-made defence hardware, including the Martin-Baker ejection seats found in many fighters and BAE Systems avionics and aircraft.
London also exerted diplomatic pressure on allies to block any deal involving American or European aircraft.
That situation changed in 2023 when US regulators in Washington, DC approved a third-party sale of American-made F-16s from Denmark to Argentina.
That move was prompted in large part by flirtations between Buenos Aires and China over the sale of JF-17 fighters – a joint production of China’s Chengdu Aircraft Corporation and the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex.
London’s approval was not required for the transfer, as the F-16 uses the American-made Collins Aerospace ACES II ejection seat.
Mieli touts the arrival of the of the new fighters as correcting “decades of mistreatment” of the country’s armed forces by authorities in Buenos Aires.
“Previous governments had left us defenceless,” Meili says.
Argentina and Denmark finalised the sale agreement in 2024 covering 2024 F-16s that were in the process of being retired as the RDAF fields the newer Lockheed Martin F-35.
The remainder of Denmark’s F-16 fleet is being donated to Ukraine.
Washington provided a $40 million grant to the Milei government through the Pentagon’s Foreign Military Financing system to act as a downpayment on a $560 million training and support package for the 24 F-16s, according to the US embassy in Buenos Aires.
”The arrival of the F-16s strengthens Argentina’s air-defense capabilities and supports operations coordination with the United States, and other NATO partners, reflecting a long-term commitment to cooperation between Argentina and the United States,” the embassy says.
The embassy does not specify whether or not the support package includes in armaments for the F-16s.
An unfinalised $1 billion foreign military sales request approved in 2024 included Raytheon AIM-120C-8 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles, Mk-82 226kg (500lb) general purpose bombs and Raytheon GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bombs for Argentina.
See photos of the F-16 ferry flight from Denmark to Argentine:
