The Defense Ministers of Argentina and Denmark signed this Tuesday (26) the letter of intent for the purchase of 24 F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters by the South American country. The document is the last step before Buenos Aires signs the purchase of used Danish jets.
Through social media, Luis Petri and his Danish colleague Troels Lund Poulsen celebrated the agreement, which precedes the acquisition of supersonic fighters. “We are laying the foundations for defense cooperation between Denmark, the United States and Argentina. We continue to reinforce our forces and regain the supersonic capability that allows us to guard and defend our airspace,” said Petri. US participation in the agreement was also mentioned by Poulsen in a publication in X.
We welcome the visit of the Minister of Defense of Denmark @troelslundp, we signed a letter of intent for the acquisition of F-16 aircraft and equipment. We are laying the foundations for cooperation in the defense area between Denmark, the USA and… pic.twitter.com/ZNHqw6TO0k
— Luis Petri (@luispetri) March 26, 2024
ADVERTISING
US participation in the agreement was also mentioned by Poulsen in a publication in X. In October last year, Washington approved the sale of retired F-16s by the Royal Danish Air Force (RDAF) to Argentina. With the election of Javier Milei as president, the selection of the F-16 as the new fighter aircraft for the Argentine Air Force (FAA) was confirmed in December.
According to the portal Pucara Defensa, Buenos Aires and Copenhagen are expected to sign the purchase of the planes on April 15, ending almost 10 years of 'supersonic fasting' in the country. In 2015, the FAA retired its Dassault Mirage III fighters and other variants. The modernized A-4 Skyhawks were responsible for the country's air defense, which continued to search for planes on the market.
Jeg mødtes i dag med min argentinske ministerkollega @luispetri i Buenos Aires for at underskrive en hensigtserklæring om salg af danske F-16-kampfly til Argentina. Salget af F-16-fly til Argentina er sket i samarbejde med USA. pic.twitter.com/wz2lgQlz6X
ADVERTISING — Troels Lund Poulsen (@troelslundp) March 26, 2024
Despite offering several models, whether new or used, Argentina always faced two major problems: the long economic crisis faced by the country, which prevented the use of resources to purchase planes; and the embargo imposed by the United Kingdom after the Falklands/Falklands War in 1982. Most Western fighter aircraft have British components, mainly ejection seats. Therefore, all attempted purchases were immediately blocked by London.
With the commitment signed today, the soap opera is finally ending. As reported before, Argentina will pay US$650 million for 24 airworthy F-16 fighters, an F-16 for ground training, pods for target identification and bomb guidance, JHMCS helmets with integrated display, spare engines and new missiles and smart bombs.
According to the schedule cited by the Pucará portal, the ground training F-16 will be delivered in 2024. Delivery of operational fighters begins in 2025 and extends until 2028, with the transfer of six F-16s per year.
