Argentina close to finalizing purchase of Danish F-16 fighters

Javier Milei’s government seems to have defined the purchase of F-16 fighters for the Argentine Air Force, whose agreement could be signed by the end of March or early April.

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According to Clarín newspaper and other local sources, the Danish Minister of Defense, Troels Lund Poulsen, will arrive in Argentina on March 26 to seal the agreement for the purchase of 24 to 28 F-16MLU fighter jets, decommissioned by the Danish Air Force (RDAF), putting an end to the exaggeratedly long search for a supersonic multi-role fighter for the Argentine Air Force (FAA).

The purchase of the F-16s would benefit from generous U.S. financing, whereby Argentina would have six years to pay for the nearly $700 million involved in the operation. This budget would be divided almost equally between the purchase of the aircraft, spare parts, simulators and training of FAA personnel, and the acquisition of the guided armament to be carried by the fighters.

It is worth remembering that Denmark is under great pressure (as are many other European countries) to donate its F-16 fighters to the Ukrainian Air Force, so that it can rebuild its forces and better confront the Russian forces. If Argentina cannot complete the purchase of the aircraft in a short time, it is likely that this window of opportunity will be closed and the Argentine Air Force will have to continue to wait to regain supersonic capability.

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With the endorsement of the U.S. Southern Command

The transaction could enjoy the blessing of the Commander in Chief of the U.S. Southern Command, General Laura Richardson, who will visit Argentina on April 3 and will seek to agree with the Government on the organization of a control system against China’s deployment in the South Atlantic. For this purpose, she plans to visit the joint military base in Ushuaia and to travel to Neuquén, where China has a deep space monitoring facility, which is of great concern to Washington.

The situation of violence unleashed in Rosario by drug trafficking organizations will also be on Richardson’s agenda. And although the choice of the F-16 over the Sino/Pakistani JF-17 «Thunder» is evidence of a pro-American turn in Argentina’s foreign policy, the head of the Southern Command, on behalf of Joe Biden’s government, will seek a private meeting with Milei to ask him to moderate his explicit support for Donald Trump’s candidacy for the US presidential elections, where both are rivals.