The F-16, present at the first meeting of the new Minister of Defense with the Argentine Air Force

The Defense Minister, Luis Petri, held a working meeting on Monday, December 18, at the Cóndor Building with the head of the Air Force, Brigadier General Xavier Julián Isaac, and signed the visitors’ log for the first time.

According to the statement issued by the ministry, the Defense Minister, along with other authorities, toured the building’s facilities and met with the brigadiers and commodores who make up the senior leadership of the force.

At this meeting, the head of the defense portfolio received a report on the Air Force’s capabilities and outlined the work directives focused on the operational axes of his management.

Petri received a presentation related to the most significant institutional issues and the general situation of the Argentine Air Force. He also learned about the challenges and projects that the Air Force has planned for the future.

Observing the images released by the ministry, a model of an F-16 can be seen on the worktable near the head shared by Isaac and Petri. The F-16 is one of the models under evaluation and – by a wide margin – the best positioned to be incorporated into the Argentine Air Force.

While it is clear that this does not automatically imply that the decision has been made to incorporate this aircraft, the appearance of the model at the first official meeting of the FAA’s top brass with Javier Milei’s government could be an important sign in the continuation of a process of renewal and recovery of capabilities that has been delayed for years and administrations.

The advanced state of the negotiations, coupled with an evident ideological closeness and financing difficult to match by its competitors, could give the presence of the scale model the message that, finally, the American aircraft is the chosen one.

Beyond the work meeting and visit to the facilities, the head of the Defense portfolio toured the Malvinas «Living Feeling» room, which presents the milestones of the Argentine Air Force in the conflict over the Islands in 1982.