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Argentina confirmed on Tuesday that it signed a letter of intent with Denmark for the purchase of 24 F-16 combat aircraft, which will be equipped by the United States. The business would be 303 million dollars. This model of war aircraft is the same one that Ukraine requests from the West for the war it is fighting with Russia and for which it has already trained several of its pilots.
The Argentine Ministry of Defense said in a statement that Minister Luis Petri and his Danish counterpart, Troels Lund Poulsen, signed the document in Buenos Aires to move forward with the acquisition.
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The EFE agency reported that sources from the Ministry of Defense assured it that in mid-April there will be greater details about the negotiations.
“The agreement was sealed with the signing of a bilateral cooperation letter that will facilitate laying the foundations for future projects between both countries. With the acquisition of these aircraft, the final stage of a process begins whose objective is to strengthen the capabilities of the military instrument,” the Argentine Ministry of Defense indicated in the statement.
A Danish F-16 fighter jet is displayed at the Fighter Wing Skrydstrup air base near Vojens, May 25, 2023. (Photo by Bo Amstrup / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP).
“We are equipping our Forces and recovering the country’s supersonic capacity,” he added.
The Ministry of Defense stressed that Argentina has not made a purchase of these characteristics for 30 years and “it is extremely necessary to recover the capabilities of the Armed Forces.”
The EFE agency highlighted that Argentina’s latest attempts to reequip the Armed Forces failed since the country is subject to an arms embargo imposed by the United Kingdom since the end of the Malvinas War, which took place in 1982, something that makes it impossible the South American nation to obtain material that includes British components.
Luis Petri, Minister of Defense of Argentina. (La Nación, GDA).
In 2020, during the Government of Alberto Fernández, an attempt was made to acquire ten KAI F-50 Fighting Eagle supersonic aircraft from South Korea, but the negotiation was ruined due to having spare parts manufactured in the United Kingdom.
For his part, the Danish Defense Minister also spoke about the business. “I had an extremely fruitful meeting with my Argentine colleague, who expressed great satisfaction at becoming a member of the F-16 family of nations around the world,” Poulsen said in a statement.
He added that in addition to the 24 fighters that will be sold to Argentina, Denmark will donate another 19 F-16 aircraft from its fleet to Ukraine, according to CNN.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen shake hands at a press conference in front of an F-16 fighter jet, August 20, 2023. (Photo by Sergei GAPON / AFP).
CNN explained that the United States Government collaborated in the negotiations between Argentina and Denmark and previously approved the sale of these aircraft.
“The United States welcomes Argentina to the F-16 family of nations,” the US embassy in Buenos Aires celebrated through its social networks.
Denmark is in the process of replacing its fleet of F-16s with the new F-35s, which are more advanced aircraft with greater combat capabilities, CNN said. Both aircraft models are manufactured by the American company Lockheed Martin.
The aircraft that would be sold to Argentina have been “continuously” updated and “largely correspond to the latest version of the F-16 aircraft in terms of instruments and weapons systems,” according to Denmark. They are equipped with a 20-millimeter cannon and stations to carry bombs, rockets and missiles.
An F-16 fighter plane of the Chilean Air Force participates in the annual military parade in commemoration of the Day of the Glories of the Army, on September 19, 2023. (Photo by Javier TORRES/AFP).
What are the F-16 aircraft like?
According to the CNN news networkF-16 fighters are single-engine multirole jet aircraft, meaning they can be used in air-to-air or ground attack missions.
They began flying in the 1970s and are called a “relatively low-cost, high-performance weapons system” by the US Air Force.
In 2019, each unit cost $62 million and the cost per flight hour is about $25,000.
These ships are prepared to fly at more than 2,400 kilometers per hour, or Mach 2.
The F-16 uses what is known as radiation detection to identify air defense systems.
It was the first combat fighter built to withstand turns of 9 G. Today, almost 47 years after its production began, there are up to eight evolutions, from the F-16A of 1979 to the F-16C/D Block of 1994.
It is estimated that there are almost 2,200 active F-16 aircraft in a total of 25 countries. It is the most popular combat aircraft on the planet, with 15% of the world fleet.
Thus, many relatively cheap second-hand aircraft are also available, in addition to their spare parts.
“There is a surplus of F-16s in Western nations, offering immediate availability and a well-established logistics route,” Robert Hopkins, a military aviation author and former US Air Force pilot, told CNN.
General characteristics:
- Wingspan: 9.8 meters
- Length: 14.8 m
- Height: 4.8m
- Weight: 8,940 kilograms
- Maximum takeoff weight: 16,875 kg
- Payload: 907 kg bombs, AIM-9, AIM-120 and 1,088 kg external fuel tanks
- Speed: 2,470 km/h (Mach 2 at altitude)
- Range: 3,222 km
- Ceiling: above 15 km
- Armament: One M-61A1 20mm multibarrel cannon with 500 rounds, up to six air-to-air missiles, conventional air-to-air and air-to-surface munitions, and electronic countermeasures pods
- Crew: one and two in the F-16D
An American-made F-16 fighter jet. (AFP).
Argentina does not have supersonic combat aircraft in service after the retirement in 2015 of its Mirage III fighters, which to date have not been replaced, CNN reported.
A March 2023 US Congressional Research Service (CRS) report warned that “training of maintenance personnel can take months or years, depending on the desired level of proficiency.” Planes need 16 hours of maintenance for every hour of flight time, details the same report reviewed by CNN.
With respect to pilot training, the greatest complexity is not in learning to fly, but in acquiring combat capabilities. This process could take years, according to specialists.
The F-16 has participated in numerous conflicts, especially in the Balkans and the Middle East: in the Lebanese Civil War, in Operation Peace for Galilee, in the first war in Afghanistan, in Operation Desert Storm in Iraq, in the invasion of Iraq, in Operation Desert Fox, in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, in the Second Lebanon War, in the recent civil war in Syria, and soon it will be in Ukraine.
