Argentina Officially Unveils First F-16
The Argentinian Air Force officially unveiled its first F-16 on Monday, with a ceremony at Tandil Air Base, the future home base of the Argentinian F-16s.
The ceremony saw the two-seat F-16B Mid Life Upgrade presented with special commemorative tail markings. The ex-Danish aircraft arrived in Argentina in December, and will serve as a non-flying training aircraft for maintainers ahead of deliveries of the remaining aircraft, which is expected to begin at the end of 2025.
In attendance at the ceremony were Argentina’s Minister of Defense, Luis Petri, accompanied by the Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Argentine Armed Forces, Brigadier Xavier Isaac; the Chief of the Air Force, Brigadier Gustavo Javier Valverde; the Chief of the Army, General Carlos Presti; and the Chief of the Navy, Rear Admiral Carlos Allievi.
Petri described the F-16 as a “true technological leap”, with the Tandil base to be modernized to ensure the F-16s can operate at “maximum capacity”. “This is the era in which we understand that a nation cannot defend itself if it is condemned to submission. The era in which national defense is not an expense, but the most important investment to guarantee peace.”
Present alongside mockups of AIM-120 AMRAAM and AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles on the aircraft were mockups of the FAS-850 Dardo III glide bomb. Work on the Dardo III resumed in late 2024 following a decade pause. The glide bomb uses the Mk 82 500lb general purpose bomb’s warhead, combining it with wings and jet propulsion to reach a planned range of 200km when dropped at an altitude of 10,000 feet.
Buenos Aires closed a deal to procure 24 F-16s from Denmark in April 2024, the first major military procurement deal made under the presidency of Javier Millei. The F-16s will be the first supersonic aircraft the Argentine Air Force has operated in nearly a decade, following the retirement of its Mirage III fleet in 2015.