This has been in the works since
Oct. 11, 2023, when the State Department approved the foreign sales request from Denmark to Argentina of their
F-16 fighters the
same one the Ukraine will be receiving.
What strikes me was
Britian did not block this sale as they have done in the past since the
Falklands War of any Fighter aircraft foreign sales to Argentina.
Also, these fighters are much more modern with an arms package we're also selling them being more "
modern" then expected.
I already knew that since
2015 when the
MIRAGE III fighters where retired from service that the
ONLY fighter they were flying was the
A4 SKYHAWKS.
What I didn't know however was that in
1994 they bought
36 UPDATED A4's from us that were flown by the
USMC. They've had some updates along the way but, from the time of purchase those jets would be known as the
A-4AR Fightinghawk.
The
A-4AR will be replaced on a "
one-to-one" which for
RL & Game will keep them operational until
DEC 2025.
What drove this? See the "
breaking news" Argentina wants to join
NATO and the talks have been ongoing. We have also sold them our
latest version of the
P-3 ORION Anti-Submarine and Surface Maritine platform.
There also up until a little over a year ago was the
Chinese effort to sell them the
JF-17 Fighter as flown for some time now by
Pakistan.
Some "Cut and Paste" to make things easier for "
The Boss"...
"After the signing of the deal, the first F-16 with the insignias of the Fuerza Aérea Argentina was unveil unveiled. The aircraft, the F-16BM 86-0199/ET-199, is
painted in dark grey “Have Glass” color scheme, with
full color Argentine flag and roundel. Interestingly, the F-16 was
also armed with an inert GBU-31 JDAM and BRU-61 rack with four GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs. " (
They are getting these. )
"According to Argentine newspapers, the package also includes
AIM-120 and AIM-9 missiles (Non-starters for us.), while
other weapons will be acquired directly from the United States. The whole deal is worth about
$ 300 million which, according to a government spokesperson, is below the market cost of the aircraft."
"In their current configuration, the F-16s sold to Argentina were initially delivered in the Block 1, Block 5 and Block 15 configuration and
later upgraded up to the Block 20 Mid Life Update configuration, with capabilities considered comparable to the F-16C Block 50/52 configuration.
https://theaviationist.com/2021/02/0...f-16-aircraft/"
By the way we are currently building those new F-16's.
From some other sources they should have the first six by the Fall also it is my understanding their Pilots are in Denmark training already.
I would expect it more than "
reasonable" for FOC
START Argentina in
OCT 2024.
https://theaviationist.com/2024/04/1...-breaks-cover/
Regards,
Pat
