The highlight of the ceremony was a two-seat F-16BM Fighting Falcon, painted in Argentine Air Force colours. This aircraft, delivered from Denmark, arrived as a ground-based training platform rather than an operational unit but was displayed with mock-ups of AIM-9M/L Sidewinder and AIM-120B AMRAAM air-to-air missiles, simulating its future combat capabilities.
The AIM-120B AMRAAM missiles may come from either Denmark or the United States, as Argentina signed a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) agreement for a weapons and equipment package late last year. Additionally, under the aircraft’s wing, the FAS-850 Dardo 3 glide bomb, developed in Argentina, was displayed. This 225 kg weapon can strike targets up to 200 km away when dropped from an altitude of 10,000 metres, though its integration with the F-16 remains an open question.
Argentina acquired 25 second-hand F-16AM/BM aircraft from Denmark in April 2024, including one non-operational unit for ground-based training. This purchase marks the beginning of Argentina’s effort to rebuild its air combat capabilities, which have significantly declined over the past 40 years.
The first six operational F-16s are expected to enter Argentine Air Force service by the end of 2025. At the same time, political shifts in Argentina have led to closer defence ties with Washington, strengthening military cooperation between the two nations.
