Welcome to Flightglobal. com. This uses cookies. Read our policy.
Welcome to Flightglobal. com. This online site uses cookies for your delight and for ad personalization. By continuing to browse this site, you agree to our use of those cookies. You can learn more about the cookies we use here.
Arms regulators in Washington have moved U. S. -made Lockheed Martin F-16As from Denmark to Argentina.
The U. S. State Department said on Oct. 11 that it had delivered an official letter to Argentine Ambassador Jorge Arguello and that Washington had signed the agreement, which was supposed to cover 24 of the multirole fighters.
“This move reaffirms our strong defense ties and unwavering commitment to the modernization efforts of the Argentine Air Force,” the State Department said.
The U. S. diplomatic agency declined to comment on the number of aircraft included in the deal, nor did it give details on the expected final price, referring all requests to Denmark.
However, a State Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity on Oct. 12 said Washington “strongly supports the transfer of F-16s from Denmark to Argentina by third parties,” while the U. S. government is running for more than a year to “overcome the obstacles. “”And that this agreement can move forward. “
Without offering details, the official said it is not unusual for such foreign military sales packages to come with training, spare parts and other technical services for the destination country.
“The F-16 is a proven and reliable platform that would enable education and training to develop interoperability between the Argentine Air Force, its neighbors, and the United States,” a State Department official involved in the approval process told FlightGlobal.
Other important points appear in the local media in Argentina.
The Argentine newspaper La Nación, citing U. S. Deputy Secretary of State Mira Resnick, reports that the agreement between Buenos Aires and Copenhagen will cover 24 second-hand F-16s, equipped with air-to-air missiles and financed with $40 million. . .
Washington’s backing for the deal comes as the U. S. seeks to counter the Chinese in South America.
Argentina, which has been barred from buying Western-made military equipment since the Falklands War with the United Kingdom in 1982, is acquiring JF-17 single-engine fighters, a joint production of China’s Chengdu Aircraft Corporation and the Pakistani aviation complex.
Buenos Aires has been updating the 16 Dassault Mirage III fighters retired in 2015 for years.
London’s diplomatic tension has already blocked any deal involving U. S. or European jets, replacement Mirages, Swedish Saab Gripens, Israel Aircraft Industries’ Kfirs and Korea Aerospace Industries’ FA-50 fighter jets.
Many Western aircraft are supplied with parts sourced from the UK, such as Martin-Baker ejection seats. However, the F-16s use the U. S. -made Collins Aerospace ACES family of ejection seats, avoiding the U. K. veto.
Resnik, in statements on October 11 in La Nación, demonstrated that the approval of the United Kingdom is not required.
“We are working very hard so that there are no obstacles in the transfer,” he said, adding that the decision to move forward now rests with the Argentine government.
The previous blockade of Western arms sales to Argentina created an opportunity for China, which Washington is now looking to fill.
A Biden administration official, who spoke to FlightGlobal in August on condition of anonymity, showed that Washington plans to approve the move from Denmark to Argentina of an unspecified number of F-16s and Lockheed P-3 Orion anti-submarine warfare turboprops.
The Royal Danish Air Force (RDAF) currently operates 33 F-16A fighters and 10 Model B two-seat training aircraft at Cirium. Copenhagen is in the process of replacing old fourth-generation fighters with fifth-generation Lockheed F-35A fighters. .
Denmark plans to get 27 F-35s, according to Lockheed, and the first 4 F-35 RDAFs arrived in the Scandinavian country in September.
The Danish Ministry of Defence informs FlightGlobal that no resolution has been taken in relation to a sale to Argentina.
“Discussions on the long-term Danish F-16 fighter jet are still ongoing,” the ministry said. “F-16 fighter jets will be decommissioned in the coming years as F-35s are delivered to Denmark. “
The situation is made even more confusing by Denmark’s ongoing commitment to some of its F-16s in Ukraine. Copenhagen announced in August that it would send the Ukrainian Air Force 19 of those single-engine aircraft.
The U. S. has agreed in principle to such a move and is lately training Kiev pilots to fly F-16s.
It is not yet clear how Copenhagen plans to split its F-16 fleet between Argentina and Ukraine.
The Ministry of Defense informed FlightGlobal on October 14 that the allocation for Ukraine remained at the level indicated above.
“The Danish government will recently donate 19 of its F-16s to Ukraine,” Copenhagen said, “but no resolution has yet been taken on the remaining aircraft. “
Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said on Oct. 11 that Denmark remains committed to “rapidly increasing the capability of Ukrainian F-16 fighter jets. “
The United States, Denmark and the Netherlands are leading what the Danish Defense Ministry calls an “air force coalition” that will focus first on education and F-16 transfers, but then take care of “the elements needed to build a large-scale Ukrainian air force. “
U. S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin showed U. S. support for the effort on Oct. 11. The Netherlands has already pledged to supply Ukraine with up to 42 F-16s.
Updated October 15 with comments from the Danish Ministry of Defense.
Argentine Defense Minister Jorge Taiana, who stopped in Italy, said Buenos Aires would receive 8 AW109 helicopters from Leonardo to assist in naval patrol operations.
Washington intends to approve the transfer of fourth-generation U. S. fighter jets from Denmark to Argentina, as well as several P-3 Orion anti-submarine warfare turboprops from Norway.
Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) and the Argentine Ministry of Defense signed a letter of intent (LOI) for the possible acquisition of a helicopter.
The flight to Andrews AFB, near Washington, D. C. , is part of a multi-leg journey from Beta’s headquarters in Vermont to Eglin AFB in Florida, where the company will deliver its all-electric Alia aircraft to the U. S. Air Force. U. S. Centers for testing.
The U. S. Southern Command The U. S. Department of Homeland Security is launching an initiative with sister nations in South America for logistics on the continent and carrier-level maintenance of U. S. -built platforms. U. S. Lockheed Martin C-130s.
While the Rhode Island-based startup is primarily engaged in attracting advertising customers for its land-effect glide vehicle, the company has also pioneered the concept of military logistics in the Indo-Pacific.
FlightGlobal is the leading source of news, data, information, wisdom and expertise for the global aviation network. We provide news, data, analysis and consulting to connect the aviation network around the world and help organizations shape their business strategies, identify new opportunities and make bigger decisions faster.