Pro-Russian channels said the Argentine F-16s were 'junk' and now they're in for a surprise

There is a wise Spanish saying that "ignorance is bold," and this can often be applied to military matters.

An F-16 fighter jet defeated the larger and more modern Russian Su-35S with a little Swedish help
Argentina buys 24 F-16s and we can now see how they will be armed and decorated

In April 2024, Argentina announced the purchase of 24 F-16 fighter jets from Denmark, a historic acquisition that will serve to renew the Argentine Air Force, whose only jet fighter aircraft were old A-4AR Fightinghawks. This purchase was made in the first months of the term of the libertarian Javier Milei, who was sworn in as President of the Republic of Argentina on December 10, 2023.

It should be remembered that the previous Argentine president, the leftist Alberto Fernández, had considered the purchase of Chinese-Pakistani JF-17 Thunder fighters, a model that made its first flight in 2003 but with inferior performance to the older F-16. So far, the JF-17 only has four buyers: Azerbaijan, Myanmar, Nigeria, and Pakistan. Significantly, China, which manufactures this fighter, has not even purchased it for its air force.

As I noted then, the purchase of the JF-17 would have confirmed Argentina's rapprochement with the geopolitical sphere of China and Russia and its distancing from the West. The purchase of those 24 F-16s has meant just the opposite. The Kremlin doesn't seem very happy with this shift, and this displeasure has also been noted in the news about the Argentine F-16s published by pro-Russian channels.

In August 2023, the pro-Russian Mexican YouTube channel "Canal Conocimiento Militar" published a video calling the F-16s offered to Argentina "junk" claiming that "Colombia didn't even want them." The video was a pamphlet attributing Argentina's potential purchase of the F-16 to an attempt to block Russian and Chinese influence in Ibero America. In April 2024, another pro-Russian channel, the Argentine Data Urgente, published another video calling the F-16s purchased by Argentina "junk planes." This channel regretted that Argentina did not purchase the JF-17, which has not yet participated in any known air-to-air combat.

The surprise came with the recent combat in which a Ukrainian F-16AM shot down a Russian Su-35S fighter, a larger and more modern model that has succumbed to a modernized version of the American fighter.

It should be noted that Argentine F-16s, like the Ukrainian ones, are modernized aircraft in the MLU version (mid-life upgrade) of the F-16AM (single-seat) and F-16BM (two-seat) versions. In addition to this, in March 2025, a contract was approved for Lockheed Martin to subject the Argentine F-16s to a new modernization process, which will include improvements in electronic warfare systems, weapons employment capability, maintenance, etc., as reported by Pucará Defensa.

Significantly, the article I published this Monday about that F-16 victory over a Su-35S has received tens of thousands of views from Argentina. Apparently, many Argentines have suddenly discovered that these pro-Russian channels were not telling the truth: their F-16s are not only not "junk", but can defeat more modern Russian fighters.

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Photos: Fuerza Aérea Argentina.