The arrival in Argentina of its first six F-16 fighter jets, flown from Denmark

This week the Argentine Air Force is celebrating the first step in its long-awaited renewal of its fleet of fighter jets.

Argentina buys 24 F-16s and we can now see how they will be armed and decorated
The transfer of an F-16BM fighter on a plane from Denmark to Argentina with a stopover in Spain

In April 2024, Argentina purchased 24 F-16 fighter jets from Denmark. The aircraft acquired are the Block 15 variant, upgraded to the Tape 6.5 standard: 16 single-seat F-16A MLU and 8 two-seat F-16B MLU for conversion training. The first F-16B arrived in Argentina in December 2024, transported by a C-130H Hercules of the Argentine Air Force. This aircraft will be used to train maintenance personnel.

The first six operational fighter jets arrived this Friday: two F-16As and four F-16Bs. The aircraft took off on November 28 from Vojens, Denmark, making two stops in Spain (at the Zaragoza and Gando air bases) and a final stop in Natal, Brazil, before arriving this Friday in Córdoba, Argentina. This long flight was supported by KC-135 Stratotanker refueling aircraft from the US Air Force. This Sunday, Fly By Wire Aviation (a YouTube channel I recommend you subscribe to) posted a video with footage of this historic arrival (the video is in Spanish; you can activate automatic English subtitles in the bottom bar of the player):

These first six aircraft are the F-16A M-1009 and M-1020 and the F-16B M-1004, M-1005, M-1007, and M-1008. The aircraft have been painted in Denmark in a monochrome gray scheme. The Danish fighters previously sported the classic Hill Gray paint scheme of the F-16.

For the first time, Argentina is using low-visibility roundels on its fighter jets. A curious effect is that, from a distance, the roundels look Finnish. Personally, I would have preferred the roundels to be in color; after all, the Argentine flag has very beautiful colors, and the size of the roundels barely affects the aircraft's visibility.

Deliveries will continue at a rate of six aircraft per year until all 24 are completed in 2028. The new fighter jets will replace the 36 Lockheed Martin A-4AR Fightinghawk aircraft, a modernized version of the A-4 Skyhawk. These aircraft have been in service for many years. The first A-4s arrived in Argentina in 1965, and the aircraft currently in service were modernized from part of the fleet received at that time.

In addition to the fighter jets, Argentina will receive missiles, spare parts, JHMCS helmets, eight engines, and four simulators. Interestingly, these first six aircraft carried something resembling AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, without their leading fins and painted orange, on their wingtip pylons. These are Acceleration Monitoring Device (AMD) pods. This device is used to increase the aircraft's radar signature during training exercises, in order to improve its tracking from the ground.

You can see more photos of this arrival here, published a few hours ago by the Argentine Air Force on their Facebook page.

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Photos: Fuerza Aérea Argentina.