Denmark’s defense ministry said Tuesday that it was selling 24 used F-16 fighter jets to Argentina as the Nordic country upgrades its air force.
The contract, which followed a declaration of intent unveiled in March, was formally signed during a visit by Argentine Defense Minister Luis Alfonso Petri at the Danish Skrydstrup air base.
Denmark is in the process of upgrading its fleet to the more modern F-35, and has around 40 F-16s, of which around 30 are in operation, according to Danish media.
The country has also committed to supplying an unspecified number of aircraft of this type to Ukraine, and has begun training Ukrainian pilots.
“I am very pleased that the Danish F-16s, which have served us well over the years and have been thoroughly maintained and technologically updated, will now benefit Argentina’s air force,” Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said in a statement.
Argentina’s defense ministry said in a statement that the Danish F-16s, “modernized and equipped with the best technology,” would form “the backbone of Argentina’s air defense system.”
They are replacing Mirage aircraft that had been in operation for more than 40 years before being decommissioned in 2017.
Previously, Denmark’s defense ministry valued the deal — which also includes engines, spare parts, simulators, and training equipment — at around 2.1 billion kroner ($300 million).
Manuel Adorni, the spokesman for the Argentine presidency, spoke of “around $300 million.”
Asked about the purchase in the middle of harsh austerity cuts in the South American nation, Adorni said Argentina has “several priorities, of which the armed forces are one.”
No delivery date has been announced, but it is expected to take place in the next few years when the deal has been approved by the United States, where the F-16s are built.
Javier Milei, Argentina’s president since December, considers Washington to be a natural ally.
In recent years, media reports mentioned offers from China and India to reconstitute the Argentine air force, which in 2017 parted with the last of its French-made Mirage aircraft after four decades of service.
