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First F-16 arrives in Argentina
According to the pictures posted on Twitter by SA Defensa, the Fuerza Aerea Argentina (FAA, Argentine Air Force) has just received its first F-16 trainer, delivered from Denmark.
According to the photos the aircraft – a Block 10 F-16 and the first of a series the F-16s that will ultimately play a key role in FAA – was transported by an Argentine KC-130H from Denmark and was offloaded at the IV Air Brigade in Tandil, Argentina.
The first images were posted on social media shown the aircraft fully packaged and carefully loaded before being transported back to South America, with the offloading process beginning in Tandil.
Noteworthy this F-16 Block 10 trainer rather than being a combat aircraft, will primarily be used for pilot training, familiarizing them with the basic systems and procedures for operating the platform.
As explained by Bulgarian Military, this aircraft still offers significant technological advantages for Argentina, especially as a foundation for future upgrades even though the Block 10 is an older model compared to newer versions of the F-16.
Deal to procure former Royal Danish Air Force F-16s
In Argentine service the F-16 will replace the A-4AR Fightinghawk.
As already reported, Argentina finalised a deal to procure former Royal Danish Air Force (RDAF) Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets last April.
The Danish Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced the milestone, saying the defence ministers of the two countries concluded the contract for the transfer of 24 former RDAF F-16AM/BM jets to FAA during a signing ceremony at Skrydstrup Air Base in Denmark.
As well as finalising the procurement, the event saw one of the F-16s shown for the first time in full FAA markings.
Before finalising the deal, last March in Buenos Aires, Danish Minister of Defence, Troels Lund Poulsen, met his Argentine counterpart, Minister of Defence Luis Alfonso Petri, and signed a letter of intent on the possible sale of Danish F-16 fighter jets.
The decision to sell the Danish jets to Argentina has been carried out in close collaboration with the American government, who has approved the sale of the US produced aircrafts.
Block 10
The first production mode of the Fighting Falcon is the F-16A/B with the A being the single-seat version and the B being the two-seat version. The A and B versions are essentially identical and have the same performance envelope and armament fit, aside from the second seat.
According to F-16.net, “312 Block 10 aircraft were built through 1980. The F-16s still had the blade UHF aerial and small tail. Differences with Block 5 aircraft are again internal improvements with no apparent external modifications. Some USAF Block 10 aircraft were later (1987-1993) retrofitted to block 15OCU standard. 24 F-16A/B Block 10 aircraft from the New York ANG were briefly modified to carry the GPU-5/A 30mm gun pod (see CAS F-16s). After seeing limited service in Operation Desert Storm, the were converted back to ‘normal’ Block 10 aircraft.”
Photo credit: Argentine MoD
