Argentina to buy surplus F-16 jets from Denmark

SANTIAGO, Chile — Argentina has signed an agreement to buy 24 surplus F-16 fighter jets from Denmark.

Denmark is replacing its F-16 fleet with new F-35 jets, both of which are made by the American company Lockheed Martin .

Argentine Defense Minister Luis Petri and his Danish counterpart Troels Lund Poulsen signed a letter of intent for the sale in Buenos Aires on March 26. The U.S. ambassador to Argentina, Marc Stanley, attended the event.

“Denmark is donating 19 F-16 jets to Ukraine , and the government has decided to sell 24 Danish F-16 jets to Argentina,” Lund Poulsen said in a statement, describing the transaction as a “possible sale.”

“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,” the Danish Defence Ministry noted in the statement.

Local military sources in Buenos Aires, speaking to Defense News on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of military deals, said Argentina will pay $320 million for the acquisition. They also said banks and the U.S. will provide loans to help finance the deal, which not only includes the aircraft but also weapon systems and other equipment made by U.S. businesses. Denmark is also set to provide simulators and a spares.

Those sources added that the final contract will be signed by the end of April in Copenhagen.

The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency will manage the sale and transfer of weapon systems such as AIM-120 advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles, under the Pentagon’s Foreign Military Sales program.

Denmark’s Acquisition and Logistics Organisation will handle the transfer of surplus F-16s, while the Argentine military’s logistics directorate will surpervise the procurement process.

Negotiations for the deal, which began under Argentina’s previous government led by then-President Alberto Fernandez , also considered the procurement of newly built Chinese/Pakistani-made JF-17 fighter jets .

The potential acquisition of the JF-17 was rejected over concerns it could jeopardize relations with the U.S. military.

José Higuera is a Latin America correspondent for Defense News.

智利圣地亚哥——阿根廷已签署协议，从丹麦购买 24 架剩余的 F-16 战斗机。

丹麦正在用新型 F-35 战机替换其 F-16 战机，这两种战机均由美国洛克希德·马丁公司制造。

3月26日，阿根廷国防部长路易斯·佩特里和丹麦国防部长特罗尔斯·伦德·波尔森在布宜诺斯艾利斯签署了军售意向书。美国驻阿根廷大使马克·斯坦利出席了此次活动。

“丹麦将向乌克兰捐赠 19 架 F-16 战斗机，丹麦政府已决定向阿根廷出售 24 架丹麦 F-16 战斗机，”伦德·波尔森在一份声明中表示，并将这笔交易描述为“可能的出售”。

丹麦国防部在声明中指出：“向阿根廷出售丹麦喷气式飞机的决定是在与美国政府密切合作下做出的，美国政府已经批准出售这些美国制造的飞机。”

布宜诺斯艾利斯当地军方消息人士因军事交易的敏感性而要求匿名，他们向《防务新闻》透露，阿根廷将为此次采购支付3.2亿美元。消息人士还表示，银行和美国将提供贷款以帮助完成这笔交易。交易内容不仅包括飞机，还包括美国企业生产的武器系统和其他设备。丹麦也将提供模拟器和备件。

消息人士还补充说，最终合同将于4月底在哥本哈根签署。

美国国防安全合作局将根据五角大楼的对外军售计划，管理AIM-120先进中程空空导弹等武器系统的销售和转让。

丹麦采购和后勤组织将负责剩余 F-16 战机的移交，而阿根廷军方后勤局将监督采购过程。

该交易的谈判始于阿根廷前总统阿尔贝托·费尔南德斯领导的政府时期，谈判内容还包括采购新近制造的中国/巴基斯坦联合研制的JF-17战斗机。

由于担心采购 JF-17 战斗机可能会危及与美国军方的关系，因此拒绝了采购该机型的提议。

何塞·伊格拉是《防务新闻》拉丁美洲记者。