With a ceremony led by the President of the Nation, Javier Milei, alongside government officials and military authorities, the Argentine Air Force (FAA) officially inducted its first six F-16A/B Fighting Falcon Block 10 and 15 MLU aircraft at the Área Material Río Cuarto, in the province of Córdoba. The Peace Condor program represents an unprecedented industrial, technological, and cultural shift in the history of national defense: Argentina is qualitatively and quantitatively restoring its interception and air combat capabilities for the protection of its airspace.
Within a regional context marked by the growth and modernization of military capabilities, Argentina joins the list of historic F-16 operators. In the 1980s, Venezuela led the first procurement and acquisition process of U.S.-made F-16A/B Block 15 Fighting Falcons; its Peace Delta program specified the integration of 24 multirole fighters—18 single-seat A models and 6 two-seat B models—formally delivered between 1983 and 1985. During the first decade of the 21st century, Chile launched the Peace Puma program to replace its Dassault Mirage fleet, acquiring 10 F-16 Block 50+ aircraft (6 single-seat C and 4 two-seat D) from the United States and 36 second-hand Block 15 MLU units previously operated by the Royal Netherlands Air Force; their reception and entry into active service took place between 2006 and 2011.
The Mirage (IIIEA/DA-V-Finger/Dagger), historic fighter-bombers acquired by the FAA in the late 1970s, were withdrawn from service without a formal replacement project. Their retirement in 2015 marked a turning point in Argentine air defense: after more than three decades of active service and facing serious logistical and industrial limitations, the need to select an imminent successor was reactivated. As with its neighboring country, Argentina projected several prospective plans for the acquisition of new supersonic capabilities, lacking the political endorsement required to move forward. Other countries such as Brazil, Colombia, and Peru—current and future operators of the Saab J-39E Gripen—also considered the F-16 as a multirole stealth fighter for their air fleets as a potential option.
The exercise of territorial sovereignty extends into the airspace, and without the means necessary to operationalize defense, protection, and control, such a mission remains incomplete. At the end of the Second World War, amid decisive geopolitical and economic changes, Latin America established common parameters for regional air defense using state-of-the-art technologies of the time: interceptors and jet fighters ushered in the “jet age,” enabling Latin American countries to equip their air forces with the instruments of attack and deterrence of the world’s great powers.¹
Considering technological advances, the F-16 continues to be a fundamental pillar of air fleets across all five continents. Its interception capability, speed, and maneuverability ensure efficiency in strike and air combat missions. Its operational range extends to 1,740 nautical miles, with the ability to carry bombs, external fuel tanks, or AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles, in addition to a modular weapons system capable of integrating electronic countermeasure pods, missiles, and conventional munitions.
The F-16A/B Fighting Falcon Block 10 aircraft—the first units to arrive on Argentine soil—are part of the initial production batch from the early 1980s. Compared to their predecessor, the Block 5, each fighter features internal improvements and upgrades in avionics and radar, along with other enhancements to air-to-air and air-to-ground operational efficiency. The forthcoming aircraft, belonging to the Block 15 MLU, incorporate operational standards comparable to those of the F-16C/D Block 50/52, modernized through the Mid-Life Update (MLU) program to integrate advanced radar systems and greater compatibility with current technological systems.
Their incorporation into the Argentine Air Force between 2025 and 2028 underscores historically significant milestones with regional impact. Formally, the country regains its supersonic capabilities for the protection and safeguarding of national interests across its territorial expanse. In line with standards commonly established in Latin America, Argentina reconstitutes its fleet to balance the distribution of air assets on the regional scale. By a wide margin, Brazil leads the subregional ranking of supersonic air-attack capabilities, with more than 170 combat aircraft by 2025—including F-5 Tiger II, AMX (in the process of decommissioning), and J-39E Gripen (in the process of induction)—followed by Chile (80 combat aircraft), Venezuela (79), and Colombia (62).
The industrial and logistical ecosystem surrounding the F-16 compelled Argentina to adhere to the highest international standards for their operation in national airspace. Various milestones of Western aeronautical engineering established necessary precedents within national doctrine, driving an unparalleled technological and academic leap. With a view toward domestic and international training of future Fighting Falcon pilots, Argentina actively promoted logistics for the construction and maintenance of training simulators such as DART (Deployable Advanced Readiness Trainer), operational systems like ILIAS, and training programs at U.S. and Danish facilities. At the bases hosting the fighters—such as the Área Material Río Cuarto (ARMACUAR) and the VI Air Brigade at Tandil—repair and reconstruction work was carried out on runways, hangars, taxiways, avionics, and security systems.
The arrival of the F-16s in Argentina rebalances the regional balance of power without undermining the collectively constructed sense of equilibrium. In the absence of a hypothesis of interstate conflict, competition is tempered by cooperation within a context where relative gains for the region are minimal compared to the absolute gains for the South American country. Argentina recovers its interception capabilities, from which emerges a complex framework of engineering, technology, and logistics that is favorable to national industry and academia.
References:
¹Hulaczuk, S. A. (2019). La defensa aeroespacial mediante aeronaves. Universidad de la Defensa Nacional. https://undef.edu.ar/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/03_Art-3_REVISTA-DEFENSA-NACIONAL.pdf
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