WASHINGTON.- The purchase of F-16 fighter aircraft will strengthen the relationship between Argentina and the United States and its Western allies, and will give the Armed Forces access to latest generation military technology, even when they are used airplanes with several years of service. A senior US Air Force officer told THE NATION what is a fighter “Fourth generation plus”capable of incorporating advances and technology from the most modern jets despite the fact that it is a model from the late 70s.
The F-16 “Fighting Falcon” is a compact, relatively small and light, highly maneuverable fighter aircraft., capable of flying armed more than 860 kilometers and returning to its starting point – its “combat radius” exceeds that of its competitors, according to the United States –, locating targets in any weather conditions, executing air-to-air missions and air-to-air attacks. land, reach a speed of 2,500 kilometers per hour or “Mach 2”, and withstand up to nine “G”, or nine times the force of gravity. He was born in the late 70s, and his versatility gave him popularity, and also longevity. Testimony of its years, the plane made it to the cinema in the 80s, in films such as “Aguilas de Steel” and “The Jewel of the Nile”.
The aircraft was developed under a consortium agreement between the United States and four European allies: Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway. Today, the United States has more than 700 F-16 aircraft in service, and the average age of its fleet is 31 years, according to the Air Force. Ukraine wants them to combat Russia, and almost 30 countries have them in their inventory, including several NATO members. Argentina will become part of that family, a leap that has profound ramifications for the country’s foreign policy, military, technological and security cooperation with the United States and other Western powers. Even more so if you take into account that the other country that offered fighter aircraft was China.
Brian Nichols, the State Department’s top diplomat for Latin America, welcomed the purchase on social network X and said it will “deepen ties” with NATO, including the United States.
The North American Air Force officer highlighted two benefits linked to the incorporation of the F-16 to the Argentine fleet. The first is the “interoperability” that Argentina will gain with the rest of the countries that use the plane. The F-16 aircraft, he indicated, will be operating with allies and partners that will use the F-16 and other fifth-generation assets for several more years, well into 2040.
“Adding Argentina now to that family of fighters only amplifies the degree of interoperability and cooperation in which we can now include Argentina. “That is really the benefit and capability of the F-16,” the officer concluded.
The second trait that stands out in the United States It is the ability to modify and modernize the aircraft to preserve its validity, nourishing it over time with North American military technological advances. The purchase also seals a relationship for the future. The United States views the F-16 as an “upgradable” next-generation “platform,” and places the Danish aircraft on par with F-16s that have been actively deployed around the world and in conflict situations, despite his years.
Aijaz Rahi – AP
And although the F-16 is part of the family of fourth-generation fighters, such as the F-14 “Tomcat”, the F-15 “Eagle” or the F-18 “Hornet”, which were born between the end of the 70s and the early 1980s, the aircraft has incorporated technology and weapons used in the most modern fifth-generation aircraft, such as the F-22 or the F-35. The bubble-style cockpit is designed so that the pilot can easily and quickly process information to transform it into concrete actions. The F-16s that Argentina incorporates include AIM-120 AMRAAM and AIM-9 air-to-air missilesas reported THE NATION at the end of the previous year when the United States approved the operation, the two main air-to-air missiles used by the North American Air Force.
“Ultimately, you want an aircraft that you can grow with and that can incorporate that highly advanced weaponry and instrumentation, and the F-16 has that architecture,” explained the North American officer.
“What I hope Argentina will do is that, after a brief initial implementation period, they will most likely begin to look for platform updates that will allow them to continue growing from a fourth generation to a fourth generation. plus”he continued.
This technological cooperation will come with information cooperation. The F-16 operates with a system, called “Link 16,” which the officer describes as an “information lake,” a military network used by NATO members that connects the plane with command centers, radars, ships. maritime and other aircraft and allows information to be shared in real time to develop a total maneuver capability in combat. And to that is added the training that the Argentine pilots will receive, which will include combat tactics, and will lead to a shared doctrine so that they can operate with partners and allies.
“The most important thing for interoperability is the people,” says the North American official. “And that’s why you want to have shared training and tactics, which ultimately amounts to a shared doctrinal understanding so that you can operate with allies and partners, if the need ever arises,” he concluded.