The first six F-16 They are already in the country and the government has made them a political rather than an operational symbol. In Las Higueras, Javier Milei He presided over the official event, attended by a large section of the national cabinet, celebrating what he called a “historic day for the country,” a phrase he underscored with a broader narrative construction: the “reversal of decades of mistreatment of.” armed forces” and move toward a “robust and deterrent” defense system.
According to the president, the aerial maneuver that flew over the city of Buenos Aires allowed “hundreds of thousands of Argentines to see for the first time how their guardian angels fly through the sky,” a metaphor he used to reinforce the idea that the new fighters would be “the guardians of Argentine airspace.”
The arrival of the aircraft is part of an agreement with USAwho authorized the transfer of the material Denmarkcontributed $40 million in foreign military financing and provide you with training, maintenance and technical assistance. The entire program is evaluated $560 million and plans for completion 24 aircraft by 2028.
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Defense, ideology and Peter
Milei also devoted much of his speech to contrasting his defense policy with those of previous administrations. In this sense, he declared that Argentina was “defenseless” for partisan reasons and because of a “systematic demonization” of the armed forces Kirchnerism.
The ceremony also served to formalize the replacement Ministry of Defense. The President emphasized the role of Luis Petri – who resigned to take his seat in the House of Representatives – and defended the appointment of lieutenant general Carlos Prestia professional soldier whose arrival raised questions among some sections of the opposition.
For the president, the criticism is “childish” and corresponds to the logic of political exploitation of the recent past. In evaluating Presti, Milei emphasized his “technical and moral suitability” and reinforced the idea that “the person who knows best about national defense is a soldier.”
In the same section of his speech Milei deepened the narrative of economic and military sovereignty: “For twenty years the Kirchnerists talked loudly about sovereignty, but they handed over a poor and defenseless country. They defunded our armed forces and tried to demonize them in front of society for political gain. If we refer to the facts, For them, sovereignty means a large slum decorated with Argentine flags.. And this is only because they do not have a consistent, productive economic vision capable of creating the future that all Argentines need.” In contrast, Milei claimed that “the only way to have a sovereign country is to build wealth and build the capabilities to defend it.”
Strategic cooperation with the USA
The first F-16 will operate The fig trees before moving to its final base in Tandil. The program includes the arrival of six aircraft per year and ongoing support from U.S. aviation. For the government, integration means restoring capabilities lost since the withdrawal Mirage in 2015. At the end of his speech, Milei defined the F-16 as “a symbol of the Argentina we want to build” and repositioned the alliance with the United States as a central axis of foreign policy. “Today more than ever we can say that the forces of heaven accompany us,” he concluded.