The event in which President Javier Milei wanted to star this Sunday was brought forward with the flyover of the first six F-16 “Half Life” aircraft purchased by the Kingdom of Denmark in a package of 24 used aircraft for $301 million. Today I expected the fighters to fly over the city of Buenos Aires, but they have moved up the low-level flight to this Saturday, as a chapter before their presentation in Río Cuarto, south of Cordoba. President Javier Milei and a large part of the cabinet traveled there for the premiere. Also present was North American Ambassador Peter Lamelas, who attended the event for two reasons: the planes were made in the United States and Denmark could never have sold them to Argentina without Washington’s approval.
The President was accompanied by his sister, Secretary General of the Presidential Office, Karina Milei. the chief of staff Manuel Adorni; the ministers Luis Petri (defense), Luis Caputo (economy), Diego Santilli (interior), Federico Rumpfenneger (deregulation) and Pablo Quirno (foreign relations) as well as the head of the lower house, Martín Menem.
Milei was thrilled. At the military event, he said that “hundreds of thousands of Argentines were able to look into the sky and see for the first time their guardian angels crossing the sky.” He praised the fighters deployed. “From today, each and every one of us will be a little safer,” he stressed, assuring the need to once again strengthen the structure and armament of the Argentine Armed Forces. “Previous governments left us defenseless,” accused the same president, who canceled the National Defense Fund created during the second presidency of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner to provide the three weapons with an annual investment of 0.8% of GDP. Milei emphasized that “after a long wait,” the country finally has “the first six F-16 fighter jets.”
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Petri is about to leave office and will be replaced by Lt. Gen. Carlos Presti, who will be the first uniformed officer to lead the Libertador building in 44 years. In this context, Milei defined: “In an effort to make political use of a national tragedy such as the last military dictatorship, Kirchnerism has devoted itself in recent decades to the demonization of our armed forces and the resentment of the relationship between them and society. Now, protected by conjugating ghosts of the past, they reject the appointment of the lieutenant general (Carlos Presti), but the appointment of the new (defense) minister is based on his suitability for the position.” “We’re not trying to get the people in front of the camera who know the most, but the people who know the subject best. And logically, the person who knows the most about national defense is a soldier.”
The planes flew 17,000 kilometers from Denmark. It is the same path that the remaining 18 will take. They were acquired for $301 million, paid in five annual installments, in an operation approved by the United States and, according to critics of the operation, also by British intervention, so that their firing radars would be subject to restrictions in the event of deployment in the Malvinas.
Despite the criticism, the Bundeswehr High Command assures that it is a very important milestone for the country. They defined it as a qualitative leap in air defense capacity, particularly due to the end of the useful life of the French-made Mirage IV aircraft. They insist that the country has had no airborne military defense capacity for years and that purchasing fighter jets, one way or another, is one of the most pressing issues, regardless of the government’s political stripe. The problem is that Milei has decided to use this operation to replace the purchase of new aircraft of Chinese, French and Belgian origin. As PERFIL reported last Sunday, the deep chainsaw has wreaked havoc in the military apparatus, such as the military aircraft factory (Fadea) in Córdoba, which is on the verge of closure due to budget cuts. Petri’s management leaves a negative balance and is a foretaste of the gauntlet that Presti will have to run. According to a request for access to public information submitted by the newspaper PERFIL, 1,128 soldiers had withdrawn by the end of August. However, the media noted that the official number of those requesting dismissal was much higher and was acknowledged by the Chief of Staff in his final report submitted to Congress. He claimed that 840 officers and 2,389 non-commissioned officers had already left due to low salaries, among other reasons.
Are there restrictions on the use of fighters in the Malvinas?
In the Ministry of Defense they reject the criticism, but questions have not been resolved about the alleged limitations that the aircraft would have with the missile operating software, in particular to prevent them from posing a problem for any member of NATO, of which the United Kingdom is a founding member. “This supersonic weapon system is the most important military aviation acquisition of the last 40 years. The F-16 for Argentines is much more than a fighter aircraft, it is the symbol of a strategic decision to restore the deterrence capacity that we should never have lost,” Petri said on February 24 at the VI. Tandil Air Brigade. It was an event to present the “Integration of the F-16 Weapon System” and the “Aircraft No. 25, which will be part of the Ground Instruction Center,” installed in Tandil for the training of pilots who will learn how to use the new weapons. However, when Petri traveled to Copenhagen in April 2024 to sign the purchase, the Defense Portfolio reported that “the agreement includes the supply of four flight simulators, eight engines and spare parts for the aircraft with a five-year warranty.” He also added that “the contract provides for the training of pilots and mechanics who will work on this weapon system.”
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