Members of the Argentine delegation including Defense Minister Luis Alfonso Petri (3rd R) hold their national flag as they pose in front of a F-16 fighter during a press event of the sidelines of an agreement signing on the purchase of Danish F-16 aircraft at Skrydstrup Air Base, Denmark, on April 16, 2024. (Photo by BO AMSTRUP/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — In late December, the first F-16 Block 10 aircraft for Argentina’s Air Force arrived in the country in what Minister of Defense Luis Petri hailed as the “most important” acquisition since the nation’s “return to democracy” in 1982.
The South American nation has operated without a primary combat aircraft for almost a decade, but now, after many negotiations and false starts, Buenos Aires has received the first of 25 F-16s (including one training aircraft) previously operated by the Danish Air Force. The price tag for the contract is around $300 million, aided by some $40 million in Foreign Military Financing by the US.
Just weeks before, Saab-made Gripens belonging to the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) made their international exercise debut at Brazil-led CRUZEX 2024, two years after the Swedish fighters officially joined the force.
Argentina and Brazil are not alone in their pursuit of more capable combat aircraft, as nations like Peru and Uruguay have either signed or are pondering new deals recently.
But this is no aerial arms race in South America, which hasn’t seen an inter-state war since 1995. Rather it’s a race mainly against obsolescence, according to experts, and, for any nation not named Brazil, a race constrained by tight defense budgets.
Regional air forces “need to modernize their inventories and also train their personnel to operate newer technologies,” but only “within the economic possibilities of each country,” Argentinian retired Brig. Gen. Jorge Antelo explained to Breaking Defense.
Though the threat of war is low, the aircraft still function as deterrents, and for aiding counter-drug operations. Andre Carvalho, a PhD researcher at the Brazilian Army Command and General Staff College, said that combat aircraft “are a great symbol of a State’s hard power and underscores a government’s commitment to defending the country’s sovereignty.”
Major Buys By Argentina And Brazil
The first F-16 received by Argentina, the trainer aircraft, has already been well received by the air force there, according to Andrei Serbin Pont, an analyst and director of the Argentine research center CRIES. The plane “gives the service an idea of the status of the rest of the fleet,” he said.
Also in December, Argentina signed a Letter of Agreement with the US for advanced American equipment to go on the new fighter jets. Antelo, who recently served as Argentina’s secretary of national strategy, told Breaking Defense the deals signaled a technological milestone for the military.
But Serbin Pont noted the F-16s won’t be able to solve all of Argentina’s air force woes. The force still operates the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk which Serbin Pont says aren’t flying and have “no role” in current operations.
Argentina also flies its domestically made IA-63 Pampa light attack aircraft and combat aircraft. The local manufacturer of the Pampa, FADEA, is developing a new version of the light attack aircraft Pucará, called Pucará Fénix, Serbin Pont explained. However, the new version remains at the prototype level.
Meanwhile, Brazil is contending with a similar situation: It’s in the process of acquiring a large fleet of Gripens but still needs to upgrade older companion aircraft.
“The fleet of Gripens is not enough to replace the aging number of F-5s and A-1s,” Serbin Pont said, referring to the light attack American F-5EM and the Brazilian-Italian AMX A1.
Brasilia is reportedly upgrading its indigenous A-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft to operate with the Gripen, but Carlos Eduardo Valle Rosa, a colonel in the Brazilian air force reserve, said studies are underway to determine the best way to replace the F-5 and A-1.
Smaller Budgets, Big Ambitions
Beyond Argentina and Brazil, some smaller South American nations are also eyeing what could be pricey upgrades, if they can afford it.
Peru currently flies Dassault Mirage 2000 warplanes, but those were originally purchased in the 1980s, as well as Russian-made Sukhoi Su-25s controversially bought secondhand via Belarus in the 1990s. In October this year, the head of the Peruvian Air Force, Gen. Carlos Enrique Chávez Cateriano, said he wants his nation to buy a fleet of 24 multi-role aircraft “to protect the sovereignty and integrity of our country for the next 30-40 years.” (Lima also purchased from Belarus a fleet of Mig-29s, however they appear to not be operational)
Media reports suggest some major players have lined up in hopes of supplying Lima with new aircraft, including Lockheed Martin with its F-16, Saab with the Gripen, Dassault with the Rafale and South Korean company Korea Aerospace Industries with its FA-50 and KF-21.
Peru’s neighbor to the north, Colombia, has also signaled its interest in updating its airframes, which currently consist of four-decade-old Israeli Kfirs. Geopolitics has intruded on that particular prospect, as Bogota has broken off relations with Israel over its conduct in Gaza.
Both Peru and Colombia, Valle Rosa said, are keen to maintain an effective air force in part “to address historical border issues,” likely a reference to historical tensions between Peru and Chile, and Colombia and Venezuela.
Two other South American nations signed deals for new combat aircraft in 2024: Paraguay and Uruguay, though with much smaller price tags. In those cases, each country agreed to buy six Super Tucanos from Brazil’s Embraer.
As it is, Uruguay operates a small fleet of aging A-37B Dragonfly aircraft as its only combat platform. Valle Rosa said the choice to go with the Super Tucano “was Montevideo’s decision to maintain the service’s operational capabilities, particularly for aerial patrol missions.” The Uruguayan media has put the contract at $100 million. Paraguay has no current combat aircraft, making its acquisition particularly momentous. The cost will be similar to the Uruguayan deal, around $96 million, the Paraguayan Minister of Defense Óscar González said in an interview.
Valle Rosa noted that despite interest in new aircraft from several nations, and the lack of inter-state conflict in recent history, South American nations have been hampered in the realm of defense acquisition by the lack of defense cooperation like that seen in Europe’s joint production of the Eurofighter Typhoon — as ponderous as those kinds of joint programs can be. In his view, the different acquisition priorities, budget limitations, geopolitical ambitions, and outstanding border tensions likely mean that South American air forces will continue to fly solo and, outside of Embraer, rely on extra-regional suppliers.
