Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon Developments

SK2 said:
With only 4 Typhoon in 1435 Flight, the superiority of the Brits over Falkland will be greatly diminished
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Perhaps the Falklands detachment will be increased. But I don't imagine the Yanks would allow these F-16s to be used for nuisance flights to the Falklands.
 
SK2 said:
With only 4 Typhoon in 1435 Flight, the superiority of the Brits over Falkland will be greatly diminished
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Argentina only has 13 operationally ready fighters in total and the UK has two carriers and several tankers that can bring in more Typhoons and F-35s if there's a dodgy-looking build up. There's also a defence pact with France I believe.

2024 Argentina Military Strength

Detailing the current military strength of Argentina including air force, army, navy, financials and manpower.
www.globalfirepower.com
 
TomcatViP said:
AMRAAM D and AIM-9X looks like an overkill for the region. That won't please much the Brits.
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The issue is range more than anything, they will be plagued by the same issues that limited them in '82, in any potential scenario. Additionally, they only have two KC-130 tankers, which are both very long in the tooth, and haven't been in the greatest of shape as of late.

Also as mentioned, the Tiffies down there have Meteors, which will effectively outrange the AMRAAM by quite a bit, not to mention Sky Sabre.
 
F.L. said:
Perhaps the Falklands detachment will be increased. But I don't imagine the Yanks would allow these F-16s to be used for nuisance flights to the Falklands.
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I would love to agree on expanding the Falkland detachment, but RAF may have a bit stretched due to the Middle East crisis as well as the Ukraine situation

Forest Green said:
Argentina only has 13 operationally ready fighters in total and the UK has two carriers and several tankers that can bring in more Typhoons and F-35s if there's a dodgy-looking build up. There's also a defence pact with France I believe.

2024 Argentina Military Strength

Detailing the current military strength of Argentina including air force, army, navy, financials and manpower.
www.globalfirepower.com
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Once the F-16 arrived the availability should be better as they should be fresh 2nd hand planes and debugging seems unnecessary. And France......

Jason Dykstra (Wyvern) said:
The issue is range more than anything, they will be plagued by the same issues that limited them in '82, in any potential scenario. Additionally, they only have two KC-130 tankers, which are both very long in the tooth, and haven't been in the greatest of shape as of late.

Also as mentioned, the Tiffies down there have Meteors, which will effectively outrange the AMRAAM by quite a bit, not to mention Sky Sabre.
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KC-130 can't refuel F-16 (probe-drogue for C-130 and boom for F-16)

However, I do believe the State Department should have some "agreement" with Argentina on the use of equipment...
 
NMaude said:
Have there been any moves to add the Meteor to the list of AAMs the F-16 can use?
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It is not the Meteor itself, but Turkey is developing a liquid fuel ramjet BVR missile for Kaan and F-16 Özgür (~indigenous V-level avionics upgrade) with a serial production target by 2028.

I think the current AN/APG-83 of Viper is barely enough for the AIM-120D, so hauling even longer range Meteors would be a waste, imo.

In order to solve this problem, Turkey developed an indigenous GaN radar with slightly more TRMs (~1130) than GaAs APG-83, so I think there might be a considerable capability jump.

But admittedly it's still not the same combo as Typhoon and the Meteor.

Oezguer_Project_Ammunition_Tur_Def_a0e7aebeef.jpg
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snne said:
Brazilians have access to Meteors.

https://euro-sd.com/2021/12/articles/exclusive/24815/brazilian-air-force/
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Completly forgot that one. Thanks.

But now it makes more senses:

apnews.com

Argentina asks to join NATO as President Milei seeks a more prominent role for his nation

Argentina has requested to join NATO as a global partner, a status that would clear the way for greater political and security cooperation at a time when the right-wing government of President Javier Milei aims to boost ties with Western powers and attract investment.
apnews.com apnews.com
 
TomcatViP said:
But now it makes more senses:

apnews.com

Argentina asks to join NATO as President Milei seeks a more prominent role for his nation

Argentina has requested to join NATO as a global partner, a status that would clear the way for greater political and security cooperation at a time when the right-wing government of President Javier Milei aims to boost ties with Western powers and attract investment.
apnews.com apnews.com
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Umm, did President Milei fail high-school geography? Because strictly from a geographical point of view Argentina joining NATO is absurd, for one thing it's in the wrong hemisphere.
 
Jason Dykstra (Wyvern) said:
He's wanting to become a NATO Global Partner, not a NATO member. These are nations which cooperate with NATO regularly, but cannot join the alliance. Argentina has been a major non-NATO ally for decades, even participating in Desert Storm.

View attachment 726069
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Afghanistan is a NATO partner?

It's definitely the 19th right?
 
You know that Antarctica is right bellow Argentina... (almost).
Also, it would give another thing to think to anyone attempting to size the extreem tip of South America (where reside the only other maritime cross-over route from the Atlantic to the Pacific), something that could only be reverted with a major bloodshed.
 
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NMaude said:
Ah, that makes sense, and I suppose that it might help with technical exchanges of information concerning the F-16 given that a number of NATO members fly the F-16.
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Probably, and this is also a massive geopolitical win for the US, as it brings Argentina back into the US sphere. Previous governments had been trying to court China for economic development, and the wider trends in South America were pointing towards growing Chinese and Russian influence. This could signal a big shift back to South America by the US in order to compete with China.

Forest Green said:
Afghanistan is a NATO partner?

It's definitely the 19th right?
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They got suspended after certain events in 2021.
 
Jason Dykstra (Wyvern) said:
This could signal a big shift back to South America by the US in order to compete with China.
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And Argentina can run interference with Chinese civilian* and PLA:N shipping travelling south of Cape Horn.

Jason Dykstra (Wyvern) said:
They got suspended after certain events in 2021.
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Afghanistan's current (And highly illegitimate) government would make membership with NATO as a partner nation highly problematic;).

* I do believe that the Argentine navy has sunk a few PRC fishing boats poaching fish in Argentinian waters in recent years.
 
NMaude said:
* I do believe that the Argentine navy has sunk a few PRC fishing boats poaching fish in Argentinian waters in recent years.
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Yeah definitely, and given Milei's platform, I can see that he could definitely take a hard line with this issue. Argentina already used to blow them up, perhaps this could be a potential consequence of the high amounts of Chinese fishing? There are multiple reasons behind why Milei is probably trying to win back the favour of the US and West in general, perhaps this is one of them.
 
TomcatViP said:
You know that Antarctica is right bellow Argentina... (almost).
Also, it would give another thing to think to anyone attempting to size the extreem tip of South America (where reside the only other maritime cross-over route from the Atlantic to the Pacific), something that could only be reverted with a major bloodshed.
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I don't think external security is one of the areas that Argentina needs to worry about right now. Moreover, this attempt would only poke the bear. I don't think the US can provide any serious security umbrella in current conditions, and it's not like the implied big baddie here (China) is doing anything like that either; they're not the US, they're more peaceful and they achieve their goals in a more under the radar way compared to the guns blazing US.

I think Milei is trying to divert attentions from his eccentric and unsuccessful economic policies.
 
Defense Update has just uploaded a video concerning the latest F-16/X-62A VISTA dogfight test:


The United States Air Force and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) orchestrated a face-off between an AI-controlled fighter jet and a manned fighter.
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According to DARPA, this confrontation occurred at Edwards Air Base in September of 2023. An X-62A VISTA aircraft, an adapted F-16 fighter employed for AI software experimentation, squared off against a human pilot in another F-16.
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This event represents the successful integration of the X-62A VISTA (Variable-stability In-flight Simulator Test Aircraft) into aerial combat training.
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Viewers may note that for the past several years, DARPA has been actively engaged in the Air Combat Evolution (ACE) initiative, dedicated to enhancing the military's utilization of artificial intelligence (AI) in aerial warfare. The primary goals include bolstering airmen's trust in the operation of autonomous equipment while advancing AI's role in air combat.
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In this video, Defense Updates analyzes how USAF & DARPA have conducted real manned vs AI-piloted F-16 combat ?
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Chapters:
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00:11 INTRODUCTION
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02:19 BACKGROUND
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04:16 MANNED F-16 vs AI F-16
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06:48 ANALYSIS
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Ukraine will start operating F-16s after Orthodox Easter on May 5, Kyiv has said, as the country contends with devastating Russian bombardment and the long wait for the Western-made fighter jets.
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www.newsweek.com

Surprise F-16 update issued by Ukraine

Ukraine has spent long months waiting for Lockheed Martin-made F-16 jets to take to the skies.
www.newsweek.com www.newsweek.com
 
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