The F-16 Combating Falcon has been an vital a part of the Royal Danish Air Pressure since 1980, and can now move the torch to the F-35A Lightning II.
The Royal Danish Air Pressure’s (RDAF) F-16 Combating Falcon flew for the final time on Jan. 18, 2026, at Skrydstrup Air Pressure Station, concluding a 46-year service. The Vipers will now move the torch to the F-35A Lightning II, however their days within the skies usually are not over, as they are going to transfer on to fly in Ukraine and Argentina.
Official Farewell
The RDAF held an official farewell to have fun the tip of the F-16’s service with Squadron 727 on the Fighter Wing in Skrydstrup. 4 Vipers took off for a remaining formation flight over the nation, earlier than touchdown for the ultimate time at 2 p.m. native time.
A ceremony was then held in Hangar 3, the place folks have been invited to come back by and stand up near the jet, meet and speak to those that have labored with the F-16 over time, together with pilots, safety assistants, technicians and plenty of others.
“It may be each straightforward and tough to wave goodbye to the previous and welcome the long run. As a result of with 46 years below our belt, or 4 years from the “golden wedding ceremony”, it’s an period to wave goodbye to within the Air Pressure. Since 1980, the F-16 has been a everlasting fixture at Fighter Wing Skrydstrup. A real workhorse. However now it’s time to move the baton and let the F-35 step in as the most recent new one. You’ll be able to subsequently see a mix of pleasure and disappointment if you go searching at a number of of these current at this time.”
— Danish Protection Command
Among the many audio system of the occasion was Common and former Chief of Protection Christian Hvidt, callsign “VIT,” who landed the primary Danish F-16 in Skrydstrup in 1980 and later commanded Squadron 727. The Common thanked and paid tribute to the many individuals who labored on the F-16 for his or her efforts.
“We’re not speaking concerning the age of the F-16, as a result of it has been maintained by most likely the world’s finest plane technicians, and is flown by among the world’s finest pilots,” stated Gen. Hvidt. “An enormous congratulations to the 727. What thrilling and massive challenges lie forward.”
RDAF’s Future
The duties of the F-16 at the moment are being taken over by the F-35, which first arrived in nation in September 2023. On Apr. 1, 2025, the Lightning II took over the Fast Response Alert mission in assist of NATO, changing the Viper in that function.
The service stated on that event that the F-35 was deliberate to progressively take over all duties from the F-16 plane over the approaching years. With the F-16’s farewell, the service stated “technological improvement is steady, and it’s going quick,” with fully totally different necessities positioned on fighter plane, making the F-35’s acquisition needed.
“Sooner or later, we’ll see a very totally different kind of warfare,” stated Steen Hartov, senior advisor within the Danish Air Pressure’s Fighter Wing. “We’ll see considerably much less divided battles, and as an alternative we’ll see wars the place battles on the bottom, within the air, at sea, in house and never least digitally will happen on the similar time and have an effect on one another immediately.”
The F-35 will enable fashionable battlefields’ “lacking puzzle items to be put collectively to kind a whole image of the battlefield.” The jet’s capability to scan massive areas, collect data, and ship it again will present a pointy overview and perception into the battlefield.
The Danish Protection Ministry has bought 43 F-35 fighter jets, which embody 27 plane ordered in 2016 and 16 extra ordered in 2025. The primary jets have been acquired in September 2023, and the MoD says all plane are anticipated to be absolutely operational by subsequent 12 months, presumably referring to the preliminary order.
F-16s Transferring to Ukraine and Argentina
Denmark has organized for almost all of its F-16s to proceed serving with allied nations, notably Argentina and Ukraine. With the plane being upgraded all through the years and nonetheless in good situations, it was determined to switch the F-16s moderately than scrap them.
In August 2023, Denmark has dedicated to donating 19 F-16s to Ukraine. These plane are a part of dozens of F-16s which a number of NATO allies have pledged to donate to assist the nation.
The companion nations additionally established a multinational coalition to assist Ukraine in creating a whole F-16 functionality, which incorporates not solely plane but in addition pilot and floor crew coaching, logistics, infrastructure and ongoing upkeep assist. Danish F-16s have been among the many first to be delivered in August 2024.
Denmark’s assist extends past the plane themselves, with Copenhagen allocating important funding to contribute to air protection operations and the sustained repairs of the F-16 fleet in Ukrainian service. Ukrainian pilots, technicians and assist personnel additionally underwent coaching in Denmark.
In April 2024, Denmark and Argentina formalized an settlement for the sale of 24 surplus F-16AM/BM Combating Falcons. The contract was signed by Danish Protection Minister Troels Lund Poulsen and Argentine Protection Minister Luis Petri in Buenos Aires, with U.S. authorities approval important given the American origin of the plane.
The deal was carried out in shut cooperation with Washington, which cleared the switch below U.S. export rules and supplied assist. The acquisition worth was reported within the vary of a number of hundred million {dollars}, protecting not solely the jets themselves but in addition spare elements, simulators and coaching packages to make sure Argentina can function and preserve the sort successfully.
For Argentina, the acquisition represents one of the important army aviation procurements in a long time. The truth is, the Argentine Air Pressure (Fuerza Aérea Argentina) has been and not using a supersonic fighter functionality because the retirement of its Mirage III fleet in 2015.
The primary six ex-Danish jets have been ferried to Argentina in December 2025. The deliveries are scheduled in batches yearly by way of till 2028, and can enable to revive air protection and multirole capabilities lengthy absent from the area.
The F-16 in Denmark
Since their introduction in 1980, the F-16 Combating Falcons have been on the core of the Royal Danish Air Pressure for 46 years, shaping Denmark’s air energy from the latter phases of the Chilly Conflict by way of the shifting safety panorama of the twenty first century. The choice within the mid-Nineteen Seventies to amass F-16s marked a serious modernization effort for the service.
Denmark first ordered the sort in 1975 along with the European Collaborating Air Forces, a cooperative procurement with the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway and later Portugal. The primary Danish F-16s arrived at Skrydstrup Air Base in January 1980.
Over successive years, Denmark expanded its purchase to 77 F-16A/B plane in a number of batches. All through its service life, the Danish F-16 fleet was regularly upgraded to maintain tempo with evolving necessities.
Via participation within the Mid-Life Replace (MLU) and associated modernization packages, Danish jets have been dropped at F-16AM/BM requirements with up to date avionics, sensors and weapons techniques, making them broadly corresponding to later Block 50/52 fashions. Danish trade additionally contributed to distinctive enhancements, comparable to reconnaissance pods and specialised self-protection pylon techniques comparable to IDS (Pylon Built-in Meting out System) and ECIPS (Digital Fight Built-in Pylon System).
Danish F-16s flew fight and assist missions throughout a number of theatres, together with the Balkans through the 1999 Operation Allied Pressure, Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, coalition campaigns over Iraq and Syria, and Unified Protector over Libya in 2011. The Vipers additionally carried out essential Baltic and Icelandic air policing duties, safeguarding NATO airspace in periods of heightened regional rigidity.
