The Argentine Air Force has reached a new milestone in the integration of its 24 F-16A/B MLU fighter jets acquired from Denmark. Specifically, this involves the reception of new DART (Deployable Advanced Readiness Trainer) simulators, which will be used to equip the new Training Center currently under construction at the VI Air Brigade in Tandil, the future home of Argentina’s Fighting Falcons.
The announcement was made on April 4 by the Minister of Defense of the Argentine Republic, Luis Petri, during an official visit to the construction site at the VI Air Brigade in Tandil, Buenos Aires Province. A key highlight of the visit was the inauguration of the new F-16 Tactical Simulation Center.
Through an official post on his “X” account, the Defense Minister confirmed the arrival and reception of the new DART simulators supplied by Danish company IFAD. He emphasized that the simulators: “…precisely replicate the capabilities of the aircraft we’ve acquired and allow for air-to-air and air-to-ground mission training in a 100% realistic environment,” adding: “…pilots can interact with real aircraft in flight and face dynamic scenarios with simulated threats.”
Developed by IFAD in collaboration with subcontractor Arenalogic ApS (AL), DART is a cutting-edge simulation and training system for F-16 fighter pilots, designed to support safe and controlled tactical air-to-air and air-to-ground operations.
With its incorporation into the Simulation Center at the VI Air Brigade, Argentina joins Denmark, Portugal, Belgium, and Ukraine—countries that also use DART to train current and future F-16 fighter pilots.
To sum up the advantages that DART will provide to the Argentine Air Force and its future F-16 pilots, it is worth quoting the comments made by Royal Danish Air Force officials when they began using the system in 2016.
In the words of RDAF Commander Col. Holstener-Jørgensen: “DART enables us to use a fully updated simulator in terms of software, compatible with the F-16 aircraft we operate in the Danish Defense. The simulators allow us to train key tactics and procedures in a time- and cost-effective way. With the new simulators, we can complement current training flights with scenarios and situations that would require disproportionate resources during real flights.”
It is also worth highlighting that DART enables distributed training exercises through the use of proven gateways, employing standard data exchange protocols such as DIS, HLA, and Link 16. This enables multidomain training alongside real-time operations with other virtual aircraft, both within Argentina and in other countries operating the system.
Additionally, all these capabilities will be combined with the recently incorporated F-16BM Block 10 “M-1210,” which was unveiled in late February and is being used as a ground trainer.
Finally, as pilot training continues, progress is also being made in upgrading the Río Cuarto Material Area, which will initially host the first F-16s to arrive in flyable condition. As officially reported, the first batch of six aircraft from Denmark is expected to arrive in Argentina by the end of 2025.
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