Chile will host the FIDAE 2026 expo fair on 7-12 April. The gathering will bring together regional and global aerospace companies and manufacturers. One of them is the defense giant L3Harris; the company told Zona Militar that it will showcase its Viper Shield suite, designed for electronic warfare (EW). Travis “Posum” Ruhl, Director and Viper Shield Lead at the International Electronic Warfare Business Development, spoke to Zona Militar about why F-16 operators should be interested in the EW system.
“We’re eager to meet with F-16 operators in South America during FIDAE 2026 in Santiago, Chile,” Ruhl explained, as the company is looking forward to discussing “why Viper Shield is the best choice for fighter pilots.”
The development of the Viper Shield system moves forward. Flight testing is already taking place at Edwards Air Force Base, California, and the company “recently delivered the first production candidate version of Viper Shield operational software for formal testing,” Ruhl added.
Moreover, the operational software has undergone integrated testing with Lockheed Martin and testing at the U.S. Air Force’s Integrated Defensive Avionics Laboratory. According to a company press release, the test was conducted on both single- and two-seat F-16 models.
The L3Harris executive is confident that F-16 operators worldwide will be interested in the Viper Shield. The US Air Force flies the F-16, of course, but the system is available for other operators that operate different variants of the venerable warplane. “Viper Shield is an FMS [foreign military sales] program that is available to customers globally, with the U.S. Government determining delivery timing,” Ruhl clarified.
The company is very confident in Viper Shield, which is described as a “highest-performance, lowest-risk electronic warfare (EW) option.” Viper Shield is available in two variants: it can be installed in the F-16 or added as a pod. In any case, Viper Shield will “immediately provide greater situational awareness, maximize survivability by detecting and protecting pilots from advanced threats,” Ruhl told Zona Militar.
For example, the system provides “substantial improvements” in detection, jamming, and survivability across both air-to-air and surface-to-air scenarios, including countering radar threats with “immediate detection and advanced jamming responses.”
L3Harris confirmed to ZM that, to date, Viper Shield is by seven US partner nations with more than 219 system orders and “more expected to follow.” Perhaps in the near future, Latin America will also order the Viper Shield, as this system is a “virtual electronic armor [which] elevates the F-16 capabilities immediately and protects pilots from ever-increasing threats,” Ruhl confirmed.
In the region, the Chilean Air Force flies the F-16. Similarly, Argentina has bought a fleet of 24 second-hand F-16s from the Kingdom of Denmark. The warplanes have begun arriving in the South American country. The United States is providing financial and technical support for this project. On 26 February, US Southern Command announced that an Air Forces Southern mission conducted a “knowledge exchange” operation with the Argentine Air Force to support the acquisition program. “The addition of the F-16 enhances Argentina’s ability to defend its airspace and contribute to regional security efforts across the Western Hemisphere,” the Command explained in a statement.
The Peruvian Air Force is also in the process of selecting a new primary combat warplane. The three contenders are the F-16, the Gripen, and the Rafale.
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