The Argentine Air Force has announced the definitive retirement of its A-4AR Fightinghawk fighters, ending nearly 60 years of jet operations in the country.
According to The War Zone, the official withdrawal was announced at Villa Reynolds Air Base, in the province of San Luis, home of the V Air Brigade and the last Argentine unit to operate the model.
The decision comes as the first F-16 fighters are being introduced, aircraft that will take over as Argentina’s main combat platform. The Argentine government said the high maintenance and logistics costs of the aging Fightinghawk fleet had made its operation economically unsustainable.
The A-4AR aircraft were modernized versions of former U.S. Navy A-4M and OA-4M jets. Argentina’s relationship with the A-4 began in 1966, when the country became the first foreign operator of the Skyhawk.
The model took part in the Falklands War in 1982, flying hundreds of missions against British forces. Argentine pilots used the jets in low-altitude attacks against Royal Navy ships, in operations considered among the riskiest of the conflict.
The aircraft received upgrades in the 1990s by Lockheed Martin, including the AN/APG-66 radar and new navigation systems, HUD, HOTAS and the ability to employ AIM-9M Sidewinder missiles.
Despite the improvements, the Fightinghawk aircraft eventually took on missions beyond those originally planned, especially after the retirement of Argentina’s Mirage fighters in 2015. For years, they became the country’s main air defense platform.
With the retirement of the A-4AR, Brazil becomes the last military operator of the Skyhawk in South America, maintaining modernized AF-1 versions in Naval Aviation.
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— FuerzaAéreaArgentina (@FuerzaAerea_Arg) May 14, 2026
Photo: Argentine Air Force. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
