The Royal Danish Air Force officially closed one of the longest and most emblematic chapters of its combat aviation history on January 18, 2026, by retiring its last F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets.
The aircraft had defended the country’s airspace for nearly 46 years, marking a complete transition to a new fifth-generation fleet centered on the F-35 Lightning II.
The farewell took place during a ceremony at Skrydstrup Air Base, attended by Major General Jan Dam, Chief of the Air Force, and Lieutenant General Per Pugholm Olsen, Head of the Defence Acquisition Office. The event was announced by the Danish Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organization.
Nearly half a century of service
The first Danish F-16 landed in the country on January 18, 1980. Over the course of the program, the Royal Danish Air Force acquired 77 aircraft in the F-16A and F-16B variants in two major batches, plus two additional orders to replace airframes that were prematurely decommissioned.
In the late 1970s, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and the Netherlands—members of the European Participating Air Forces—began searching for a replacement for the F-104 Starfighter. The group became the first international customer of the F-16 and, together with the United States, took part in a multinational development program for the fighter.
Under the industrial agreement, aircraft destined for European countries would be manufactured on the continent. Denmark’s first-batch F-16s were assembled by SABCA in Belgium, while those from the second batch came off Fokker’s production lines in the Netherlands.
The initial order included 46 single-seat F-16A and 12 twin-seat F-16B aircraft, all in the Block 1 standard, with deliveries beginning in January 1980. In August 1984, an additional 12 Block 15 aircraft with extended tails—eight F-16A and four F-16B—were ordered, manufactured by Fokker to replace aircraft already worn out by intensive use.
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Transition to the F-35
To replace the veteran fleet, Denmark acquired 27 F-35A fighters. The final aircraft, produced in the United States, are expected to be delivered throughout 2026, with the entire fleet based at Skrydstrup, where the dedicated infrastructure for the new aircraft has already been completed.
The country has participated in the F-35 program since 1997. Following evaluations conducted between 2013 and 2016, the government officially recommended in May 2016 the purchase of at least 27 aircraft. Parliament approved the program’s budget in 2017, with implementation scheduled through 2026.
Denmark received its first F-35A on April 7, 2021, directly from Lockheed Martin. Since then, the country has decided to expand the fleet with an additional purchase of 16 aircraft, strengthening its air defense and power-projection capabilities within the NATO context.
With the retirement of the F-16, Denmark closes an era marked by decades of interoperability and readiness, while consolidating its definitive entry into the most advanced generation of combat aircraft.
Source and images: Forsvarsministeriets Materiel- og Indkøbsstyrelse – Facebook @FMI. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
