Rank #36 · Americas
Argentina's defense budget contracted in real terms in 2025 to approximately $3.88B (0.76% of GDP) as President Javier Milei's administration pursued fiscal consolidation. The headline acquisition program is 24 Danish F-16AM/BM Fighting Falcons purchased in 2023, with the first jets arriving in late 2025 and full integration at VI Air Brigade in Tandil expected in 2026, ending a multi-decade combat-aircraft capability gap since the retirement of the Mirage and A-4 Falklands-era fleets.
Argentina's defense budget has been chronically squeezed by macroeconomic volatility. The Milei government's 2024-2025 austerity program ("motosierra") reduced public spending broadly; the defense share remained at roughly 0.7-0.8% of GDP but declined in absolute dollar terms as peso depreciation and spending caps hit procurement. The 2026 Budget Bill included specific line items for F-16 infrastructure — hangar construction, ground-support equipment, and logistics contracts at Tandil — as capital investment scheduled 2026-2028. Personnel costs remain the largest budget share given Argentina's relatively large active-duty headcount relative to equipment spending.
The Argentine Armed Forces number approximately 72,000 active-duty personnel across the Army, Navy, and Air Force, with about 30,000 reservists. The Army operates aging TAM medium tanks and M113 APCs; procurement of 8×8 armored vehicles is a stated modernization priority. The Navy operates a handful of MEKO-type frigates, Salta-class (TR-1700) diesel-electric submarines, and the Antarctic logistics vessel ARA Almirante Irízar. The Air Force is transitioning to F-16AM/BMs. Argentina also contributes regularly to UN peacekeeping operations in Haiti (historically), Cyprus, and the Middle East, which has shaped its force-projection profile toward expeditionary constabulary tasks.
Argentina maintains modest domestic defense production: DGFM/FAMA produces small arms and ammunition; TANDANOR handles naval repair and overhaul; FAdeA (Fábrica Argentina de Aviones) builds the IA-63 Pampa jet trainer and has maintained Mirage and Skyhawk airframes. The F-16 acquisition is a foreign-government sale with no significant local content. Government budgets for FAdeA have been volatile; Milei administration reviews of state-enterprise subsidy created uncertainty about long-term industrial strategy. Argentina has historically exported light aircraft and military patrol vessels to regional neighbors.
Argentina has no active armed conflict. Its primary territorial dispute — the Falkland Islands/Malvinas — remains diplomatically frozen; UK garrison there includes Eurofighters and the Mount Pleasant base. The Milei government has not signaled any change in Malvinas policy. Argentina's southern Antarctic territory and logistics chains in the South Atlantic require patrol and sustainment. Drug-trafficking pressure at northern borders (Bolivia, Paraguay) creates internal-security demand that absorbs some military capacity. Argentina cooperates with the US on counter-narcotics and participates in UNITAS maritime exercises.
In 2023, Argentina purchased 24 F-16AM/BM fighters from Denmark for approximately $300M — a landmark deal ending decades without a supersonic combat aircraft. The first operational jets arrived at VI Air Brigade, Tandil, in late 2025. The 2026 Budget Bill, published September 2025, earmarks infrastructure investment for F-16 integration through 2028. President Milei's administration froze a range of defense procurement outside the F-16 program as part of broader fiscal consolidation throughout 2024-2025. SIPRI confirmed Argentine 2025 military spending at approximately $3.88B, a nominal decline from 2024.
The US government-to-government FMS route for new-build F-16s or F-35s involves lengthy approval processes and high per-unit cost. Denmark's surplus F-16AM/BMs (freed up by its transition to F-35s) were offered as an FMS transfer, approved by the US State Department as required for third-country re-sale. The 24-jet deal at approximately $300M provided Argentina a proven platform quickly at a fraction of new-build cost.
Approximately 0.76% in 2025, among the lowest for a country of Argentina's size and regional power status. The Milei government's fiscal austerity has constrained defense spending despite the F-16 program. The historical baseline was also low: Argentina did not have a formal minimum GDP percentage target as of 2026.
No. Argentina renounced nuclear weapons development in the 1990s as part of the Tlatelolco Treaty and the Brazil-Argentina Agreement on Nuclear Cooperation (ABACC). Argentina operates two CANDU-type power reactors and the INVAP company exports research reactors internationally, but the military nuclear program was formally closed.
Argentina is the largest claimant in Antarctic territory and maintains permanent scientific/military bases there year-round. The Navy's Antarctic Squadron — including the icebreaker ARA Almirante Irízar and the transport ARA Canal Beagle — supports annual resupply missions. Argentina views Antarctic logistics capacity as both a sovereign priority and a projection of South Atlantic presence.