On January 18, 2026, the Royal Danish Air Force officially closed one of the longest and most emblematic chapters in its combat aviation, when it retired the last F–16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets.
The planes protected the country’s airspace for nearly 46 years, which is a F–35 Lightning IImarks the complete transition to a new fifth-generation fleet based on
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The farewell ceremony took place at the Skridstrup Air Base in the presence of Major General Jan Dam, Commander of the Air Force, and Lieutenant General Per Pugholm Olsen, Head of the Defense Procurement Office. The Danish Defense Procurement Authority provided information about the event.
Almost half a century of service
The first Danish F-16 aircraft arrived in the country on January 18, 1980. During the program, the Royal Danish Air Force acquired a total of 77 aircraft in the F–16A and F–16B variants, in two large delivery phases, and placed two additional orders to replace the early retired aircraft.
At the end of the 1970s, Belgium, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands – members of the European Participating Air Forces – began to search for a type suitable to replace the F-104 Starfighter. The group became the first international customer for the F–16 and participated in the fighter’s multinational development program together with the United States.
According to the industrial agreement, aircraft intended for European countries were manufactured on the continent. The Danish F-16s belonging to the first delivery phase were assembled by SABCA in Belgium, while the machines of the second phase came off the production lines of the Dutch Fokker.
The initial order included 46 single-seat F–16As and 12 two-seat F–16Bs, all of Block 1 standard, with deliveries beginning in January 1980. In August 1984, an additional 12 Block 15 aircraft with extended vertical control planes—eight F–16As and four F–16Bs—were ordered by Fokker to replace aircraft worn out by intensive use.
Transition to the F–35
To replace the veteran fleet, Denmark acquired 27 F-35A fighter jets. The last examples produced in the United States are expected to arrive during 2026, and the entire fleet will be a Skridstrup base, where the infrastructure required for the new type has already been completed.
The country has been participating in the F-35 program since 1997. After evaluations conducted between 2013 and 2016, the government officially proposed the purchase of at least 27 aircraft in May 2016. The parliament approved the budget of the program in 2017, with implementation planned until 2026.
The first Danish F–35A was received directly from Lockheed Martin on 7 April 2021. Since then, the country has decided to expand its fleet by purchasing 16 more aircraft, strengthening its air defense capabilities and power projection within NATO.
By withdrawing the F–16, Denmark is closing an era characterized by high levels of interoperability and readiness lasting decades, while permanently consolidating its entry into the generation of the most modern combat aircraft.
Source and images: Forsvarsministeriets Materiel- og Indkøbsstyrelse – Facebook @FMI. The content is generated with the help of artificial intelligence and reviewed by the editors.
