American company Lockheed Martin held press conference regarding Peru's F-16 fighter procurement for their air forces, where some deal details were revealed — recall Lima not without scandal this April signed agreement for first 12 aircraft at $2 billion, and then reported plans to purchase second batch — in this case price for 24 aircraft will be $3.5 billion.
As Perú21 publication reports, American company revealed some details about conducting training for Peruvian Air Force pilots — they will master F-16 in Romania, at European F-16 Training Centre.
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As Lockheed Martin noted, they are currently working on establishing contacts between Romanian side and Peruvian Air Force.
Recall since last year this center is only location in Europe for training F-16 pilots and technicians. In 2024 it reached full capacity, as Romania received all 18 fighters from Netherlands, purchased from them for symbolic sum.
Defense Express recalls Ukrainian pilots also train at this center, so important is question of how much additional load on Romania center from training Peruvian pilots may impact preparation of our pilots, since Ukraine still has dozens of F-16 fighters to be transferred by Belgium and Norway, which should arrive through 2029-2030 inclusive.
At same time, Lockheed Martin did not yet specify when specifically Peruvian pilots may begin training in Romania, but first F-16 units in Peruvian Air Force supposedly should appear in 2030.
At same time, given deliveries are often delayed, as for example with Bulgaria, which will receive second F-16 batch in early 2030s instead of 2027, not excluded history will repeat with Peru too, and then regarding Ukraine there may be very minimal training overlap.
Previously Defense Express reported after F-16 procurement chaos in Peru, newest Viper Shield system was chosen for aircraft they can barely afford.
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