The Peruvian Air Force, traditionally a buyer of Russian warplanes, has signaled it will purchase U.S.-made F-16s for its next generation of fighter jets. The reluctance of Peru, along with other Latin American countries, to buy Russian-made military hardware is the latest indication that sanctions and Russia’s inability to effectively rearm as the war in Ukraine drags on have weakened the traditional arms export giant.
The U.S. State Department approved the sale of 14 of the Block 70/72 F-16s, Lockheed Martin’s newest model with advanced avionics and weapons capability, to Peru in September 2025. Peru requested 12 single-seat models and two two-person variants, Aviation Week reported. Another U.S. military news site, Defense Daily, reported the $3.42 billion sale would replace Peru’s aging fleet of French Mirage 2000C/B and Russian MiG-29S fighters.
The United States Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DCSA) also approved supplying Peru with 14 Improved Programmable Display Generators, 12 AIM-120C-8 advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles, 52 guided-missile launchers, and other precision-guided munitions and targeting systems. The package also includes Infrared Search and Track systems, AN/ALQ-254 Viper Shield electronic warfare systems, and Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing Systems II, the sites reported. DCSA has forwarded notice of the potential sale to the U.S. Congress, which has final approval.
Other competitors for the sale included Sweden’s Gripen JAS39 warplane and China’s J-10 fighter. Russia’s MiG-35 and Su-30 didn’t make the final cut due to recent poor performance in Ukraine and the almost complete absence of spare parts. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, nearly all available hardware for the jets is being diverted to the war zone, the Mexican aviation news site, Mexico Aeroespacial, reported. Labor shortages and supply chain disruptions increasingly burden Russia’s wartime economy that already is shackled by international sanctions. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute reported Russia arms exports dropped from 31 countries in 2019 to a dozen four years later, adding to Russia’s problematic reputation in aerospace. “Even before 2022, Russian defense contractors had a reputation for providing unreliable support, especially when it came to aircraft spare parts and maintenance. An example was the sale of 20 Sukhoi Superjet 100 SSJ-100 aircraft to the Mexican airline Interjet, which after a few years began to have problems, being grounded one by one due to lack of after-sales service and spare parts, being one of the main reasons for the bankruptcy of the airline,” the Spanish-language site reported.
The DSCA stated in a September 15 news release that the proposed sale “will contribute to the foreign policy objectives of the United States by helping to improve the security of an important partner which is a force for political stability, peace, and economic progress in South America.” The F-16s would enhance Peru’s military partnership with the U.S. in part by improving precision air-to-ground attack operations in support of ground forces involved in counternarcotics and counterterrorism operations, the release stated.