The War Zone has reported:

The United States is intensifying its effort to sell Portugal the F-35 as Lisbon weighs how to replace its F-16 fleet. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said during a visit to the Portuguese capital on October 8, 2026, that Washington would make a “very competitive” offer. His comments add a high-level political push to a growing contest over the Portuguese Air Force’s next fighter, though Portugal has not formally launched a replacement competition.

Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel said Portugal is seriously considering the American proposal after meeting Rubio, while stressing that the government is also examining other options. “The Portuguese state will always decide in accordance with the national interest,” Rangel said at a news conference after the meeting. “There is one point that is also clear: we are seriously considering the F-35 proposal, just as we are considering others.”

Portugal operates 25 modernized F-16AM/BMs at Monte Real Air Base, also known as BA5. The fleet consists of 21 single-seat F-16AMs and four two-seat F-16BMs. The Portuguese Air Force, or Força Aérea Portuguesa (FAP), acquired 45 F-16A/B Block 15 aircraft in total through the Peace Atlantis I and II programs, but 12 of the former Portuguese jets were later transferred to Romania.

The first 20 Portuguese F-16s arrived beginning in 1994. They were newly built F-16A/B Block 15OCU aircraft: 17 single-seat F-16As and three two-seat F-16Bs. They equipped Esquadra 201, known as “Falcões.”

Portugal received a second group of 25 aircraft in 1999. These were former U.S. Air Force Block 15OCU jets, including 21 F-16As and four F-16Bs, with several intended as replacements for aircraft lost through attrition or as spares. They had accumulated about 3,000 flight hours and underwent an extensive modernization programme to reach the F-16AM/BM configuration, broadly comparable to the U.S. Air Force’s F-16C/D Block 50/52 fleet.

Esquadra 301, called “Jaguares,” became operational with its upgraded aircraft in 2005. Esquadra 201 did not receive its upgraded F-16s until 2011. Since then, the Portuguese jets, often called Vipers, have received incremental improvements, with successive mission software standards and additions that include night-vision goggles, Joint Helmet-Mounted Cueing Systems (JHMCS), and advanced targeting and weapons capabilities.

The upgrades include Northrop Grumman Litening II targeting pods and the ability to use GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bombs, GBU-31 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM), and GBU-49 Enhanced Paveway II dual-mode weapons. Portugal signed a deal in 2013 to transfer 12 former F-16s to Romania, with deliveries in 2016 and 2017. Romania ordered five more aircraft in 2019.

The Portuguese F-16s could potentially remain structurally serviceable into the mid-2040s. Keeping them effective against increasingly sophisticated air forces would require further spending on avionics, sensors, communications and self-protection systems. The fleet still uses the older AN/APG-66(V)2 pulse-Doppler radar; replacing it with an active electronically scanned array radar such as Northrop Grumman’s APG-83 would substantially improve detection and tracking, but at considerable cost.

That leaves Lisbon weighing continued investment in ageing fourth-generation aircraft against a move to a fifth-generation fighter. Portugal has become more involved in operations outside its immediate region and missions supporting NATO since the end of the Cold War, and its F-16s have built a substantial operational record.

The fighters have repeatedly taken part in NATO air-policing missions, including deployments to the Baltic States, Iceland, Romania and Poland. Those assignments have included Portuguese F-16s carrying live missiles in Lithuanian airspace during the NATO Baltic Air Policing Mission near Siauliai on May 23, 2023.

The F-35A would give Portugal a fighter designed around low observability, sensor fusion, advanced electronic warfare and networked operations. It would also place the country within a NATO environment where more European air forces are adopting the aircraft. More than 900 F-35s are in service or on order across Europe, according to previous comments by U.S. Ambassador to Portugal John Arrigo. Washington has argued that joining this group would provide Portugal with a substantial interoperability advantage.

European alternatives include the Eurofighter Typhoon, Dassault Rafale and Saab Gripen E. Airbus is preparing an especially forceful campaign for the Typhoon and has said it plans to submit an unsolicited proposal to Portugal in late October or early November. The expected package would cover the aircraft along with financing, industrial participation and broader military cooperation.

The contest carries strategic implications for Lisbon’s ties with Washington and Europe. Choosing the American stealth fighter would deepen Portugal’s military relationship with the United States at a time when European governments are debating their dependence on American military capabilities. Uncertainty about Washington’s position on NATO is prompting allies across the continent to consider reducing reliance on U.S. military technology, while they also continue to raise defence spending and buy American equipment.

Portugal already relies on U.S.-made hardware for many of its needs, as illustrated by the Portuguese Air Force’s procurement of UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters. If Washington pairs the F-35’s capabilities with an attractive purchase and sustainment package, Portugal would face a choice between the strategic advantages of joining Europe’s expanding F-35 community and the industrial and political benefits of a European fighter.

The decision will determine which combat aircraft leads the Portuguese Air Force for the next several decades. For now, Lisbon is weighing the F-35 proposal alongside other possibilities, with an Airbus offer expected within weeks and no formal replacement competition yet underway.