When Denmark chose to acquire a fleet of 58 F-16 combat aircraft in 1975, it received sub-stantial and disproportionate benefits given the way that investment was made and managed. Buying a common aircraft type together with allies deepened Denmark’s ties to its Alliance partners, including deploying in multinational formations with those partners. It enabled multinational cooperation to modernize the aircraft at greatly reduced costs over its lifetime.
Common aircraft also enabled improved training opportunities for Danish pilots and substantial assistance from the United S
tates when pilot shortages threatened to idle 25 percent of Danish F-16s. Common aircraft did not guarantee that Denmark would be as effective as others in coalition air campaigns, however. This required substantial modernization of the aircraft,
acquisition of advanced systems and munitions, reorganization of the Royal Danish Air Force, a change in its organizational culture, and sufficient numbers of pilots. Once these adaptations occurred, Danish performance in expeditionary air operations garnered Denmark praise from its coalition and Alliance partners. Danish leaders should cooperate with its allies in a similar way to replicate this experience when they choose a replacement aircraft in 2016.