Colombian President Announces The Country Will Purchas Saab Gripen Fighters From Sweden, Rejecting US F-16 & French Rafale

Yesterday, April 2^nd, Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced via social media that it had signed an agreement with the Kingdom of Sweden and will pe purchasing a fleet of Saab Gripen model 39 fighters, similar to those deployed in Brazil.

According to Petro, the purchase package also comes with a flexible solar panel factory in Córdoba, Colombia, southwest of Cartagena, drinking water in the La Guajira department of Colombia near the Venezuelan border, and medical equipment for the San Juan de Dios hospital in Bogotá.

The Saab Gripen has been in competition with other 4^th generation fighters such as the Lockheed Martin F-16 and the Dassault Rafale to replace Colombia’s functionally obsolete Israeli-made KFIR fighters, now 50 years old.

Petro ran on a presidential platform opposing the purchase of any new jet fighter fleet for Colombia’s air force, though he quickly reversed course once elected, claiming that new aircraft were needed for the safety of the pilots. At the time of Petro’s election, the Saab and France’s Dassault were finalists, and $678 million USD had been allocated to the project, though the initiative collapsed when the budget allocation expired.

The setback opened the door for US aerospace manufacturer Lockheed Martin to attempt to restart talks with the Petro government for the more expensive F-16 Block 70 fighters, but at $108 million USD per aircraft, the $3.1 billion USD package would be considerably more expensive than the original budget.

Though the F-16 and Saab Gripen are both respected as excellent tactical fighters, the Swedes have touted the Gripen as appropriate for Colombia given both its ability to operate with less infrastructure, and ease of maintenance. Though the Gripen has some air superiority limitations compared to the F-16, it is able, for example to take off from a 500-meter runway—less than the length of three football fields, be maintained at a lower cost and with fewer personnel (according to Saab), and is quite capable in the types of engagements Colombia is likely to find itself involved in, such as air-to ground and anti-insurgency operations.

This morning, Saab head of Media Relations, Mattias Rådström told Finance Colombia in an email exchange that”It is very positive for Saab and Sweden that Colombia’s President Petro has announced his intention to acquire the Gripen E/F advanced multi-role fighter. Saab has the most comprehensive offer for Colombia, and we are convinced that Gripen E/F is the best choice for the long-term defense, security and prosperity of Colombia. Although no contract is yet in place, we look forward to finalizing negotiations with Colombia.”

Above photo: A Saab Gripen E at Colombia’s 2023 F-AIR airshow (photo: Loren Moss)