Colombia has been attempting to replace its old Kfirs and held talks with both Saab for the Gripen and Dassault for the Rafale in late 2022. Saab is also seeking to increase its presence in the South American market after its 2014 deal with Brazil for 36 Gripen E/F jets.
Claims emerged once again about Colombia reviving its nearly decade-long effort to replace the aging Israeli-origin Kfir jets. This time, claims say Bogota is possibly looking at an unspecified number of Swedish Saab Gripen fighters. Reuters quoted a statement by Colombia’s Defence Minister Ivan Velasquez to journalists, who did partially confirm the development, affirming that Bogota was considering the Gripen, but that nothing was yet finalized.
“There’s still nothing definitive, there are many rumors, there’s no statement from the government. Once a decision has been made by the president, it will be communicated,” added Velasquez. A statement shared by Saab to the news agency said “We have taken note of the information in the media but cannot comment further at this time.”
“We have previously had a dialogue with Colombia regarding the sale of Gripen, but there is currently no contract,” a Saab spokesperson later added. The number of aircraft Colombia is considering is also unclear. The development was first reported by Sweden’s Sveriges Radio on Nov. 5, 2024. The reports also come at a time when Saab’s foray into Latin America, with Brazil being the first operator of its jets in the continent, and the Gripen E’s debut in its first multinational exercise there, CRUZEX, being held in Brazil from Nov. 3 to Nov. 15.
Failed Kfir replacement efforts
Colombia has been attempting for a long time to replace its old Kfirs and, interestingly, held talks with both Saab for the Gripens and French aerospace major Dassault for the Rafale jets in late 2022. However, those “initial negotiations” reportedly did not succeed owing to a meager three to five aircraft sought by the previous government.
By Dec. 2022, the Colombian government finally agreed on a figure of 16 Rafale aircraft with Dassault for $3 billion. Lockheed Martin, offering the F-16, was in the running too. Zona Militar said in Jul. 2024 that this decision was subsequently “reversed.”
Prior to that, in Jan. 2023, Reuters quoted Velasquez: “Unfortunately in the pre-negotiations that took place at the end of [last] year, we did not manage to confirm with the French or with the Swedish.” While the reasons behind that cancellation remain unknown, the news agency said that the reported $678 million allocation “expired,” revealing thin budgetary constraints.
Colombia operates around 20 Kfirs acquired in the mid-1980s, but the airframes have now outlived their service life. Based on the French Dassault Mirage V and powered by the General Electric J79 turbojets, the delta-wing Kfir was developed by IAI (Israeli Aerospace Industries) as an advancement over the Nesher. According to the World Air Forces report of 2024, 19 Colombian Kfirs are still in service.
In 2017, the CAF was also reported to have acquired the I-Derby-ER AAM (Air-to-Air Missile) for nine of its Kfirs that were being modernized by Israel’s Elta with the EL/M 2052 AESA radar. However, the old airframes and issues with spares had increased maintenance costs to $25,000 per flight hour, with CAF having to retire and cannibalize six of the jets for spares. Ecuador and Sri Lanka are other international operators of the Kfir.
Gripen in South America
Saab has been seeking to increase its presence in the South American market, after its 2014 deal with Brazil for 36 Gripen-E/F jets, worth $5.4 billion at the time. The highlight of the deal was Saab’s partnership with Brazilian aerospace major Embraer for manufacturing 15 of the jets at its Sao Paolo plant under a ToT (Transfer of Technology) agreement.
The deal brought economic, industrial and technological benefits for Brazil, with Saab chief Michael Johansson saying in May. 2023 that the company wished to see “Brazil to be an exporter to Latin America and potentially other regions.” This implied that Saab may have suggested, at least unofficially, for the Embraer plant to build under license the Gripen-E/Fs for Colombia.
The Gripen E is the most advanced Gripen variant, a fully multirole aircraft capable of EW (Electronic Warfare), data linking and compatible with all NATO weapons, punching far above its weight. The lightweight, single engine delta-wing canard jet is roughly in the same class as the most advanced F-16 variant.
A @Saab disponibilizou agora mesmo fotografias do caça F-39E Gripen da 🇧🇷 @fab_oficial armado com mísseis ar-ar @MBDAGroup Meteor e Diehl Defence IRIS-T. O F-39E Gripen participa no exercício multinacional CRUZEX 2024, organizado pela @fab_oficial de 3 a 15 de Novembro. pic.twitter.com/crDp4v8BrA
— Defence 360° (@Defence360) November 4, 2024
The Gripen is famous for embodying the Swedish ACE (Agile Combat Employment) doctrine, designed and engineered to operate from non-traditional air bases like roads and highways with minimal support infrastructure. The cheap cost, technological capability and local industry friendliness makes it more suited for Colombian needs than the heavier twin-engine Dassault Rafale.
wake up bro Saab dropped some epic new A2A shots of Gripen E 6003 pic.twitter.com/gYooymOx7w
— Fighterman_FFRC (@Fighterman_FFRC) February 17, 2024
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Debut in multinational military exercise
Saab has also announced that the Gripen E will debut in the CRUZEX exercise at Brazil’s Natal Air Base in Rio Grande do Norte. The exercise began on Nov. 3 and will conclude on Nov. 15, 2024. Held by the Brazilian Air Force (FAB), it will see the participation of over 2,000 military personnel from Brazil and 15 other nations from across Latin America, Africa, Europe and the United States.
The highlight of this year’s CRUZEX “is the debut of the F-39E Gripen in high-complexity scenarios,” and its “first participation in a multinational military exercise,” Johansson said in the release. The Gripen will participate in COMAO (Composite Air Operations), where “large number of aircraft with different objectives (will) operate simultaneously against an enemy to saturate its defenses, enhancing mission efficiency,” the statement added.
🇸🇪🇩🇪🇧🇷AAG_th บันทึกประจำวัน: Saab สวีเดนและ Helsing เยอรมนีจะนำ #AI มาใช้ในเครื่องบินขับไล่ #Gripen Ehttps://t.co/c1CWpjPHQt#Sweden #AirForce @Saab #Germany @HelsingAI #Brazil @fab_oficial #CRUZEX2024 @DefenceIQ #IFC24 pic.twitter.com/IUwMbfA2Jz
— AAG_th (@aag_th) November 7, 2024
“At CRUZEX, we are acting both as enemy and friendly forces, the latter being our primary role. In this context, we will conduct OCA (Offensive Counter Air) operations, in which F-39E Gripen will protect friendly forces while they carry out actions within enemy territory and DCA (Defensive Counter Air) to defend against enemy attacks,” said in the statement Lieutenant Colonel Aviator Ramon Lincoln Santos Fórneas, commander of the 1st Air Defence Group (1º GDA), the first Gripen unit in the Brazilian Air Force.
Timeline cleanser with #aircraft 😌
Multinational exercise #CRUZEX2024 media flight. 🇧🇷Video: Saab Brasil https://t.co/TJgAUhDBoC pic.twitter.com/ubYuKhaKbd
— Gripen News (@GripenNews) November 6, 2024
The Gripen-E/F also recently won a contract with the RTAF (Royal Thai Air Force), which the service announced on Aug. 27 in a Facebook post. In that case, the Swedish jet won over the contender, the F-16 Block 70.
Noteworthy, on Nov. 9, 2024, it was announced a plan by Brazil to increase its order of Gripen by 25%.
BREAKING: #Brazil plans to increase its order of 36 #Gripen E/F fighter aircraft by 25% (1/4) 🇧🇷🇸🇪 https://t.co/7Qm7zCeKnz
— Gripen News (@GripenNews) November 9, 2024
