The United States offers the F-16V to Colombia in a proposal as aggressive as it is dubious

As in Thailand and the Philippines, the United States is drawing the F-16V in a last-ditch bid to try to prevent the sale of a European aircraft to an allied country.

For two years now, Bogotá has been trying to replace its Kfir fighter jets, which form the only fighter fleet within the Colombian Air Force. Thus, in December 2022, following a competition conducted by the country's Air Force, it was the Rafale from Dassault Aviation which had been designated the winner, and was to be ordered.

However, following a disagreement over the number of aircraft ordered, the negotiations failed, while the envelope of almost $600 million, released by the Colombian Parliament, was to be used before December 31, 2022.

In any case, at the end of this episode, the president, Gustavo Petro, decided to relaunch a global consultation, rather than negotiate with Dassault on a more consensual basis. This would be close to its conclusion, according to the indiscretions, sometimes contradictory, made to the press by Colombian officials, and it would be, once again, a European aircraft, the Swedish Gripen, the Rafale French or the Typhoon, which should be chosen.

It is in this context that Washington has just thrown all its forces into the battle, with an offer around the F-16V, presented as being as aggressive on price as on the conditions of application, to try to keep a foothold in one of the main South American air forces.

While the Colombian Air Force has only a handful of Kfirs left in flying condition, Bogota has still not chosen its future combat aircraft

In 2022, the urgency for Bogotá was the limited duration of the initial envelope allocated by the Colombian Parliament to finance the first tranche of combat aircraft to replace the Kfir C10/12s then in service.

If the budgetary dimension was conducted in a more conventional manner, this time, the urgency remains just as important, if not more so. Indeed, following lively exchanges between the Israeli ambassador to Colombia and President Gustavo Petro, regarding the Hamas attack October 7, 2023, Jerusalem announced the cancellation of the tacit renewal of maintenance contracts for all Israeli military equipment in service with the Colombian armed forces, including the Kfir fighter fleet.

In fact, since January 1, 2024, this fleet only operates on the existing stock of parts, and on the cannibalization of devices. Thus, By early spring 2024, there were only 8 Colombian Kfirs left in airworthy condition., and this number has fallen further since that date.

Despite this urgency, and the fact that the Colombian Air Force has already noted the increase in drug trafficking flights, linked to the significant reduction in the presence of the Colombian fighter, the future Colombian combat aircraft has still not been chosen by Gustavo Petro's cabinet.

Conflicting rumors about who will win the race to replace the Colombian Kfir

However, there has been no shortage of information on this subject in recent months. Thus, until recently, they were the Rafale French and the Typhoon European who were presented as the last two finalists by the local press, based on statements obtained from Colombian officials.

Discarded in the first competition of 2022 by the Colombian Air Force, in favor of the Rafale, Typhoon had, in fact, made a remarkable comeback, driven by Spain, which offered part of its Typhoon Block 1 to be withdrawn from service in the Spanish Air Force, to alleviate the Colombian emergency.

There are 75% of this article left to read, Subscribe to access it!

The Classic subscriptions provide access to
articles in their full version, and without advertising,
from €1,99. Subscriptions Premium also allow access to archives (articles over two years old)

Christmas promotion : 15% discount on Premium and Classic subscriptions annual with the code MetaXmas2024, from 11/12 to 27/12 only.