On December 21, 2022, it was announced that the Colombian government had provisionally selected the French Dassault Rafale fighter in a tender for the purchase of new aircraft to replace the Israeli IAI Kfir C10 fighters in the Colombian Air Force. The decision was confirmed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro and Minister of National Defense Ivan Velasquez. It is stated that the Colombian government is negotiating with France regarding the acquisition of 16 single-seat Rafale C F3 series fighters with a planned total cost of up to 15 trillion Colombian pesos (3.148 billion US dollars). The corresponding budget allocations are planned to be allocated within five years.
Image of the Dassault Rafale C fighter with the insignia of the Colombian Air Force (c) aero-naves.comColombian Minister of National Defense Ivan Velasquez, in an interview with the Colombian Radio Caracol 6AM program, said that detailed negotiations are currently underway with the French side on the first stage of the contract, the signing of which is possible before the end of January 2023.
At the first stage, within the limit of $ 678 million, it is expected to receive from three to five Rafale fighters with their delivery to the Colombian Air Force as early as 2023. Velasquez said that the purchase of all 16 aircraft will take up to 10 years, and that the Air Force "will be able to get rid of these first aircraft quickly" after signing the main contract. [...]
Based on this, it can be concluded that at the first stage it is planned to purchase three to five Rafale fighters from the French Air Force with their subsequent replacement with new-built aircraft.
Currently, the basis of the combat potential of the Colombian Air Force are 19 modernized Israeli-made fighters IAI Kfir C10 (Kfir COA) and two combat training Kfir C12, which are in service with the 111th Combat Squadron of the 11th Combat Group of the 1st Combat Aviation Command at Palankero Airfield (Cundinamarca department, near the capital Bogota). All these Kfir aircraft were purchased second-hand from the presence of the Israeli Air Force and are over 42 years old, are close to the expiration of the resource and only about ten of the single-seat Kfir C10 fighters, as well as both Sparky, are in flight condition. In 2023, it is planned to start decommissioning the Colombian Kfir for the resource. In fact, in the last decade, the Colombian Air Force has been the only Kfir aircraft operators in the world (although attempts have recently been made to put this type of aircraft back into service in Ecuador and Sri Lanka). Ivan Velasquez said that the cost of a flight hour of Colombian Kfir is now 89 million pesos (18.7 thousand dollars), which is 30% higher than that of Rafale.
The issue of replacing Kfir aircraft with new fighters has been dragging on in Colombia for more than 15 years, but until now, for financial and political reasons, it has not been resolved. Since 2021, a new tender was held for the purchase of 16-17 fighters, in which, in addition to Dassault Rafale, Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70 (F-16V) and Saab JAS-39E Gripen NG fighters were also considered, while the requirements of the Colombian side were aircraft of new production and partial transfer to Colombia of the rights to their technical maintenance. For a long time it was believed that the favorite of the Colombian Air Force is the F-16C /D Block 70 aircraft, but the American offer was actually the most expensive. Earlier in 2018-2020, the administration of the previous President Ivan Duque was close to purchasing used F-16s in the United States with their modernization, but the deal did not take place due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. In general, Colombia's choice of French Rafale aircraft as a country with traditionally strong US influence and receiving significant American military assistance has become a sensation.
The left-wing president Gustavo Petro, who was elected in 2022, had previously opposed the program for the purchase of new fighters as "expensive", but after taking office in August, he quickly changed his position. Nevertheless, apparently, certain anti-American sentiments of the new leader played a role in the choice of a non-American aircraft. Although the Swedish Gripen NG was also popular in Colombian government circles (and, according to a number of reports, was supported by Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez), and was offered by the Swedish side at a price of only 10 trillion pesos for 16 aircraft, however, Saab AB group reportedly offered a very long delivery schedule unsatisfactory to the Colombian side.
IAI Kfir C10 fighters of the Colombian Air Force (c) of the Colombian Air Force
