Purchase of combat aircraft falls due to expiration of Conpes

Recently, the government of Gustavo Petro announced the need to renewal of the supersonic war fleet of the Colombian Air Force. This involves the purchase of new combat aircraft to replace the fleet of Kfir aircraft currently operating in the country.

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The companies that have been competing to sell their combat aircraft to Colombia are Lockheed Martin, with its F-16 (Viper block 70); Saab, with its Gripen E/F; Dassault Aviation, with Rafale C/F3, and Eurofighter, with its Typhoon (C.16).

However, in the last few hours, Defense Minister Iván Velásquez, in an interview for ‘Caracol Radio’, announced that the purchases that were being negotiated had fallen.

“Unfortunately, in the pre-negotiations that took place at the end of the year, we were unable to come to terms with either the French or the Swedes.“, said the minister. The above due to an expiration of the Conpes that had been signed during the government of Iván Duque.

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“The Conpes that allowed these acquisitions for 678 million dollars expired. This year the definition of the possibility of acquiring aircraft and the issuance of a new Conpes for that purpose will be subject to a new review,” Velásquez pointed out.

The deadline for comply with the periods established in the Conpes was last December 31, 2022. However, there was no agreement with Saab or Rafale before the deadline.

According to sources close to the Palace, a decision has not yet been made on the purchase of new or repowered aircraft. The same sources add that despite the fact that during the campaign today President Petro had ruled out the purchase of war planes, the decision was reconsidered “due to a responsibility towards National Defense.”

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For now, the Minister of Defense asserted that decisions regarding the purchase or not of aircraft will be they will continue to discuss in the council of ministers.

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