Data has emerged in the Colombian press regarding the government's plans to purchase 10 JAS 39 Gripen aircraft from Sweden, which are to be manufactured in Brazil. The potential value of this deal amounts to 2 billion dollars.
The United States reacted aggressively, promising to block the use of all components produced by them for the Gripens in Colombia. This primarily concerns the General Electric F414G engine, as noted by the portal Infodefensa.
As the authors of this publication clarify, U.S. representatives justify their actions by citing a supposed desire to prevent "corruption and insider deals," as well as the necessity to create a sufficient level of mutual integration between the American and Colombian air forces.
In other words, the U.S. seems to be leveraging its influence to compel one of the Latin American countries within its sphere of interest to purchase the F-16 instead of the Gripen. Moreover, it is possible that the offer from the U.S. for the F-16 may have turned out to be less advantageous for Colombia than the Gripen option.
Further details from the publication indicate that out of the potential contract value of 2 billion dollars, half, or 1 billion dollars, would be allocated for the development of infrastructure to service the JAS 39 Gripen. Thus, Sweden’s offer to Colombia is packaged in a way that could indeed appear remarkably attractive.
From Defense Express, we would like to add a few points. Currently, Colombia has "on paper" 22 Kfir aircraft of Israeli manufacture, but their service life officially expired in 2023. It is believed that the Colombian air force could theoretically still operate a few of their Kfir jets, but this only highlights the urgency for new jet fighters in the country.
Sweden made the offer to sell Gripens to Colombia in the fall of 2024, with the condition that these aircraft would be manufactured at suitable facilities in Brazil. At that time, the U.S. attempted to block the potential deal using formal instruments, such as investigating Brazil's procurement of Swedish Gripens.
Now, however, the Americans have taken direct aggressive steps against one of their European partners. Although from a formal standpoint, this appears to be a "simple" struggle for the arms market in Latin America.
