After President Gustavo Petro announced the replacement of a fleet of Kfir aircraft from the Colombian Air Force (FAC), which are close to completing their useful life, The Government confirmed the pre-selection of the French Rafale aircraft as the first option to change the fleet.
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Should negotiations progress and procurement contracts are signed, the 16 Rafale fighters would enter into operation for 10 years.
“The Colombian Air Force will have an air superiority force that will replace our old Kfir aircraft (…) because, in reality, it was already a danger to get on those aircraft,” said the head of state in a ceremony where he confirmed the purchase intention.
Faced with the strong criticism that the Government has received for the million-dollar investment that the replacement of the air fleet entails, President Petro stated that “Not a single peso will be spent from the tax reform or from social investment in combat planes.”
According to the president, his government’s priorities “They are and will be agrarian reform, zero hunger, free higher education, the well-being of mothers who are heads of households and the country’s youth.”
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The Presidency reported that if the negotiation is closed, the debt will begin to be paid within five years “with the objective of not sacrificing resources that today are essential for social spending, but rather that this investment can be made under better economic conditions,” exposed.
Characteristics of the Rafale fighter
To choose these planes, the Government studied three offers, one from the United States, one from France and one from Sweden, “and made the pre-selection of the proposal presented by the Government of France for the acquisition of 16 Rafale aircraft. The other options presented to Colombia were the Gripen (Swedish-made) and F-16 (US-made) aircraft,” the government maintained.
Regarding the reasons for the choice of the Rafale, through a communiqué the Presidency maintained that up to now “The Rafale aircraft proposal is the best option for the country in relation to price, efficiency and operability. One hour of flight of a Rafale aircraft is approximately 30% cheaper than the hour of flight of a K-FIR (estimated at 89 millions of pesos)”.
It was emphasized that there are no signed contracts and this is a pre-negotiation in the middle of a process that began 12 years ago, through the Ministry of Defense and the Colombian Air Force.
“The offer that the Government will study has an estimated cost of up to 15 billion pesos and not 26 billion pesos, as has been said erroneously”the government maintained.
In the same way, they explained that in addition to the planes, all the offers that Colombia has studied contemplate ‘off-set’, which is an industrial compensation for the transfer of knowledge and technology, “for further growth of the aeronautical, cybersecurity and defense and aerospace sectors in the country.”
For othersthe Presidency emphasized that resources from the tax reform will not be used for the purchase of these aircraft and that this pre-negotiation of the Rafale is different from a contract that has been underway since 2021 for the acquisition of training aircraft.
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Likewise, the Government insisted that renewing the Israeli-made Kfir fleet is necessary because the current fleet has had more than 42 years of use, of which more than 30 years have been in operation in Colombia. “Its operation and maintenance is expensive and can be risky. Colombia is today practically the only operator of the Kfir platform. That means that no aircraft or spare parts are produced, that is, it is an unsustainable capacity.”
The Rafale C/F3 manufactured by the French Dassault Aviation are described as fighter aircraft with the guarantee of a group of capabilities that have been called ‘Omnirole’, air defense, air superiority, reconnaissance, dynamic guidance, air-ground precision interdiction, anti-ship strikes, nuclear deterrence, and buddy-to-buddy refueling.
In addition, the parent company of these aircraft has described them as a “Air Force single-seater, Air Force two-seat Rafale B and Navy single-seater Rafale M have the closest airframe similarity and very similar equipment and mission capabilities.”
According to the website of Dassault Aviationthis fighter is capable of carrying 1.5 times its weight in weapons and fuel.
The company adds that it is designed for air-to-air combat and interception with a 30mm cannon, Mica IR/EM missiles, and Meteor missiles, as well as close air support using a 30mm cannon, GBU laser-guided bombs, and UAV-guided bombs. GPS AASM.
It can also be used in maritime attack using the Exocet AM39 Block 2 missile and other air-to-surface weapons and in real-time tactical and strategic reconnaissance using the Areos module.
In the same way, offers the possibility of in-flight refueling between friends and nuclear deterrence using the ASMP-A missile.
The manufacturing company adds that the Rafale “has proven its worth in foreign operations in various theaters: Afghanistan, Libya, Mali, Iraq and Syria.”
BRIEFCASE
With information from EL TIEMPO
