After the drop in the purchase of combat aircraft for replace the flotilla of Kfir ships What are you currently using? Colombian Air Force (FAC)it is not entirely clear what will happen now with this topic, because The Government has said that they will carry out new evaluations to determine if a new purchase is projected or if the 16 aircraft that were initially discussed are acquired.
However, it is against the clock, as he explained to the newspaper EL TIEMPO General (r) Guillermo León León, former commander of the FAC, since the useful life of the Kfir would end in December 2023 and it is key that the country does not run out of these tools.
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According to General (r) León León, the purchase of new aircraft is essential and cannot be postponed.
“There is an issue of obsolescence of the equipment that can be either because they meet the time for which they were made or because of costs. In airplanes we are not talking about years of life but in flight hours, there are airplanes manufactured to meet so many flight hours, but obsolescence is also because parts or spare parts are not available and their cost is so high that it is uneconomical“, said.
The former commander of the FAC explained that what happens with the Kfir is that their previous technology is very difficult to obtain Y “you have to make permanent repairs, repairs on repairs that therefore last less and you have to go to the workshop more often and for longer“.
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The Kfir fighter jet fleet reaches its service life in December 2023.
Asked if it is necessary to buy 16 aircraft, he explained that, cWhen planes are purchased, they are not delivered all at once, but instead go into a production line.
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“This process began in 2011 more or less, we have been here for 11 years and we have not been able to sign a contract, when the contract is signed, the delivery time can be from 2 to 5 years and one must anticipate in advance so as not to be left without the strategic capability of those aircraft. It has been said that by 2023 the Kfir would come out due to obsolescence, we should already have a decision for the others to arrive so that the capacity is always maintained“.
Finally, from his experience, he spoke of What is taken into account when purchasing aircraft.
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“The FAC evaluates up to 100 items on operational, technical, logistical, financial and legal issues, which is weighted each year. There is also a political issue that weighs heavily on governments, to think about what is the best option for a relationship issue. And there is the economic part: Colombia has its limitations and the economic issue will weigh heavily in the end, they will surely look for an offer with capacity benefits at costs that the country can assume“, hill.
(If you want to read the entire interview in EL TIEMPO, click here).
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