According to Ekot, the country's president Gustavo Petro will soon announce that they are buying fighter jets from Saab. No definitive number is specified, but according to sources, it concerns a few units in an initial phase.
According to Mattias Rådström, there is no contract at present:
We have had a dialogue with Colombia regarding the sale of Gripen since earlier, but there is no contract at present.
Diplomatic Crisis
The background, according to Colombian media, is a diplomatic crisis between Israel and Colombia, which makes it impossible to continue with the maintenance of the type of Israeli fighter jets (Kfir) that the country's air force has used since the mid-1980s.
A larger part of the aircraft fleet is also so outdated that there is a need to replace them soon. In addition to Saab and Jas Gripen, there have also been speculations about other manufacturers being relevant, such as the American F-16 Falcon and the European collaboration in the form of Eurofighter Typhoon, as well as the French Rafale Dassault.
Speculations about Colombia and a purchase of Jas have simultaneously existed for a long time. In 2017, Sweden signed an agreement with Colombia that would enable defense cooperation, and already then Colombia had shown interest.
- Saab needs one or several export orders. They have capacity and a production plan and they have two large orders to deliver on. But it will not be enough all the way to the next program. So Saab would need to get more orders, says Björn Enarson, analyst at Danske Bank, who follows Saab.
Strong Criticism
At the same time, there has also been strong criticism from human rights activists regarding a potential deal with Colombia due to reported human rights violations in the country.
For Saab, the sale of Gripen has been slow after the giant deal with Brazil over ten years ago. Several countries have chosen other alternatives in recent years, but recently, it emerged that a former customer, Thailand, would choose Gripen again.
On the Stockholm Stock Exchange, the news also causes Saab's share to rise significantly, and it is up almost 3 percent by 15:30.
