Photos Colombian Military

[santana]

KFIR C-10 Flying above San Andres Islands over the Colombian Caribbean Sea

 

[TIGREDELAIRE]

Probably but the issue is that the final lap of life of the venerables Colombian Kfirs will be at the end of 2023. So now the goverment must find the founds to buy almost two squadrons of fighter jets in order to protect the colombian air space. Since the new goverment took power in august the race for a new fighter restarted again. The candidates are the Eurofighter Typhoon, The French Rafale, The Sweden Gripen and the northamerican F-16 Block 70.

good morning, cordial greeting, apologies for the pastoral that I will write below, but it is better that you find out what the matter is:
First of all, there is NO money, so they can offer you "the gold and the Moors", but we cannot have any illusions with expensive aircraft.
Second, the little money that there is, it is necessary to make it pay and that the aircraft can be replaced, with this premise, some of the competition are leaving.
Third, would Colombia be able to maintain a twin engine? of course NO, 2 of the competition come out right there.
Fourth, would you be safe when buying an aircraft that is only used in 3 air forces officially and a fourth (or fifth) that have it leased? I would think more than twice before making the decision.
Finally, although it is true that Sweden has offered technology transfer if its product is purchased, does Colombia have the infrastructure or the money to install it and thus be able to assemble (assemble, yes gentlemen) the aircraft? Of course NO, if the investment is made, the money allocated to the aircraft would only remain in the assembly plant and ZERO aircraft...and not to mention the restrictions on the use of the aircraft, the lack of availability of components, the TOTAL change of the logistics line, in addition to learning a new language, since it is better to receive instruction in the native language...
In that order of ideas, I, as a personal opinion, would prefer a commercial aircraft, which I think makes up 30% of the fighter fleet worldwide, from which I can obtain spare parts, technical assistance, maintenance, weapons, almost in 30 different countries, I am going to be interoperable with NATO and other air forces that use it, if we used common sense, the serious decision would be F-16 in a not very old block to allow us to update ourselves and be able to continue using Kfir weapons with the help of Israel.
Thank you very much for your attention and apologies for such a long text.

 

[BravoZulu]

^^ While I think the Gripen would be a good aircraft for Colombia, the logistics simply are too much to take the risk.

F-16 is the best fit for you guys and of course it's always better to buy the latest F-16V Block 70 but it is possible to buy Block 50+ aircraft second hand if needed. Turkey can even update them for you!

 

[santana]

^^ While I think the Gripen would be a good aircraft for Colombia, the logistics simply are too much to take the risk.

F-16 is the best fit for you guys and of course it's always better to buy the latest F-16V Block 70 but it is possible to buy Block 50+ aircraft second hand if needed. Turkey can even update them for you!

This is a long term discussion in different military forums. As I said since the new leftis goverment took power in August the campaign of the offered planes has been very strong. this have been told to me by a friend of mine who works in the Central Command of the Colombian Air Force. So then we have the example of the Swedish Company of SAAB and their offert the JAS-39 Gripen. All of us that we know a little bit of military Aviation can tell that the best choice could be the Gripen, but the logisitics as @BravoZulu said could make impossible the contract acquisition. and then the Lockheed Martin F-16 offert will be perfect to fit the needs of the Colombian Air Force. But we all know that this "Political" desition has been delayed for several years by the last two presidential goverments, and the real issue here is that the venerable KFIRS of the Colombian Air Force will end their service life at the end of 2023. And now the new leftist goverment probably will not go for the northamerican F-16 offert. It is true that a twin engine fighter offert for Colombia is a no go option, but any how the French President has make it to the Colombian President.

There are also rumors that the South Koreans has offered the FA-50 to Colombia. At the end I must agree that there are not real money for this big investment. Some people said that the contract with Lockheed Martin will cost between two or four BILLIONS with B of us dollars. thats a Huge politcal capital for any goverment in office in this days.

Finally, the big loser of all this will be the Colombian air force and the national airspace, which will be left without real protection from an adequate combat fighter.

 

[santana]

Army Female Cavalry Officer and also a paratrooper

 

[santana]

Colombian Air Force AH-60 Arpia IV Pilot

 

[santana]

Colombia plans to invest 1,200 million dollars in the renewal of its fleet of fighters

The new Colombian government has begun the process for the eventual completion of the long-delayed renewal of combat aircraft

Full story in spanish

Colombia prevé invertir 1.200 millones de dólares en la renovación de su flota de cazas

Colombia prevé destinar hasta 1.200 millones de dólares para la eventual renovación de su actual flota de aviones de combate supersónicos, según ha podido conocer Infodefensa.com. ...

www.infodefensa.com

*This would be a very good decision, it would leave the FAC with an acceptable number of aircraft for its supersonic squadron for at least 20 years. The thing is, I don't think Biden will "take pity" on us or give us anything at all. It would be interesting to carry out the exercise only with what can be acquired with the allocated resources (that is to say, we all know that President Petro can decide not to buy anything) and with the companies that have had conversations about it, and have made proposals with used fighters.

How many used F-16s would LM offer and in which version for $1.2 billion?

 

[BravoZulu]

Colombia plans to invest 1,200 million dollars in the renewal of its fleet of fighters

View attachment 416521

The new Colombian government has begun the process for the eventual completion of the long-delayed renewal of combat aircraft

Full story in spanish

Colombia prevé invertir 1.200 millones de dólares en la renovación de su flota de cazas

Colombia prevé destinar hasta 1.200 millones de dólares para la eventual renovación de su actual flota de aviones de combate supersónicos, según ha podido conocer Infodefensa.com. ...

www.infodefensa.com

*This would be a very good decision, it would leave the FAC with an acceptable number of aircraft for its supersonic squadron for at least 20 years. The thing is, I don't think Biden will "take pity" on us or give us anything at all. It would be interesting to carry out the exercise only with what can be acquired with the allocated resources (that is to say, we all know that President Petro can decide not to buy anything) and with the companies that have had conversations about it, and have made proposals with used fighters.

How many used F-16s would LM offer and in which version for $1.2 billion?

Depending on the model, age and hours flown, second hand F-16's range from 10 million USD to 25 million USD per airframe

 

[santana]

Depending on the model, age and hours flown, second hand F-16's range from 10 million USD to 25 million USD per airframe

But an F-16 Block 70 that Lockheed Martin have offered how much will cost? Any way let see what will happends

 

[santana]

BREAKING NEWS

There are Rumors that by the end of this year the Colombian Goverment has finally decided the Business of the Combat Fighter jet fleet.
So my sources inside the Colombian Air Force just recently said to me (today) that the final desition will be the Dassault RAFALE

Here is a video in youtube that said the Rafale has been the choosen one!!!

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[santana]

The Colombian Air Force chooses the Rafale as a future fighter-bomber​

The choice of the new fighter for the Colombian Air Force (FAC) occurred after more than 12 years of indecision and interests on the part of politicians and generals, corrected with a historic decision by the current government, coming to accept the French proposal of the fighter Dassault Rafale air superiority. This was announced this morning by senior officials of the presidency and the defense ministry.

It would be the acquisition of 16 Rafale aircraft with an estimated cost according to the statements of up to 15 billion Colombian pesos (around 3,150 million dollars); Cost to be confirmed when the contracts are carried out, which would begin to be paid in 5 years, according to what was reported by representative David Racero, a close political ally of the current government of President Petro.

Regarding this acquisition, President Petro has spoken through social networks due to criticism of the need, explaining that for Kfir aircraft "operation and maintenance is expensive and can be risky."

Full Story in Spanish

La Fuerza Aérea Colombiana elige al Rafale como futuro cazabombardero

La elección del nuevo caza para la Fuerza Aérea Colombiana (FAC) se dio tras más de 12 años de indecisión y de intereses por parte de políticos y

www.zona-militar.com

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz3mntSSIzwHhoO-lTBScBA

 

[TIGREDELAIRE]

Good morning, cordial greetings, in Colombia there is a stir over the purchase of the aircraft, especially since the current president was the staunchest enemy of the acquisition during the previous government, "mysteriously" he changes his position and now the change of the floats (which it is, of course).
on the other hand, Gripen and F-16 are still in competition, so not everything is said and it is expected that the final decision will not take long.
As a very personal opinion, I prefer the F-16, 26 nations cannot be wrong

 

[santana]

Good morning, cordial greetings, in Colombia there is a stir over the purchase of the aircraft, especially since the current president was the staunchest enemy of the acquisition during the previous government, "mysteriously" he changes his position and now the change of the floats (which it is, of course).
on the other hand, Gripen and F-16 are still in competition, so not everything is said and it is expected that the final decision will not take long.
As a very personal opinion, I prefer the F-16, 26 nations cannot be wrong

The financing of the RAFALE is for 20 years with a 5-year grace period (you pay nothing in those years). The GRIPEN is for 12 years, with a grace period of 4. The French government finances 100% of the process.

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And

Colombia shortlists the Rafale as its future combat aircraft
The first batch, if the agreement is finally closed, will be between three and five aircraft by 2023 for an amount of 678 million dollars.

Full Story

Colombia preselecciona al Rafale como su futuro avión de combate

Asimismo, explicó que también se han evaluado las prpuestas de Suecia, con los Gripen de Saab, y de Estados Unidos, con los F-16 de Lockheed Martin. Sin embargo, desde el Gobierno afirm ...

www.infodefensa.com

And

The reasons for the selection of the Rafale by Colombia​

Given the announcement of the pre-selection of the Dassault Rafale by the Colombian government to replace its IAI Kfir, we investigated a little more about the reasons why it was decided to change the preference of the F-16V Block 70 for the French model in recent days.

Negotiations for the replacement of the Kfir have been going on for ten years, having started in 2012, when requests for information were sent to the main companies, but Boeing and Dassault did not pay much attention because they believed that the Colombian Air Force (FAC) was not going for a serious business deal

Full Story

Las razones de la selección del Rafale por parte de Colombia

Ante el anuncio de la preselección del Dassault Rafale por parte del gobierno colombiano para reemplazar sus IAI Kfir, indagamos un poco más sobre las razones por las cuales se decidió cambiar en los últimos días la preferencia del F-16V Block 70 por el modelo francés. Las negociaciones por el...

www.pucara.org

The most interesting thing is this article, is something that pleasantly surprises me.

Faced with this panorama of intransigence from the Americans and the high costs of the Eurofighter, in addition to the limitations of the Gripen, the French decided to bet big in the middle of 2022 and start by removing the end-user restrictions, which also existed on the Gripen and the Eurofighter. In addition, they agreed to offer the integration of the Meteor missile, but also to integrate the Derby, Phyton 5 and Spice bombs, making it the most capable of all. Only the restriction on the use of nuclear weapons remains.

As indicated by the Selection Committee, they were very convinced, because they solved several issues. On the one hand, the electronic warfare capacity is customizable and they give Colombia access to the database to be able to modify it. It can integrate Israeli weaponry, employment restrictions have been lifted, it has design anti-ship capability and has specific weapons for the Rafale and is combat proven. Another advantage is that, since it was designed to operate on aircraft carriers, it can operate on short runways, which the Typhoon and the F-16 cannot. This allows them to operate in places like Tres Esquinas, Grupo Aéreo del Oriente and San Andrés. Furthermore, it requires less logistical support and is more versatile to operate. On the other hand, they highlighted that it is a more maneuverable aircraft and with a better power-to-weight ratio, in addition to the fact that, among other factors, it has an AESA radar with better coverage, since the one on the F-16 only does electronic scanning, but the antenna is fixed, while that of the Rafale moves to the sides.

Although it is almost as expensive to operate as the Eurofighter, currently, the flight hour of a Kfir is almost $18,000 dollars (it is expensive because there are almost no operators or spare parts or support), the Rafale ranges between $15,000 to $17,000, the Eurofighter from $19,000 to $21,000, the F-16 from $9,500 to $11,000, and the Gripen from $7,500 to $8,000.


So at the end of the day probably by January of 2023 the business deal of the new Combat Fighter jet will be signed by the Colombian Goverment and Dassault for the acquisition of a total of 16 RAFALE. The race is over, so no Gripen and no F-16 For the Colombian Air Force. these affirmations come directly from the presidency of the republic and the defense minister himself.

 

[Chefjavier]

Are they keeping the Kfir and transfer to Rafale?

 

[santana]

Are they keeping the Kfir and transfer to Rafale?

Well the Kfir fleet just have one year of service life and then Air Force will transfer to the Rafale. I think its a huge step on technology!!! the Rafale its a what?, 4.5 generation combat jet???

 

[santana]

here is a Artistic impression of the Future RAFALE for the Colombian Air Force

 

[TIGREDELAIRE]

beautiful "artistic impression", however, the negotiation has been postponed, so there is still time to reconsider; on the other hand, Nexter lost the Caesar contract and the Israelis won it with the Atmos, it would not be surprising if the same thing happens with the Rafale and they choose between F-16 and Gripen.
Saint Thomas says well: "see and believe".
PS: A contract was made to keep the Kfir until 2025, so they'll keep roaring a little longer...

 

[santana]

beautiful "artistic impression", however, the negotiation has been postponed, so there is still time to reconsider; on the other hand, Nexter lost the Caesar contract and the Israelis won it with the Atmos, it would not be surprising if the same thing happens with the Rafale and they choose between F-16 and Gripen.
Saint Thomas says well: "see and believe".
PS: A contract was made to keep the Kfir until 2025, so they'll keep roaring a little longer...

well after a short vacation of mine we crashed into reality, and this was that the legal framework that supported the acquisition of RAFALES expired on December 31st. In other words, the Colombian leftist government, in its eagerness for leadership and improvisation, brought out the news of the purchase of the RAFALE, announcing it to the four winds, but they did not realize that the money and document that supported those funds that the previous government left had Date of Expiry.

As @TIGREDELAIRE says, the competition for the future combat plane for the Colombian air force continues, this seems more like a Latin American soap than a serious business for military purposes.

 

[santana]

Colombian Army Special Forces Operator.

 

[BravoZulu]

Special Forces School