Diplomatic crisis – then Colombia buys the Gripen from Saab

CRAFT

Colombia is about to buy the Gripen from the defense group Saab. This is according to information given to Sweden’s Radio Ekot.
– We have taken note of the information in the media but cannot currently comment on this further, says Saab’s press manager Mattias Rådström.

According to Ekot, the country’s president, Gustavo Petro, will soon announce that it is buying the fighter jet from Saab. A definite number is not specified, but according to information, it is a matter of a couple of pieces in an initial stage.

According to Mattias Rådström, there should be no contract at the moment:

– We have previously had a dialogue with Colombia regarding the sale of the Gripen, but there is currently no contract.

Diplomatic crisis

According to Colombian media, the background is a diplomatic crisis between Israel and Colombia, which makes it impossible to continue with the maintenance of the type of Israeli fighter aircraft (Kfir) that the country’s air force has used since the mid-80s.

A larger part of the aircraft fleet must also be so out of date that there is a need to replace them shortly. In addition to Saab and Jas Gripen, there has also been speculation that other manufacturers will be relevant, such as the American F-16 Falcon and the European cooperation in the form of the Eurofighter Typhoon, as well as the French Rafale Dassault.

At the same time, speculation about Colombia and a purchase of Jas has existed for a long time. In 2017, Sweden signed an agreement with Colombia that would enable defense cooperation, and even then Colombia had shown interest.

– Saab needs one or more export orders. They have capacity and a production plan and they have two large orders to deliver on. But it won’t last all the way to the next program. So Saab would have to increase the number of orders, says Björn Enarson, an 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 possible deal with Colombia based on reported human rights violations in the country.

For Saab, sales of the Gripen have been sluggish after the giant deal with Brazil just over ten years ago. A number of countries have in recent years chosen other options, but recently information emerged that a former customer, Thailand, would choose the Gripen again.

On the Stockholm Stock Exchange, the information also causes Saab’s share to rise significantly and it is up almost 3 percent at 3:30 p.m.