Cash Starved Gripen Fighter Program Nears First Export Deal in Over Ten Years

<p >The Colombian Air Force has been confirmed by the country’s president, Gustavo Petro, to have selected the Swedish Gripen E/F fighter for procurement, marking a major gain for the program which has long struggled to attract overseas interest. “Following the letter of intent signed by the government of the Kingdom of Sweden, and the approval of the country’s strategic air defence as a priority project, I report: the fleet of aircraft to be acquired is completely new, with the latest technology, already implemented in Brazil, and will be of the Saab 39 Gripen type,” the president announced. No contract has been signed so far, with the number of fighters Colombia will procure remaining uncertain. It is expected that between 15 and 24 aircraft will be acquired to replace the fleet of Israeli Kfir third generation fighters, allowing the Air Force to phase out the world’s last operational Israeli-built fighter aircraft. </p><p >Kfir fighters were acquired from Israel in 1989-1990 from Israeli Air Force surplus stocks, after the aircraft was developed as an enhanced derivative of the French Mirage III/5 of the 1950s with new avionics and an American General Electric J79 turbojet engine. The Kfir was considered long since obsolete by that time, but was among the least costly NATO standard fighters available. The Gripen is by far the least costly Western fighter aircraft in production today, with its much smaller size and weaker engine placing it in a ‘very light’ category below that of standard light fighters such as the F-16 or J-10. </p><p ><img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/04/08/article_67f5af46a3bd68_84645093.jpeg" ></p><p >The Colombian Defence Ministry was in December reported to have intensified negotiations for the procurement of F-16 fighters from an undisclosed third party, with a $600 million acquisition of eight second hand aircraft having been planned. The announced procurement of the intention to procure the Gripen indicates that plans to procure F-16s have likely been abandoned. A major attraction of the Gripen remains its very low maintenance requirements and operational costs, which are significantly lower than those of the F-16 or any other Western fourth generation fighter. The Gripen’s performance limitations including a very small radar and constrained flight performance have ensured that it has quickly been<a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/european-lost-finland-signs-f35" target="_blank"> excluded from consideration</a> by clients in the developed world, leading the aircraft to be marketed more actively to third world countries with lower defence spending levels and less straining security challenges. </p><p >In late August the Royal Thai Air Force was reported to have <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/frustrated-swedish-gripen-thai-orders">selected</a> the Gripen E/F as its next combat aircraft, with 10-14 fighters planned. A key reason for selecting the fighter is thought to be its high levels of commonality with Thailand’s existing fleet of 11 Gripen C/D fighters, which were ordered 2008 and 2010 in two separate batches. The fighter was previously operated only by Sweden and Brazil, the latter which <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/brazil-receives-first-gripen-e-lightweight-fighter-implications-for-the-balance-of-power-in-south-america">received</a> its first fighters in 2020. No orders for the Gripen have been finalised in over a decade since the Brazilian order was signed in 2014, with orders from Thailand and Colombia having yet to be made.</p><p ><img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/04/08/article_67f5af1e9e9186_29879652.png" title="Gripen Fighter"></p><p >Facing a lack of foreign interest in the Gripen E/F, SAAB President and CEO Micael Johansson in August 2022  <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/ceo-of-sweden-s-saab-admits-extreme-frustration-as-clients-don-t-want-gripen-fighters-no-sales-for-over-eight-years" >informed reporters</a> of his “extreme frustration” at the lack of sales, blaming political factors for the lack of sales. The fighter has nevertheless benefitted from the considerable political pressure exerted by the United States and its allies on states such as Colombia and Thailand not to procure fighters from non-Western sources such as China and Russia, which has ruled out competitive rival aircraft such as the <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/jf-17-block-3-vs-j-10c-comparing-china-s-two-advanced-new-single-engine-fighters" target="_blank">J-10C and JF-17 Block 3</a> from consideration. The Gripen E/F has failed to gain interest from countries outside the Western sphere of influence, with the rival similarly sized Chinese JF-17 Block III fighter and larger J-10C having recently gained orders from Pakistan, Azerbaijan, and according to some reports Egypt as well, while being considered by Uzbekistan and Bangladesh among others.</p>

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