Colombia to buy Swedish fighter jets to replace aging Israeli aircraft

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia said Thursday it will buy up to 24 fighter jets from Swedish company Saab to replace aging Israeli aircraft whose maintenance has become complicated after the South American nation broke diplomatic ties with Israel over its war with Hamas.

Colombia’s Aerospace Force chief commander, Carlos Fernando Silva, said Thursday they are still working on the details of the contract with Saab, so in the end the number of planes could be less than 24.

Sweden’s Defense Minister Pal Jonson confirmed on X that negotiations are under way.

Colombia has 22 Israeli-made Kfir fighter jets purchased in the late 1980s, and any maintenance can only be done by an Israeli firm. Those aircrafts were used in several attacks on remote guerrilla camps that debilitated the then-Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. The offensives helped push the rebel group into peace talks that resulted in its disarmament in 2016.

Although the new purchase plans were announced amid a lack of diplomatic relations with Israel, the last three governments in Colombia already had cited intentions to replace the Kfir jets. The administration of current President Gustavo Petro started reviewing specific offers from countries like France, the United States and Sweden.

The Aerospace Force chief commander said that the Kfir planes will continue to operate for now. Once the new contract is finalized, the old planes will be replaced as the new ones arrive.

The Swedish ambassador to Colombia, Helena Storm, said that this announcement shows the good bilateral relations between the two countries.

Colombia announced in 2024 that it was breaking diplomatic relations with Israel over the Israel-Hamas war, as part of an escalation of tensions between the governments. Petro has described Israel’s siege of Gaza as “genocide.”