{"id":54246,"date":"2023-12-16T23:38:42","date_gmt":"2023-12-16T22:38:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=54246"},"modified":"2024-12-16T03:01:05","modified_gmt":"2024-12-16T02:01:05","slug":"the-potential-sale-of-spanish-eurofighters-to-colombia-and-the-risk-of-losing-capabilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2023\/12\/16\/the-potential-sale-of-spanish-eurofighters-to-colombia-and-the-risk-of-losing-capabilities\/","title":{"rendered":"The potential sale of Spanish Eurofighters to Colombia and the risk of losing capabilities"},"content":{"rendered":"

Colombia has been a possible Eurofighter customer for years, and a political situation has recently reinforced that possibility.<\/p>\n

The airplanes and helicopters that the Spanish Air Force expects to receive soon<\/a><\/rel>
\nThe excellent demonstration of a Eurofighter of the Spanish Air Force in the Czech Republic<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n

The IAI Kfir fighters of the Colombian Air Force<\/big><\/p>\n

Currently, the only fighters that the Colombian Air Force (FAC) has are 19 IAI Kfir manufactured in Israel. In 1989, Colombia purchased 12 single-seat Kfir C.2 and 1 two-seat Kfir TC.2 from Israel<\/strong>, all of them second-hand aircraft from the Israeli Air Force. In 2008, Colombia purchased another 24 Kfir<\/strong>, in this case belonging to the C.10 and C.12 variants. Currently, the Colombian Air Force maintains 19 Kfir operational:<\/strong> 17 single-seaters and 2 two-seaters. These aircraft are already veterans and the end of their operational life is scheduled for 2025<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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An IAI Kfir fighter of the Colombian Air Force (Photo: Fuerza A\u00e9rea Colombiana<\/a>).<\/div>\n

The problem created with the breakdown of relations between Colombia and Israel<\/big><\/p>\n

Aware that they were old aircraft, Colombia began looking for possible replacements for its Kfirs in 2007.<\/strong> Then the idea was to buy F-16s, but the FAC did not have trained personnel to maintain aircraft of this type. That's when the purchase of more Kfirs arose. Now, the end of the operational life of these planes comes in a scenario of breaking diplomatic relations between Colombia and Israel<\/strong>, due to the position of the Colombian president, the ultra-leftist Gustavo Petro. Petro's slamming of the door on Israel has closed the door for the FAC to the main source of spare parts for Kfir<\/strong>, leaving Colombia in a very complicated position.<\/p>\n

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The French Dassault Rafale was the strongest candidate to replace the Colombian Kfirs, but economic issues frustrated the operation (Photo: Arm\u00e9e de l'Air).<\/div>\n

The option of the French Rafale and the offers of Spanish Eurofighters<\/big><\/p>\n

At the end of last year, Colombia seemed clear about purchasing the French Rafale<\/strong>, but economic issues have canceled the project. It is at this point that the possibility of Colombia purchasing Spanish Eurofighters arises again, a quick solution to obtain modern aircraft without having to wait the time it would take for new fighters to arrive. The Spanish government of Mariano Rajoy already offered Eurofighters to Colombia in 2017<\/a>, raising the possibility of selling to that country some Tranche 2 version aircraft currently operated by the Air Force. To give us an idea, these are the versions of the Spanish Eurofighters:<\/strong><\/p>\n