US EditionColombia Seals $4.3bn Deal to Buy Swedish Warplanes as Rift with US Deepens
Colombia buys 17 Gripen jets from Sweden for $4.3 billion to deter aggression amid regional tensions and US military actions, marking its largest combat aircraft purchase.
- On Friday, President Gustavo Petro confirmed Colombia agreed a $3.1 billion deal with Saab to buy 17 Gripen jets.
- After weighing rival offers from US and French firms, Colombia selected Saab amid rising tensions after US President Donald Trump accused Petro and withdrew aid.
- The contract package includes 15 Gripen E single-seat and two Gripen F dual-seat aircraft plus weapons, training, and two offset agreements, with deliveries 2026–2032 worth 3.1 billion euros.
- Swedish Defence Minister Pal Jonson said Colombia joining other Gripen operators will `deepen significantly` defence ties with Sweden, while Saab called the signing the start of a wider strategic partnership and Colombia's largest modern combat aircraft acquisition.
- Amid a regional US military build-up, Colombia faces 20 confirmed attacks that killed about 80 people, and President Gustavo Petro said the jets will deter `aggression against Colombia, wherever it may come from`.
27 Articles
27 Articles
Sweden to supply Gripen jets to Colombia; Petro orders bombing of narco-terrorist camp
Colombia signed a US$ 4.3 billion deal to buy Swedish Gripen fighter jets at a time when the country, once a staunch ally of the US, is now ruled by a left leaning government locked in tension with President Donald Trump in his Caribbean battle against what he calls narco-terrorist regimes.
Colombia is buying 17 Jas Gripen worth 34 billion from the manufacturer Saab. A deal that has a completely different charge today, compared to when the negotiations began. The deal lands in the middle of the new geopolitical hot air in Latin America.
COMMENT. Colombia's president calls Donald Trump a barbarian and the US leadership a "clan of pedophiles." As the major Jas contract with Colombia is signed, the country's relationship with the US is worse than ever.
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