Colombia will order the Dassault Rafale
In a surprise move, the Colombian government will order 16 Dassault Rafales fighter jets from France, to replace its ageing IAI Kfir fighter-bombers. As reported by Scramble Magazine on 11 February 2022, the Kfirs will reach the end of their technical life in 2023.
Although the Colombian president has stated repeatedly that the replacement of the Kfirs was not one of his priorities after taking office last August, a decision has now been made to do just that. Colombia will order Rafale fighters
The Lockheed-Martin F-16V has long been named a frontrunner in the competition set for the Fuerza Aerea Colombiana (FAC, Colombian Air Force). However, the rapidly decreasing operational availability of the Kfirs and an offer made by Dassault has shifted the government and FAC’s favour towards the Rafale. A contract is expected in early 2023, and deliveries will start later in 2023 already.
Many reasons seem to have helped the Rafale to win the heavily contested contract, for which the other contenders were the SAAB JAS39 Gripen and the Eurofighter Typhoon.
The Gripen turned out to be the second best option in many operational and cost aspects, but the delivery schedule of the Swedish company did not match the wishes of the FAC. As for the Typhoon, Tranche 1 and 2 aircraft were ordered by Germany, although Colombia eyed the Tranche 3 version, which turned out as the option with the highest operating costs.
The F-16V package offered was inferior in some respects to the current systems used on the Kfir, in terms of electronic warfare systems and the range of the air-to-air missiles included in the US offering. Nor does it allow integration of Israeli weapons owned by the FAC, such as the Python 5, Derby and Spice bombs.
France decided to remove certain end-user restrictions on the Rafale in order to win over the Colombian government. They agreed to offer the integration of the Meteor missile, but also to integrate the Derby, Phyton 5 and Spice bombs, making it the most capable of the aircraft offered.
France also stated that it can start delivering them in one year, the shortest term of all. The electronic warfare capacity can be customised and Dassault will give Colombia access to the database to be able to modify it. It can integrate Israeli weaponry, employment restrictions have been lifted, it has design anti-ship capability, and is combat proven. The operating costs are equal to the Kfir, but with many more capabilities.
It has not been reported if the deal includes Rafale B dual seat fighters.
Photos (just illustrative) by José Damián González Martínez (Scramble Archive) and Wim Sonneveld (Kfir)
Newsitem with input from Pucara Defensa