The French proposal gains momentum after the Colombian president rejected the offer for F16 aircraft, given the limits imposed by the US on its operation
French President Emmanuel Macron has offered his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, the Dassault Aviation Rafale C/F3multirole fighter to become the Colombian Air Force’s new fighter jet. The renewal of this offer, presented for the first time to Colombia in October 2019, took place within the framework of the meetings that both leaders held this November and in which they discussed this issue extensively: first in Egypt, during the celebration of the UN Conference on Climate Change, and then at the OECD meeting, in Paris.
In the French capital, Macron recalled his country’s interest in participating in the processes of renewal of the Sideden (Integral System of National Defense) not only in naval issues (PES) and anti-aircraft defense but also, and in particular, in the project of replacing the combat vectors of the South American country.
The French offer – on a number of units not yet agreed – would include a 20-year financing package, with very comfortable sale prices, directing offset sources to modernize the airport infrastructure in the south east of the country, the operations of the national airline Satena and potentiate the aerospace and satellite issues for which the collaboration of Thales would be fundamental.
Petro would also have requested that the aeronautical industry of his country -CIAC, Codaltec and private sector companies- could actively participate in the maintenance processes of the aircraft, as well as in the manufacture and supply of certain spare parts, in order to guarantee the logistical sustainability of the fleet. In the same vein, France would have guaranteed full autonomy in the operation of the aircraft and relatively short delivery times.