Colombia Wants Military Technology, Not Solar Panels, for Its Gripen Offsets
COLOMBIA · DEFENCE
Key Facts
- —The review The government is re-examining the offset package attached to Colombia’s Gripen purchase.
- —The contract Signed 14 November 2025 with Saab for 17 aircraft, 15 single-seat E and 2 two-seat F.
- —The value Above €3.1 billion, budgeted across 2026 to 2032 with a three-year grace period.
- —What is sought Redirecting compensation from civilian projects towards military technology transfer.
- —Who is involved The defence ministry, the national planning department, the finance ministry and the air force.
- —What is not sought Cancellation. The aircraft order is not in question.
The jets are bought. What is being renegotiated is what Colombia gets back for buying them, and that was always the more valuable half.
Colombia’s government is reviewing the offset package attached to its purchase of 17 Saab Gripen fighters, seeking to redirect the compensation from the civilian projects agreed under the previous administration towards military technology transfer.
The Contract
The contract was signed on 14 November 2025, under the Petro government, for 17 aircraft: 15 single-seat Gripen E and two two-seat Gripen F. Its value is reported above €3.1 billion, budgeted across 2026 to 2032 with a three-year grace period.
The contract is largely under reserva, so figures circulating in Colombian coverage are reconstructions from Saab communications rather than from the contract text. The Rio Times reports them as such.
What an Offset Is
An offset, or compensación industrial, is an obligation on a defence supplier to return economic value to the purchasing country alongside the equipment. It can take the form of local manufacturing, technology transfer, training or unrelated civilian investment.
Colombia’s requirement is reported at a minimum of 10% of contract value, around 1.74 trillion pesos, though that percentage should be treated as approximate given the contract’s confidentiality.
The distinction between kinds of offset is where the value sits. A civilian investment delivers money; a technology transfer delivers capability that outlasts the aircraft.
What Is Being Changed
The package agreed under the previous government directed compensation towards solar panels for areas outside the national grid, water projects in La Guajira and the San Juan de Dios hospital.
The current government wants those redirected towards military technology: sensors, electro-optical systems, target identification and ground-attack mission systems. No new valuation has been disclosed.
The review has run across at least three meetings involving the defence ministry, the national planning department, the finance ministry and the Colombian air force, and was reported on 13 September 2026.
The Argument on Each Side
The case for civilian offsets is that a fighter purchase is hard to justify to a public with unmet basic needs, and directing compensation to water and electricity answers that objection directly.
The case for technology offsets is that the aircraft will be in service for thirty years and Colombia will need to maintain, upgrade and integrate them. Capability acquired now reduces dependence on the supplier for the life of the fleet.
Both arguments are real, and the change of emphasis reflects a change of government rather than a discovery that the first package was defective.
What Is Separate
A different strand of reporting describes the government re-examining arbitration clauses in the contract. That is a distinct question about dispute resolution and should not be merged with the offsets review.
Neither strand involves cancelling the order. Colombia’s air force has been operating Israeli-upgraded Kfir aircraft well beyond their intended life, and the replacement is not in doubt.
Timing is the pressure on the renegotiation. Offsets are normally agreed alongside the main contract, and reopening them after signature gives the supplier a stronger position than it held during the original negotiation.
What Colombia retains is leverage over the schedule. Deliveries, training and support arrangements all run through the same commercial relationship, and a purchaser with payments still to make has room to ask.
More: Colombia news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Colombia buying?
Seventeen Saab Gripen fighters, 15 single-seat E and two two-seat F, under a contract signed 14 November 2025.
What is the contract worth?
Above €3.1 billion, budgeted across 2026 to 2032.
What is being renegotiated?
The offset package, redirecting compensation from civilian projects to military technology transfer.
Is the purchase being cancelled?
No. Only the compensation terms are under review.
What was in the original offset package?
Solar panels for off-grid areas, water projects in La Guajira and the San Juan de Dios hospital.
Sources: Infobae Colombia, El Colombiano, Saab.
This article was drafted with automated assistance and reviewed before publication. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief
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