In 2025, the prior government finalized a €3.1 billion agreement to purchase 17 Gripen fighter jets built by Sweden's Saab. Colombia has now started funding the purchase, with an upfront payment equal to 0.6% of the contract's value, according to the air force's response last month to a formal information request.
The contract contains a penalty provision that could lead to fines if Colombia fails to meet its obligations. The air force did not specify the possible size of those penalties or how they would be determined. In a separate reply to a records request, Colombia's National Agency for Legal Defense said it has not evaluated the potential financial exposure from canceling, breaching, unilaterally changing, or narrowing the deal.
President Abelardo de la Espriella is trying to repair the nation's finances, which complicates any attempt to unwind the purchase now that money has started to go out. Saab did not immediately respond to a written request sent outside normal Swedish hours, and the Colombian presidency also did not immediately reply.
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The agreement runs through June 2032, with costs spread across multiple fiscal years. It also drew criticism over affordability and whether Gripens match the realities of a six-decade internal conflict. With the budget shortfall projected to surpass 7% of GDP this year, ongoing installments and any penalties tied to changes would add to already tight fiscal trade-offs that shape Colombia's spending path.
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