How South America Split Into Two Rival Fighter-Jet Camps

Defense

Key Facts

—The split. The region is dividing between the Swedish Gripen and the American F-16 as its next-generation fighter.

—Gripen camp. Brazil builds the jet at home as the F-39, and Colombia signed a roughly $3.6bn deal in 2025.

—F-16 camp. Peru chose the F-16 Block 70 in a late reversal, and Argentina is fielding secondhand Danish F-16s.

—The lever. American export controls over a key engine part have shadowed Colombia’s Gripen order.

—The driver. Washington is pushing harder for influence across the hemisphere, raising the stakes of each choice.

Across the continent, South America fighter jets are being replaced at once, and the choices are lining up into two camps. On one side sits the Swedish Gripen, on the other the American F-16, and the split says as much about geopolitics as about aircraft.

Most of the region’s air forces still fly jets from the nineteen-seventies and eighties. As those fleets age out together, a handful of expensive, long-term decisions are now redrawing the military map of the continent.

How the South America fighter jets map divides

On the Gripen side, Brazil is the anchor. It selected the Swedish jet years ago, designated it the F-39, and now assembles it domestically, becoming the first country to build the type outside Sweden.

Colombia joined that camp in 2025, signing for the Gripen E in a deal worth roughly three point six billion dollars. That gave the Swedish manufacturer two committed operators and the beginnings of a regional cluster around Brazilian production.

The sums involved are large enough to shape budgets for years. Peru’s program alone runs into the billions of dollars, on the order of $3bn to $4bn, and Colombia’s is of a similar scale, so these are among the biggest single purchases either government will make this decade.

The F-16 camp then gained ground. Peru, where the Gripen had been the early favorite, reversed course and chose Lockheed Martin’s F-16 Block 70, while Argentina has been fielding secondhand F-16 aircraft bought from Denmark.

Chile sits a little apart from the two-camp story. It already flies older F-16 variants and has focused recently on multinational exercises and fleet readiness rather than a fresh headline purchase, but it remains firmly within the American orbit for now.

Why the choice is about more than planes

Each purchase carries a diplomatic weight beyond its price. Buying American ties a country more tightly to Washington’s supply chains, training and political expectations, while the Gripen offers a route that leans less heavily on the United States.

The Swedish pitch has long rested on cost and technology transfer. The Gripen is generally cheaper to run than its rivals and can operate from rougher airstrips, and Saab has offered to share production and know-how rather than simply ship finished jets.

Yet the American hand reaches even into the Swedish option. The Gripen uses an engine of American design, and reported United States export controls over a key component have shadowed Colombia’s order, a reminder of how much leverage Washington retains.

Politics inside each country matters as much as the pitch from abroad. Peru’s switch to the F-16 came amid a run of collapsing governments and heavy American pressure, showing how a technical contest can be settled by circumstance rather than pure merit.

What it means for the region

The timing is not accidental. The United States has been pressing harder for influence across the hemisphere, and defense procurement has become one of the clearest arenas in which that competition plays out.

There is a practical cost to fragmentation, too. When neighbors fly different aircraft, joint training and shared logistics get harder and more expensive, which is partly why multinational exercises that force these mixed fleets to work together have grown in importance.

For an investor or policy reader, the split is worth watching as a proxy. It tracks which way the region’s governments are leaning between Washington and a more diversified set of partners, one multibillion-dollar decision at a time.

None of this points to an arms race. Budgets remain tight and most of these buys are modest replacements rather than expansions, but the pattern of who sells to whom is a quiet map of alignment well worth keeping in view.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which South America fighter jets are countries choosing?

Brazil and Colombia have chosen the Swedish Saab Gripen E, which Brazil builds at home as the F-39. Peru selected the American F-16 Block 70, and Argentina is fielding secondhand F-16s bought from Denmark.

Why does the choice matter geopolitically?

Buying American deepens ties to United States supply chains, training and political expectations, while the Gripen offers a less dependent route. The decisions signal which way each government leans between Washington and a broader set of partners.

What is the catch with the Gripen?

Although it is a Swedish jet, the Gripen uses an engine of American design. Reported United States export controls over a key component have shadowed Colombia’s order, showing that Washington retains leverage even over the non-American option.

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