Head of Botswana Defence Force (BDF), Lt. Gen. Gaolathe Galebotswe, confirmed to the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee that the military is negotiating to buy between 8 to 12 Gripen fighters from Sweden.
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“The Gripen fits our requirements and could give us a certain edge over our competitors. F-5s have become unsustainable for the BDF. We needed something that is cost-effective but still capable of carrying out our aerial defense mandate because we should have the capability to operate in both contested and uncontested space. I am talking about revitalizing BDF,” Galebotswe said.
Galebotswe added that the Swedish fighter was found to have the lowest operating cost after his staff evaluated the F-16, MiG-29 and Chinese jets.