The Minister of Defense announced the development of a new rifle designed and produced in Colombia.
The new firearm, produced by Colombia’s state-owned company Indumil, is scheduled to replace the Israeli Galil ACE, Defense Minister Pedro Sanches said.
Internal adjustments are being made and the entire production line is being set up so that, starting in the second half of 2026, if conditions allow, we can begin the transition to the new Colombian rifle, which may take about five years, acquiring a production capacity of 80,000 rifles per year to replace the 400,000.
Ministry of Defense
The new project is “a decisive step towards strategic autonomy, Colombia owning and producing its own weapons,” said the minister.
President Gustavo Petro applauded the new rifle and said that it should be named after the legendary general Miranda.
Look at the Colombian rifle, it should be called Miranda.
General Miranda, who went to Europe to learn military techniques and fell in love, and arrived from Europe with ideas of Republic, independence, and freedom: Miranda.
Gustavo Petro
The new rifle is said to be 15% lighter than its Israeli counterpart and to reduce production costs by 25%.
Colombia has produced the Galil ACE locally for the past 30 years, except for the night vision scope and the barrel, which were imported from Israel.
Indumil began developing the new firearm in 2022.
Last month, the President ordered government institutions to impose sanctions on Israel to comply with a ruling made by the International Court of Justice.
One of the orders Petro made to comply with the legal obligations to prevent genocide was to “evaluate current contracts with Israeli companies, including coal exports, arms purchases, software, and other digital tools.”
The Colombian air force stopped imports of Israeli Kfir fighter planes and signed a deal for Sweden’s SAAB-39 Gripen instead.
The Petro administration has been one of the most vocal critics of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government and its use of genocidal violence in the occupied Palestinian territories.
In his last speech before the United Nations’ General Assembly, Petro called for the Global South countries to create an international army to “liberate Palestine.”
