BOGOTA, Jan 16 - Colombia on Friday launched a $1.68 billion project to develop a so-called anti-drone shield to protect the country from attacks by unmanned drones operated by illegal armed groups, the defense minister said.
Colombia has been involved in an ongoing internal armed conflict for six decades that has left more than 450,000 dead. Conflict in the Andean nation has involved the military and police forces, leftist guerrillas, criminal gangs formed by former right-wing paramilitaries and drug cartels.
"Colombia is embarking on one of the boldest and most innovative strategies for our national security and defense," Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez said in a video statement.
Colombia's government has approved a budget of $271.1 million for the first phase of the project, Sanchez added.
A meeting with countries and companies interested in the project was held on Friday in Bogotá, though no details were disclosed.
Between 2024 and 2025, Colombia recorded 264 attacks from unmanned drones loaded with explosives. They were registered predominantly across the country's dense jungles and mountainous regions dedicated to the cultivation of coca leaves, the base ingredient in the production of cocaine.
The attacks were attributed to the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas and dissidents from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla group.
The drone attacks between 2024 and 2025 left 15 soldiers dead and an additional 153 others wounded, according to official statistics.
In November, Colombia signed a 3.1 billion-euro ($3.6 billion) agreement with the Swedish company Saab to purchase 17 Gripen fighter jets over the next five years.
1 dollar = 3,687.32 Colombian pesos
(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Editing by Kylie Madry and Sarah Morland)
