Soacha (Colombia) (AFP) – Colombian officials said Monday the country has produced its first combat rifle, a cheaper, lighter weapon aimed at replacing the arms that were once supplied its former military ally Israel.

Leftist President Gustavo Petro broke ties with Israel in 2024 to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ongoing military offensive in the Gaza Strip.

State-owned weapons manufacturer Indumil produced the arms – the first combat rifle manufactured in Colombia – to replace the Galil, a rifle that had been assembled in Colombia using Israeli components since the 1990s.

The goal is to manufacture 400,000 lighter and cheaper rifles in five years and “gradually replace current weapons in the armed forces,” Indumil manager and retired Colonel Javier Carmago told AFP.

Experts have voiced doubt that the Latin American country can get up to production capacity without paying a steep price.

The new weapons, made of steel and polymer, are 15 to 25 percent lighter.

Petro also halted purchases of arms from the United States, after President Donald Trump removed Colombia from his list of allies in the fight against drugs.

For the past three decades, Colombia’s leaders have taken up arms against guerrillas and drug traffickers involved in cocaine and illegal gold operations.