Brazil Launches Plan to Buy New Jet Fighters

Brazil Launches Plan to Buy New Jet Fighters

17 July 2008: Brazil's air force has launched the process to buy at least 36 fighter jets as part of a broader plan to modernise after most of its neighbours overhauled their fleets, officials said on Thursday. Brazil wants to buy and build equipment to defend offshore oil assets and a porous Amazon border threatened by armed drug-traffickers and foreign guerrillas. In February, Colombia ordered 24 Kfir bomber jets from Israel, while Venezuela acquired 24 Russian Sukhoi jets and said last month it is considering buying more. Chile bought new Boeing F-16s and Peru decided to upgrade its jets. Upon taking office in January 2003, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva scrapped plans to replace aging Mirage jets, saying he would use the money to feed the poor. Now, the air force wants a multi-role fighter to replace its entire fleet of fighter jets over the next 15 years. That could increase the size of the order to more than 100 aircraft. It chose six manufacturers to participate in the procurement process and last month requested information on their aircraft, the air force press department said. The six selected models are Boeing's F-18 Super Hornet, Lockheed Martin's F-35 Lightning II, Dassault's Rafale, Sukhoi's SU-35, Saab's Gripen and Eurofighter's Typhoon. Brazil is seeking a generous technology transfer package, possibly including local assembly, to help develop its own aviation industry and perform maintenance of the aircraft. "Technology transfer is not a problem. Eurofighter has a history of partnership with its clients," said Valerio Bonelli, spokesman for Alenia, a partner in the Eurofighter consortium. Boeing and Lockheed said they also were willing to support local industry development. "The F-35 was designed from the outset to be an exportable product and the program has broken a lot of ground in the technology transfer realm," said John Kent, a spokesman for Lockheed Martin. But the US Government, which would buy the aircraft from Boeing or Lockheed and sell it to the Brazilian Government, has the last word on technology transfer. Brazil has been leading an effort to create a South American Defense Council to help coordinate arms purchases. Though many of its neighbours have recently renewed their fleets, some manufactures still see Latin America's largest economy as possible regional defence hub. "Brazil is an emerging market and a potential export base for us," said Damian Hills, spokesman for Boeing Integrated Defense Systems. Brazil is already negotiating a strategic defence alliance with France, including the construction of a nuclear-powered submarine in Brazil.