DTN News: Boeing Still Hopeful On Brazil Fighter Jet Deal

DTN News: Boeing Still Hopeful On Brazil Fighter Jet Deal

* Boeing to meet, discuss deals with Brazil parts makers * Hopes to beat French, Swedish to clinch Brazil jet order

*Source: DTN News / Reuters By Eduardo Simoes (NSI News Source Info) SAO PAULO, Brazil - September 16, 2009: Boeing Co still hopes to woo Brazil away from buying 36 French Rafale fighter jets in favor of its own planes, dangling supply deals with around 150 Brazilian parts makers and suppliers as a sweetener.

The F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is a combat-proven strike fighter with built-in versatility. The Super Hornet's suite of integrated and networked systems provides enhanced interoperability, total force support for the combatant commander and for the troops on the ground. Brazil's Defense Ministry said last week it had not yet chosen a manufacturer for the multibillion dollar deal for which France's Dassault Aviation, seen as favorite up to now, and Sweden's Saab are also competing. The North American firm is holding conferences with the Brazilian firms this week, to prod them to aim for a bigger slice of its annual $45 billion in purchases from other firms in the manufacture of its planes. "That is why the (deal) is important to change this," said Michael Coggins, who heads customer relations and new business at Boeing, at a press conference the firm held in Sao Paulo. Separately from the jet deal, Boeing is planning to provide Brazilian airplane manufacturer Embraer with a platform from one of its own models to use in a Brazilian cargo plane, the KC-390. France, whose bid for the contract was bolstered by an official visit by President Nicolas Sarkozy last week, had previously said it intended to buy some of these cargo planes if Brazil chose its Rafale jets over competing designs. The United States government has also thrown its weight behind Boeing's bid, through its representatives in Brazil. "What is being offered here ... is a relationship with the largest defence company in the world, which is acting in the largest economy in the world, in the largest defence market in the world," said Sao Paulo-based U.S. consul general Thomas White. "That's a package that Rafale and (Saab's) Gripen can't touch," he said, Bob Gower, a senior developer of Boeing's F-18, said the jet competed favorably with the Rafale, which has never been sold abroad, on price and technological advancement, while France in turn has promised it would offer Brazil more generous transfer of technology through the sale. (Writing by Peter Murphy; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

Embraer Launches KC-390 Military Transport Jet Program

Embraer Launches KC-390 Military Transport Jet Program

(NSI News Source Info) SÃO JOSÉ DOS CAMPOS, Brazil - April 16, 2009: In a ceremony held, today, during the seventh edition of the Latin America Aero and Defence (LAAD) trade fair, which takes place from April 14 to 17, at Riocentro, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Embraer signed a contract with the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) for the KC-390 military transport aircraft program.

Embraer has signed a contract with the Brazilian air force to develop the jet-powered KC-390 airlifter, with an in-service date of 2015.

The event was attended by the Minister of Defense, Nelson Jobim, the Head of the Navy, Admiral Júlio Soares de Moura Neto, the Brazilian Aeronautics Commander, General Juniti Saito, and Embraer President & CEO Frederico Fleury Curado. “The launch of the KC-390 program is a new landmark in the historical strategic partnership between the Brazilian Air Force and Embraer,” said Frederico Fleury Curado, Embraer President & CEO.

“We are convinced that the development of the KC-390 will result in an effective cargo and tanker aircraft for the FAB and shall also become another successful export platform for both Embraer and Brazil.” The FAB established the requirements for this aircraft, just as has occurred with other successful products manufactured by Embraer, like the Bandeirante, the Tucano, the aerial surveillance and remote sensing versions of the ERJ 145, which are used in the Amazon Surveillance System (Sistema de Vigilância da Amazônia – SIVAM), and the Super Tucano.

The new jet will meet the needs of the FAB, in full compliance with the new National Defense Strategy. The participation of other countries in this program will be evaluated, in conjunction with the FAB, and the aircraft is expected to enter service in 2015.

The KC-390 Program will contribute, in the short term, to maintaining highly qualified jobs, and, longer-term, it has the potential for generating significant export volumes with important aggregate value. The existence of a study regarding this military transport aircraft was presented two years ago, at LAAD 2007.

The jet will have a cargo bay equipped with an aft ramp, to transport a wide variety of types of cargo, including armored vehicles, and will be outfitted with the most modern systems for handling and launching cargos. The new jet can be refueled in flight and can be used for in-flight or on-ground refueling of other aircraft.

The cargo bay will allow configurations for Medical Evacuation (MEDEVAC) missions. The technical advances of the KC-390 include fly-by-wire technology, which lessens pilot work load by optimizing mission results and increasing safety and the capability for operating on short and rustic runways.

The FAB already operates other transport aircraft manufactured by Embraer, like the EMB 120 Brasilia, the ERJ 145, and the Legacy 600. Besides these, the fleet of military aircraft designed and manufactured in Brazil, like the Tucano, the Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) airplanes operated within the SIVAM, and the Super Tucano, as well as the AMX, which was developed in a partnership with Italian companies. In June 2008, Embraer signed a contract for the sale of two EMBRAER 190 jets to the FAB, which will be configured especially for carrying authorities.

Embraer is the world’s largest manufacturer of commercial jets up to 120 seats, and one of Brazil’s leading exporters. Embraer’s headquarters are located in São José dos Campos, São Paulo, and it has offices, industrial operations and customer service facilities in Brazil, the United States, France, Portugal, China and Singapore. Founded in 1969, the Company designs, develops, manufactures and sells aircraft for the Commercial Aviation, Executive Aviation, and Defense and Government segments. The Company also provides after sales support and services to customers worldwide. On March 31, 2009, Embraer had a workforce of 17,375 employees – not counting the employees of its subsidiaries OGMA and HEAI – and its firm order backlog totaled US$ 19.7 billion.

Colombia Wants To Join Embraer KC-390 Program / Colombia Wants Partnership With Brazil And Participation In Embraer Airlifter

Colombia Wants To Join Embraer KC-390 Program / Colombia Wants Partnership With Brazil And Participation In Embraer Airlifter (NSI News Source Info) BRASILIA - March 16, 2009: The minister of defense of Colombia, Juan Manoel Saints, was hosted here on Wednesday March 11 by the Minister of Defense, Nelson Jobim, and revealed his interest in a strategic partnership between the two countries. Embraer C-390 is a medium-sized twin-engined jet-powered military transport aircraft proposed by the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer. It will be the heaviest aircraft that the company has made so far, and will be able to transport up to 19 tons of cargo, including wheeled armored vehicles. Size-wise it is an aircraft between the twin-turboprop C-27J Spartan, with an 11.5 ton payload and the C-130J Hercules with a 21.7 ton payload. The aircraft will incorporate many of the technological solutions from the Embraer E-Jets series. The aircraft will have a rear ramp for loading and unloading a wide range of cargo. The unit price is estimated to be around $50 million US, while the competition sells similar models for up to $120 million. The vice president of Embraer, Luís Carlos Aguilar, said that according to their estimates, some 695 military transport aircraft in the world will need to be replaced during the next decade, and that there is potential market for this kind of plane. Potential power plant options have been studied in the 17,000–22,000lb-thrust (75.6–98kN) range, including engines such as Pratt & Whitney's PW6000 and Rolls-Royce's BR715. The Brazilian postal service, the Correios, has demonstrated interest in buying at least 5 and eventually 20 to 25 of the aircraft, in lieu of using commercial freight service for mail transport. In May, 2008, the Brazilian Congress released 800 million Reais (US$ 470 million) to be invested in the project and development of the aircraft. The media also claimed that this aircraft is not only going to be used by the Brazilian Air Force, but also for Brazilian Army and Brazilian Navy, but still not confirmed for government agencies. Early March of 2008: Brazilian Government is going to invest about R$60 mn(or US$30 mn) to inicial development of the aircraft. At the same time, the Brazilian Air Force is finalizing the purchase contract that problably will buy 22 to 30 aircrafts for the inicial lot. Embraer is talking with the possible partners.

Colombia wants to strengthen cooperation for monitoring its common border. It also wants to establish partnerships with Brazil in defense research and technology, and also wants to participate in the program to develop the Embraer KC-390 military transport aircraft.

“Brazil is our strategic partner and we want to establish closer links and cooperation,” Saints said.

Saints and his delegation, comprising the commanders of the three Colombian armed forces, heard Jobim present Brazil’s new National Defense Strategy, launched in December 2008. The minister-head of the Secretariat of Strategical Subjects, Mangabeira Unger, complemented the communication. The National Strategy of Defense, according to Jobim, has as objective to reorganize the Armed Forces, to strengthen the national defense industrial base, and to improve military service.

“These three objectives are interlinked. It is not possible to think of the Armed Forces that are not tied to development, or of development that is not linked to the Armed Forces”, said Jobim. Nelson Jobim also said that the visit by his Colombian counterpart will provide advances in some areas of bilateral cooperation…..such as improving control of the airspace between the two countries, along a 50-kilometer band on both the sides of the border.

Juan Manoel Saints said that all the countries in the region must find alliances in strategic areas as, for example, in the military industry and for professional qualification. He cited the cases of the Super Tucano aircraft bought by Colombia from the Brazilian company Embraer, saying “we are very happy with Brazilian aircraft.”

The Colombian minister did not exclude the possibility of establishing, within the framework of these bilateral relations, a strategic alliance of the two countries’ defense industries.

In this perspective, Juan Manoel Saints said, one idea is to see how Colombia can participate in the production of the Embraer transport aircraft that Brazil intends to develop. “Anything that we can do in this respect with Brazil will be very positive, as the airplanes that we have bought from Brazil are very good,” he said.

Juan Manoel Saints said that, for Colombia, the relation with Brazil is of strategic convenience over the long term. “Therefore, everything that we can do to develop and reinforce this relationship is a very important decision,” he added.

According to Saints, bilateral cooperation could also include control of airspace, joint satellite programs, and border monitoring.