NEWTOWN, Conn: The head of the Brazilian Air Force, General Juniti Saito, has reported that a winner of the FX-2 fighter competition will likely be announced at the end of March. General Saito stressed that is will be a political and strategic decision.
President Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva has made it a point to let the world know the final decision will be his. While the recommendations of the Air Force and Ministry of Defense have been taken into consideration, President Lula will have the final verdict. He is not expected to disappoint French President Nicolas Sarkozy and French company Dassault’s bid.
U.S. company Boeing is in competition with its Super Hornet against Dassault’s Rafale and Saab’s Gripen for an initial supply of 36 fighters to Brazil. The deal will include technology transfer and the sale of up to 150 aircraft over the next few years.
While the Air Force’s technical evaluation favored the Gripen, President Lula favors the Rafale. Dassault has even agreed to cut its price tag by $2 billion in order to boost its appeal. The deal is extremely important to both nations, but perhaps more so to France as Brazil could potentially be its first international customer for the Rafale, a sale it has been very eager to make.
Meanwhile, the Boeing option is not looking good. While the F-18 is the most technologically advanced of the three, officials within the Brazilian Air Force, Ministry of Defense, and central government all remain hesitant over the technology transfer aspect of the deal. In the past, Brazil has had problems with the United States holding up its end of a deal for technology transfer; therefore, dealing with the U.S. appears to be a risk nobody is willing to take again.
