Brazil fighter deal seen to favor Boeing

UPI, 12/12/12

Brazil’s long-delayed FX-2 fighter competition isn’t over yet but Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet is winning friends in the Brazilian air force, news reports said.

The Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is a twin-engine, carrier-based, multi-role fighter aircraft based on the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet.

Boeing has been building partnerships in Brazil along Hornet’s complex and sophisticated supply chain, which are also part of the U.S. company’s wider strategy to expand customer base in the region, irrespective of whether it wins the fighter deal.

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Brazil air force may buy F-18 jets from US

Firstpost, 12/10/2012

The Brazilian air force, awaiting the outcome of the selection process for purchasing 36 fighter jets, is leaning toward the F-18 Super Hornet of the US, which is competing against the French Rafale and the Swedish Gripen, Istoe magazine said.

The weekly magazine published a document it attributes to the commission in charge of analyzing the three aircraft, which concludes that the Boeing F-18 is best suited to air force requirements and notes several of its advantages in terms of price and benefits.

According to the document, the least costly of the three jets being tendered are the Gripen of the Swedish firm Saab, the entire fleet being offered for $4.3 billion.

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Brazil “very likely” to choose French fighter

Brian Winter – Reuters, 02/13/2012

Brazil is “very likely” to choose France’s Rafale fighter jet to refurbish its air force, government sources say, a decision that would award one of the emerging-market world’s most coveted defense contracts to a jet whose future was in doubt only two weeks ago.

President Dilma Rousseff and her top advisers believe that Dassault Aviation’s bid to sell at least 36 Rafales offers the best terms among the three finalists, the sources told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

The other two bidders in the competition are U.S.-based Boeing with its F-18 Super Hornet and Sweden’s Saab with its Gripen.

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