Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva won't decide on the future partner for Brazil's military aircraft industry in a deal that involves a multibillion-dollar jet fighter purchase from the winning bidder.
 Instead Lula is leaving the decision to his successor, President-elect Dilma Rousseff, who takes office Jan. 1, Lula told official television station TV Brasil.



The United States, France and Sweden are in the race to win a contract that includes an option to buy another 100 jets from the successful supplier over the coming decades.

Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf weighed in to support of SAAB's Grippen fighter, French President Nicholas Sarkozy openly canvassed for Dassault's Rafale and White House support behind Boeing's F-18 fighter was widely reported in Brazil.

Lula indicated he favored buying Rafale as France offered the best technology transfer deal and expressed concern the U.S. Congress might block or restrict any Boeing deal. Grippen won support from Brazil's military strategists because of its lower cost. Swedish lobbyists also took mileage out of Queen Silvia's Latin American connection as the offspring of a German father and Brazilian mother.


High-powered lobbyists from the rivals have frequently beaten the path of the capital, Brasilia, but have failed to glean any useful information on which way Brazil would go next year.

"It's a very big debt, it's a long-term debt for Brazil," Lula said in comments cited by Agencia Brazil and MercoPress during the television appearance.

"I could sign off on it and do a deal with France but I'm not going to do that," Lula said. Critics of Rafale say the jet fighter has never been sold outside France and Dassault hopes to use a sale to kick-start a global marketing campaign. Dassault has its eyes on India and Kuwait among potential customers for Rafale.

Lula said the final decision would rest with Brazil's National Defense Council, which includes Cabinet ministers, armed forces commanders and the president.

Defense Minister Nelson Jobim, who has been closely involved with the negotiations with Dassault, Saab NG and the Boeing Co., will continue his job in the new administration.

Jobim echoed Lula's view that the French offer was the best because of its technology transfer package but senior Brazilian air force commanders favored the F-18 despite a smaller technology transfer package. Supporters for cost-effective Grippen also weighed in but analysts said the Swedish bid still faced more critics within Brazil's decision-making machinery.

The choice of a jet fighter for a fast modernizing air force ties in with Rousseff's plans to create a new civil aviation secretariat that will incorporate departments under defense. The plan is part of an urgent strategy to reverse the poor reputation of Brazilian aviation infrastructure ahead of the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics.

Officials say the new government is keen to begin an extensive overhaul of Brazilian aviation -- both civil and military -- and promote more sophisticated manufacturing of aircraft for expanding national networks and for export.




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Eurofighter Typhoon

TheEurofighter Typhoon is a twin-engine canard-delta wing multiroleaircraft designed and built by a European consortium of threecompanies: Alenia Aeronautica, BAE Systems, and EADS working through aholding company Eurofighter GmbH, which was formed in 1986. Theaircraft has high agility at supersonic speed and also has asupercruise capability that can fly at sustained supersonic speedsoffering high reliability.

Eurofighter is offering the Tranche-3Typhoon for the Indian requirement, equipped with the Captor-E (CAESAR)AESA radar. The aircraft also has a broad spectrum of operationaladvantages, such as excellent adaptability to severe weatherconditions, high mission effectiveness and survivability in threatsituations. EADS has even invited India to become a partner for theEurofighter Typhoon programme if the Typhoon wins the MMRCA contract,and will be given technological and development participation in futuretranches of the Typhoon.

Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet

TheBoeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is a twin-engine 4.5 generationcarrier-based multirole fighter aircraft. The Super Hornet is a largerand more advanced variant of the F/A-18C/D Hornet.

The singleseat F/A-18/E and the two seat F/A-18/F flies greater ranges, withheavier payloads using a more powerful engine which provides greatersurvivability. Its powerful AN/APG-79 AESA radar has generatedsignificant interest in India. This radar could allow Super Hornets toplay a unique role in India’s fighter fleet due to their radar’sperformance and information sharing abilities.

Boeing hasproposed joint manufacturing of the fighters with Indian partners. Italso plans to offset the cost by setting up a $100 million maintenanceand training hub in Nagpur, Maharashtra. This is the first time thatthe Super Hornet has been offered for production in a foreign country.

Onthe availability of Super Hornet's APG-79 AESA radar, the US governmenthas given its approval but has stated that there would be somerestrictions and pre-conditions for the purchase of the aircraft.

Dassault Rafale

TheRafale is a French twin-engined delta-wing agile multi-role4.5th-generation fighter aircraft designed and built by DassaultAviation. The Rafale participated the MMRCA tender as a replacement forthe Mirage 2000-5.

The fighter aircraft is capable of carryingout a wide range of short and long-range missions that include groundand sea attack, air defence and high accuracy strike or nuclear strikedeterrence.

The Rafale has the advantage of being logisticallyand operationally similar to the Mirage 2000. The aircraft has adistinct advantage as it was used with great success during the KargilWar in 1999.

Since the IAF has already been equipped with theFrench Mirage 2000 fighters, the inclusion of Rafale would requirefewer changes in the existing infrastructure of the IAF, which in turnwill reduce cost.

The Transfer of Technology (ToT) is againsmooth with no end user restrictions. The French government has alreadycleared full technology transfer of the Rafale to India, including thatof the RBE2-AA AESA radar, which will be integrated with the fighter by2010, and has also cleared the transfer of source codes.

Initiallyit was reported that Rafale was declared out of the race after it didnot meet India’s technical evaluation criteria. The recommendation wasmade by the Technical Evaluation Committee, as Dassault did not provideinformation on some equipment and add-ons that the IAF wanted in theaircraft. But later on, at a meeting of the Defence Procurement Board,the fighter aircraft was allowed to re-enter the race.

Lockheed Martin F-16 Super Viper

TheF-16IN Super Viper is a unique new fighter sharing a heritage with theworld's only fifth generation fighters – the F-35 Lightning II JointStrike Fighter and the F-22 Raptor. The Super Viper has the mostadvanced technologies and capabilities which include AN/APG-80 AESAradar, Net-Centric Warfare capability, an infrared search and track(IRST) system, advanced survivability features, enhanced high-thrustengines and proven combat and operational effectiveness.

Indiainitially sent the RFI for the F-16C/D Block 52+ configurationaircraft. But, Lockheed Martin proposed the customised F-16IN for theMMRCA competition. If F-16IN wins the contract, then Lockheed Martinwill also offer to sell the F-35 lightning aircraft in future asreplacements.

But the Indian government and IAF have neverseemed very keen on buying the F-16s as the Pakistan Air Force alreadyoperates the same warplane. The capabilities of the F-16s also appearto be similar to that of the Mirage 2000s operated by the IAF.

SAAB Gripen IN

The SAAB Gripen is a lightweight single engine multirole fighter aircraft manufactured by the Swedish aerospace company SAAB.

GripenIN (a version of the Gripen NG- Next Generation) is the mosttechnologically advanced fighter and is equipped with futuristicwarfare technologies developed specifically for India. The Gripen NGhas increased fuel capacity, more powerful powerplant, higher payload,upgraded avionics and other improvements.

The fighter aircrafthas a powerful and proven GE’s F414G engine, AESA radar, advancedcommunication system, advanced electronic warfare, tactical data link,and advanced weapons capacity. Its other strengths include the abilityoperate from roads instead of runways if necessary and also reasonablepurchase cost.

SAAB, if wins the bid, is willing to form a jointventure with Indian aerospace industry with the aim to develop the nextgeneration of fighters and also provide access to all levels oftechnology.

Mikoyan MiG-35

TheMikoyan MiG-35 (Fulcrum-F) is a further development of the MiG-29M/M2and MiG-29K/KUB. The IAF already operates MiG-29s, and the Navy hasordered MiG-29K/KUBs for its INS Vikramaditya and INS Vikrant-classaircraft carriers.

The single seat version is designated MiG-35and the two-seat version is MiG-35D. The fighter has vastly improvedavionics and weapon systems, notably the new Phazotron Zhuk-AE AESAradar, the RD-33MK engines and the newly designed Optical LocatorSystem (OLS).

The IAF already has maintenance facilities for theMiG-29. Therefore, it will be very much easier to buy the Russian-madeaircraft with a minimum of expenditure on infrastructure. Also Russiais willing to give full ToT, which is an added advantage. Russia hasprovided support for equipments in the past also during internationalsanctions.

Comparison

Allsix contenders are equipped with state-of-the-art avionics and AESA(Active Electronically Scanned Array) airborne radar with only marginaldifferences in performance. There is also little difference in theirarmament carrying capacity and, where needed, suchchanges/modifications should be possible.

The Dassault Rafale,the Eurofighter Typhoon and the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet are alltwin-engine fighters in the 25-30 tonne class. All of them arereportedly very expensive. The MiG-35, also a twin-engined aircraft,was first unveiled at Aero India Show-2007 at Bangalore, India. Itsofficial price is still unknown but will preferably be lower than theother expensive bidders. The other two competitors, F-16IN and GripenIN are relatively lightweight fighters but can carry a weapon load ofaround 8000 kg. Both are highly manoeuvrable multirole fighters.

Conclusion

Thefinal chapter on the 'mother of all deals' – the MMRCA competition –will be written soon and major issues like access to technology,technology transfer, reliable spares and maintenance support throughoutthe projected life of the aircraft, etc will play key role in thedecision making. There are media reports that political factor islikely to influence the choice of the MMRCA other than the performanceand cost.

The contract is likely to be wrapped up sometime next year, and the MMRCA is expected to join the IAF fleet in early 2017.

Currently,the strength of the IAF is 34 squadrons (over 640 aircraft). By 2022,the IAF fighters’ fleet would comprise of the Sukhois, indigenous LightCombat Aircraft (LCA) 'Tejas', MMRCA, indigenous Medium Combat Aircraftand fifth generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) that India is developingjointly with the Russians.

Finally, whatever be the result ofthis on-going competition, the inclusion of these MMRCA will definitelyform a strong backbone for the Indian Air Force.

  The Swedish companyexecutives are hopeful that the Indian Government would shortlist thecompetitors by December to bring the number of contenders from six totwo or three.   The Gripen is in contention withAmerican F-16 and F-18/A Super Hornets, French Rafale, Russian MiG 35and Eurofighter Typhoon.

The company executivesclaimed that the Gripen had come through well in Indian flight trialsheld at Leh and Jaisalmer.

"The trials were acomplete success. We are very happy with the trials that went off early2010. We are looking forward to the next steps and we are hopeful,"Eddy de la Motte, Director, Gripen for India, told PTI on the sidelinesof the Africa Aerospace and Defence expo 2010.

Gripen, like other five contenders, had undergone trials at Bangalore,Leh and Jaisalmer for performance assessment trials over varyingterrain and weather conditions over six months that ended inMarch-April this year.

La Motte said the Indian AirForce pilots, who tested the 1,320 mile-per-hour jet, were a "reallyprofessional team" and the flight evaluation was "very demanding."

Gripen's Campaign Director and Test Pilot Magnus Lewis-Olsson said SAABwas looking forward to winning the Indian contract as it would mean alot for the company.

"If you win India, that would be a strong signal for the world," he said.

The Gripen fighter aircraft, which is in service in the Swedish andSouth African Air Force, flew for 12 to 15 hours for eight days andalso did single sorties during the trials.

Underthe MMRCA deal, India will acquire 126 aircraft in 86 single-seater and40 twin-engine seat configurations. It plans to procure 18 aircraft inflyaway conditions and produce 106 locally under license throughtechnology transfer.

Saab  is in a campaign to sell its Gripen Fighter in Asiaand eastern Europe as Switzerland’s decision to delay a $1 billionfighter purchase.

Orders from Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia and a follow-on contractfrom Thailand are “major near-term opportunities” for the Gripen, whichcompetes with models from Lockheed Martin Corp., Boeing Co., DassaultAviation SA and Eurofighter GmbH, Saab Aeronautics chief LennartSindahl said in an interview.


Switzerland will wait until 2015 before awarding a contract to replaceageing Northrop F-5 Tigers, its defense ministry said on Aug. 25,halting a tender regarded as key to the Gripen’s future by analystsincluding Teal Group’s Richard Aboulafia. Saab is still betting onorders from Brazil and India to save the flagship fighter as theproduction backlog shrinks, with Malaysia another prospect, HakanBuskhe, the company’s new chief executive officer, said in his firstinterview in the role.

“We were a little bit sad that the Swiss postponed, but there was atricky situation with the financing and I wasn’t totally surprised,”Sindahl said by telephone yesterday. “The good thing is that we haven’tlost the contract.”

Saab rose as much as 2 percent and was up 1.8 percent at 95.20 kronoras of 10:17 a.m. in Stockholm, where the company is based, paring thestock’s decline this year to 19 percent.

Dwindling Wordload

The Swedish manufacturer, which is competing with Dassault andEurofighter in Switzerland, requires new orders as work on 26 Gripensfor South Africa and an initial six planes for Thailand runs out in2012, with an upgraded version not due to enter service with Sweden’sair force until at least 2017.

Saab also needs export orders to establish the Gripen as the model ofchoice in former Soviet and non-aligned markets not dominated by Boeingand Lockheed Martin, which is grabbing contracts with its F-35Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter.

Saab’s ability to offer the Gripen with in-house radar technology isbeing pitched as an advantage over rival planes and helped it win theexisting Thai order, Sindahl said.

The Scandinavian company views Brazil’s requirement for 36 jets as alive competition even after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silvaindicated last year that he favored the Dassault Rafale, Sindahl said,with no contract for the order yet signed.

Factory Offer

In order to boost its chances of winning the $1.8 billion deal Saab hasoffered to establish joint manufacturing of the Gripen in Brazil, whichcurrently operates Dassault’s Mirage.

“Every day that nothing new comes from Brazil I think we have gained alittle bit,” Sindahl said. “The longer it takes, the more discussionsthere are and the more they start realizing how good the offer is bothwith respect to the product and also to the package for Brazilianindustry.”

South America’s biggest economy is unlikely to choose between theGripen, Rafale and Boeing Co. F/A-18 Super Hornet before a presidentialelection in October, the executive said.

India may announce the preferred supplier for a 126-planerequirement by the end of this year after scrapping an April 27deadline to select a replacement for Russian-built MiG jets dating tothe 1970s, Sindahl said.

The $10 billion order is the world’s biggest fighter-jet purchase in 15years and has attracted bids from Lockheed, Boeing, Dassault,Eurofighter and Russia’s United Aircraft Corp.

Saab hasn’t given up on winning Dutch and Danish orders for the Gripen,CEO Buskhe said at the company’s Stockholm offices yesterday. TheNetherlands has selected Lockheed’s F-35 as its preferred candidate andlike Denmark is one of eight partner countries with the U.S. indeveloping the plane.

While the Brazilian government decides to give another chance for the companies to improve their offers in the bid for the new fighter planes Brazil is buying, the technology transfer for this type of airplane has already begun with at least one of the competitors, Saab.
[Led] by Akaer, the companies Friuli, Winnstal, Minoica and ImbraAerospace sent a team of 20 Brazilian engineers and technicians to Swedento start working on the project of the new Swedish fighter, the GripenNG, produced by Saab Aerosystems. Besides the Swedish group, theAmerican Boeing and the French Dassault are competing to sell 36fighters to the Brazilian Air Force.

"The actual cooperation with Saab started on August 31, with the objectiveof totally engaging all companies in the project, including themastering of important technologies in the aircraft and access to allsensitive areas in the company plant in Linköping, Sweden",explains the Akaer CEO, César Augusto da Silva. T1, the holding joiningthe five Brazilian companies involved in the new Swedish fighterproject, will be responsible for projecting and manufacturing the central and rear fuselages and wings of the Gripen NG.
According to the Akaer officer, though the success of thepartnership with Saab is in a way dependent on the F-X2 project,considering the possibility that Brazil becomes the launching client ofthe Gripen NG if it is chosen, this factor is not necessarily decisivefor the permanence of the Brazilian companies in the development of thenew fighter. "Our companies were selected in an international offerwithin Saab’s strategy of finding international partners for the project," he explains.
Technology transfer in the area of structures made of composed materials,according to the Akaer director, will enable Brazilian companies tobecome world-class suppliers for any client of the Gripen NG fighter.The holding's idea is to form a new aeronautical center in Brazil inthe area of intelligence development and airplane production cycle,leaving behind the phase of being a mere part supplier.
"We would not be involved only in the process of making parts withno added value or engineering activity. The issue is not only making,but knowing how to make, and we have started learning that in thisjoint work," comments Akaer technical director Ricardo Fontes. Theinformation exchange in the project, engineering andmanufacturing areas of the Swedish fighters is being done, according to Fontes, with the authorization of the Swedish government.
Akaer predicts that as from next year a team of at least 150engineers and technicians from the T1 holding will start working inBrazil together with 20 Swedish specialists. The Brazilians already inSweden will work there for a six-month period, according to Fontes.
The directors of Akaer estimate that in four years the holding'sturnover will reach US$ 500 million and around 2.9 thousand job postswill be created in the next 10 years. "If the F-X2 result favors theGripen, in six months we will double the current number ofcollaborators," says Silva. "The partnership with Saab may be a hugetechnological leap with the same impact AMX had to Embraer, when theywere enabled to develop their very successful family of regional jets."
Brazil will help shaping supersonic plane wings
The manager of the Structural Segments Project of the new Swedish fighter Gripen NG, materials engineer Fernando Ferraz, responsible for the area of engineering and quality in Akaer, was summoned to coordinate the training of the 20 Brazilian engineers who are in Sweden learning to decipher the technology of supersonic airplanes. "It is the first time a Brazilian company has the chance to shape the wing of a supersonic airplane."
From the manufacturing standpoint, according to the engineer, the level of requirements for the parts, which will be made of composed materials, is more critical because the parts are thicker and the materialsare more resistant than those used in civil aircraft. "Akaer is quiteexperienced in the project and calculation areas, but with the GripenNG program we will also acquiremanufacturing know how."
One of the points highlighted by him is that during the phase oflearning new technologies, the Brazilian team will be involved in the development processfrom the beginning. "We will use computer tools involved in the processfrom the initial concept to the end product." According to Ferraz, inBrazil there is still nocompany in the aeronautical sector, with the exception of Embraer, that can integrate the whole process of producing an important part of a plane.
The suppliers in the Brazilian aeronautical chain, according to him,have reached a very good technical level, but have managing andintegration deficiencies. "This is our opportunity to change thatsituation. We will gain integration in a quicker way." Today, theintegration is done through foreign suppliers that receive partiallyfinished sets and finish them in Brazil.

Jerusalem: Israel has dropped out of a multi-billion dollar joint venture with a Swedish firm to develop new fighter jets for India because of US pressure, a newspaper reported on Monday.
Israel Aerospace Industries was planning to develop a new model of the Swedish-made Gripen fighter jet with its manufacturer, Saab, to compete in a tender to sell the planes to India's armed forces, the Jerusalem Post said.
But the state-owned firm backed out on the orders of the Israelidefence ministry "after the Pentagon expressed concern that Americantechnology, used byIsrael, would be integrated into the Gripen," the newspaper said.
It said Washington had likely pressured its close ally because two major US aircraft manufacturers -- Boeing and Lockheed Martin -- are also participating in the tender for more than 120 aircraft estimated at 12 billion dollars (8.5 billion euros) .
"This is not the first time that the defence ministry forced a localcompany out of a deal due to concerns that competition with American companies would cause friction with the United States," it said.
In 2008, the defence ministry ordered Israel Military Industries notto submit a bid for a 500 million-dollar deal for the manufacture of anew tank for Turkey because it would have been in competition with USfirms, it said.
Israel replaced France in 2007 as India's second-largest armssupplier after Russia and could grab the number one slot through a vastarray of defence agreements already signed with New Delhi.
In May, India took delivery of its first Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) plane as part of a deal with Israel worth more than one billion dollars.

The first single-seat Gripen C destined for the South African Air Force flew for the first time on Thursday 11th June.
The aircraft, number 39.2101, was flown by Saab test pilot Richard Ljungberg. It took off from Saab's facility at Linköping in Sweden at 13.00 and touched down safely back at Linköping at 14.03 in the afternoon.
The aircraft will undergo a short flight test programme ahead of delivery to South Africa in October.
South Africa has ordered 17 Gripen C and 9 dual-seat Gripen D fighters under a comprehensive military transformation and modernisation programme.

Budget cuts have compelled the air force to shelve its planned purchase of six more Swedish-made Gripen fighters, the Bangkok Post reports. As the government decided on Wednesday to slash the defence budget for the next fiscal year from 171 billion to 151 billion baht, the air force had to ditch its plan to order six more Gripen fighter jets worth 15 billion baht, commander Itthaporn Subhawong said.
The air force has already bought six Gripen jets worth 19 billion baht with the planes due for delivery next year. The air forceneeds the other six Gripen jets to complete a fleet of 12 that willreplace its ageing F-5 fighters scheduled to be decommissioned in 2011.

With only six Gripen jets, the air force was not confident of protecting national security, according to the air force chief, who also warned that the decision would weaken national defence where competitive weaponry is vital.
"This affects the potential of the armed forcesbecause they need modern weaponry. If we must defend the nation withweapons that cannot match [our enemies'] or are outdated, nobody willhave respect for us," ACM Itthaporn said.
He said that the six other Gripen jets were necessary for nationaldefence. "We must explain what is essential and need a review fromthe government. Weapons result in national security. Without strong defences, neighbours will not have respect for us.
"We, all soldiers, are ready to sacrifice our lives for the nationbut in any fight we must have competitive weaponry. The life of everysoldier is valuable. If a conflict erupts and we have weapons that donot compare, soldiers will be killed," he said.
The Swedish fighters will be stationed at the air force base in Surat Thani to protect the Gulf of Thailand, the Andaman Sea and all areas in the southern region of the country.
The air force plans to use them as its main fighters instead of the F-16 jets used now.
The Defence Ministry was one of the agencies hit hardest by thebudget cuts, implemented because government revenues have fallen shortof target and the need to raise money to pay for economic stimulusschemes.
A ministry source said there was a question whether relations between the Democrat Party-led coalition and the armed forces would sour because the armed forces had supported the government but received budgetary reductions in return.

Sweden has positioned itself as a contender for the Greek jetfighter program by offering up its Gripen as an alternative to theFrench Rafale, the Eurofighter Typhoon, and the Boeing F-18E Super Hornet.
Greece is pursuing a two-round procurement strategy in its pursuit of a new state-of-the-art combat aircraft.The first round is to conclude this year and calls for an initialprocurement of 40 aircraft with an option for a further 20. Deliverieswould then take place in 2010 and 2011.

The Swedish proposal includes 30-40 new-generation, multiroleGripens built to NATO specifications, with delivery coming 24 monthsafter the contract is signed.Sweden also is offering up an intermediate solution, whereby Gripens that are already operational are provided to Greeceas a bridge until the new-build models arrive. These could be in Greekservice within six months of the contract being approved.
In addition, Sweden is offering infrastructure and maintenance support for the Greek Gripens, as well as extensive industrial cooperation and technology transfer.

Saab will only develop an aircraft carrier-capable version of itsJAS 39 Gripen NG fighter should either India or Brazil select theland-based variant to fulfil their fighter replacement programmes, thecompany has said.
Eddy de la Motte, Gripen campaign director for India, told reporterson 12 June that development of the aircraft has, to date, been drivenby its core customer, the Swedish Air Force (SwAF). With no Swedishrequirement for a navalised aircraft, it requires a customer with acarrier capability to serve as a catalyst for any such development ofthe proposed Sea Gripen.
"[Development of the Sea Gripen] only makes sense if India or Brazilbuy the NG as Sweden has no carriers," he said during a briefing at thecompany's Linköping facility in southern Sweden.
According to de la Motte, the 'land' Gripen needs only rudimentarychanges to make it carrier compatible. These include a strengthenedundercarriage, bigger brakes and a tail hook (which the NG will have).The standard Gripen has a large number of the attributes for carrieroperations, such as a high precision landing capability, a high pitchand roll rate authority and precision glide slope control, a reinforcedairframe and enhanced anti-corrosion protection.

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