Report: Brazil Delays Fighter Jet Decision Until 2012

From left: Dassault Aviation’s Rafale, Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet and Saab’s Gripen NG,

all in the mix for the Brazil fighter jet deal.

(Dassault Aviation/The Boeing Co./Saab Group photos)

19 Feb 2011 DefenseNews (AFP)

BRASILIA, Brazil - Brazil is postponing a long-awaited decision on a multi-billion-dollar purchase of 36 fighter jets until next year as a result of massive budget cuts, a Brazilian newspaper reported Feb. 19. Major daily O Estado de Sao Paulo cited four unnamed government ministers as saying new President Dilma Rousseff saw no "climate" for the acquisition in 2011, and that such a move in the midst of a $30 billion slash in the year's budget would be an "inconsistency." France, Sweden and the United States are vying for the contract, which has an initial value estimated at $4 billion to $7 billion, with the possibility of many more aircraft in the future as the Brazilian Air Force seeks to revamp its fleet of fighters.