Brazil's FX-BR fighter procurement programme is expected to accelerate again after the election of a new president late last month.
The incumbent Brazilian president and his successor, Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, will hold meetings in the first half of this month to decide jointly a number of issues, including the final decision on the long-delayed FX-BR programme.
At the start of Lula's campaign, the Embraer/Dassault Mirage 2000BR proposal was favoured politically because it would create the most jobs in Brazil's aerospace industry. But recent statements by Lula suggest this has changed, with the president indicating he will stick with the Brazilian air force's first choice, the Sukhoi Su-35.
No decision has been taken on leasing an interim fighter to replace ageing Dassault Mirage IIIEBR/ DBRs until the winning FX-BR enters service. Israel Aircraft Industries appeared to have concluded a deal for 12 Kfir C-10s, but Varig VEM has entered the ring with a proposal for 18 ex-Royal Netherlands Air Force Lockheed Martin F-16A/Bs. Valued at $113.4 million, the proposal includes overhauling 16 F-16As and two F-16Bs at Varig's Rio de Janeiro maintenance facilities.
Source: Flight International
