The US government is investigating a 2014 deal between the government of Brazil and Swedish fighter manufacturer Saab to provide the Brazilian air force (FAB) with new combat aircraft.
Ten years after the agreement was inked, Saab says its US subsidiary is being subpoenaed by the US Department of Justice [DoJ], which has “requested information about the Brazilian government’s acquisition of 36 Gripen E/F fighter aircraft”.
“Saab intends to comply with the request to supply information and to cooperate with the DoJ in this matter,” the company said on 10 October.
The Swedish manufacturer declines to provide any further details on the matter, citing “secrecy obligations”.
The US justice department declined to comment on the matter.
Courts in both Sweden and Brazil have previously investigated the fighter procurement contract over allegations of corruption. Brazilian prosecutors in 2016 accused former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of using his influence over the government in Brasilia to help Saab win the tender for 36 fighters.
Dilma Rousseff, Lula’s energy minister, succeeded him as president in 2011 and was the head of government when the Gripen contract was awarded. Rousseff was later impeached on unrelated charges of budgetary misconduct and removed from office in 2016.
Lula’s attorneys decried the probe as politically motivated. He has since returned to the presidency, winning re-election to the top office in 2023.
Saab notes its role in the Gripen deal has passed muster with judicial authorities in both Sweden and Brazil.
“These investigations were closed without indicating any wrongdoings by Saab,” the company says.
That conclusion was apparently not satisfactory for authorities in Washington, who are likely investigating Brasilia’s decision at the behest of US airframer Boeing.
Brazil’s fighter procurement programme, known as FX-2, took place between 2008 and 2014, pitting Saab’s latest Gripen E/F against the Boeing F/A-18/E/F Super Hornet and the Dassault Aviation Rafale F3 to replace the FAB’s Dassault Mirage 2000Cs.
Although the French airframer at one point appeared to have the edge, Saab ultimately prevailed. At the time of its awarding in 2014, the contract for 36 jets was valued at $4.5 billion.
The decision was driven by aircraft performance, transfer of technology and low through-life costs, according to Brazil’s then-defence minister Celso Amorim and FAB chief General Juniti Saito.
Saab subsequently partnered with Brazilian airframer Embraer to assemble the latest version of the single-engined Gripen fighter in Gaviao Peixoto, Sao Paulo State – the first time a Swedish jet was produced away from Saab’s facility in Linkoping.
The FAB’s first Gripen E – locally designated the F-39E – was assembled at that site Sweden, taking flight for the first time in 2019. The F-39E entered frontline service with Brazil in 2022.
Embraer and Saab opened the Gaviao Peixoto production line in 2023, configured for an annual production rate of eight aircraft. Of Brazil’s initial order for 36 Gripens, 15 are expected to be assembled domestically by Embraer.
In 2021, Brasilia said it would likely expand the programme to include as many as 70 jets. Although no deal has yet been struck for the additional fighters, a Saab executive told FlightGlobal in February the company remains optimistic about the prospect.
“Their requirement is much more than 36,” said Mikael Franzen, Saab’s chief marketing officer for the Gripen programme, at the 2024 Singapore air show.
Currently, Sweden and Brazil are the only two operators of the Gripen E, although Saab says it is in discussions with potential customers in Europe, South America and Asia, including operators of older Gripen models.
Over the summer, the Royal Thai Air Force announced its preference for the Swedish fighter over the Lockheed Martin F-16V for a 12-aircraft fleet modernisation tender.
That choice has not yet received final approval from the Thai government, however, leaving open the possibility that Lockheed could still prevail with a newly revised offer.
