The Brazilian government will not review the bids for a fighter-plane contract worth billions of dollars until the beginning of 2012, Defense Minister Nelson Jobim told Reuters on 9 July.
The Brazilian government will not review the bids for a fighter-plane contract worth billions of dollars until the beginning of 2012, Defense Minister Nelson Jobim told Reuters on 9 July.
Brazil, which wants to rebuild and expand its fleet of air force planes, has been considering bids by the French firm Dassault Aviation, Boeing, and the Swedish company Saab.
“We’re going to examine it at the beginning of next year. At present, we’re only focused on the national agenda,” Jobim said in the context of a business forum in southern France.
The Brazilian contracts are probably worth much more than the initial proposals, which are believed to be in the range of four to six billion dollars, according to local media.
The maintenance contracts will be lucrative, and Brazil could eventually acquire more than one hundred planes.
Brazil also requires technology transfer, in order to help to create jobs through the domestic manufacture of modern fighter planes and potentially to export them to its neighbors in Latin America.
“The chief need is in the area of technology transfer,” said Jobim, who declined to say which of the three bids Brazil is considering is the favorite.
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