Gripen Brazil: 1 billion too much, and outstanding issues
On 27 October, the manufacturer SAAB announced it had reached with Brazil signed the contract for the acquisition of 36 JAS 39 Gripen new generation. Good news for the Air Force of Brazil awaiting the conclusion of the FX2 program for a decade, and for the Swedish manufacturer that perpetuates the future of its flagship program. Yet behind the good news lies what could become like two controversies. On one hand, the signing was done discreetly in August 2014 and the contract shows an additional cost of nearly a billion dollars over the expected cost in the selection of the aircraft, there is a year...
...What can explain this extra cost? As it stands, there is no official response, and for good reason. The contract was signed in secret in August 2014 a body of this acquisition, the COPAC (Comissão Coordenadora aeronave do Programa de Combate). Several reasons can be cited for this discrete signature. The first of them is related to the political life of Brazil, where elections were held in October. We can remember the premature announcement by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who in 2009 had announced during a trip to Brazil that the Rafale was chosen by Lula's government. Far from thinking that our former president has had a vivid imagination, the fact that this announcement was made by the French president was badly lived in Brazil. It would be especially a break in the international cooperation on a record that would have put the choice in question. But the change of presidency there was also something. Therefore, to protect the contract of any policy change after the election, this signature has been kept secret. The defense group Saab does not make a mistake, it's the day after the re-election of Dilma Rousseff as the announcement of the signing of the contract was made public. For those who still doubt that politics is one of the elements, if not the most important element in the business of combat aircraft ...
Yet again it is the method that crumples. As president of the COPAC announced in early August that the final signature certainly intervene in the month of December 2014 ... So it will be cohosh least 10 days. Curious fact.
The other big issue is the cost. Why the contract value would it increased by 20% in eight months of negotiations? For the moment, there is no official response. Besides, it seems that the government is also seeking an answer to this thorny issue since parliamentary commission of inquiry has been expedited, and several experts should analyze the case and get their opinions...
