DaRk WaVe
RETIRED TTA
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2009
- Messages
- 5,239
- Reaction score
- 0
- Country
- Location
Brazil Moves Toward Buying Rafale Jets From Dassault
Sept. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Brazil opened talks with Dassault Aviation SA and France to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said, pointing to broader military cooperation with the French as a key factor in the choice.
Lula said talks started largely because France is offering access to the plane’s technology. The contract would be worth as much as 5 billion euros ($7.2 billion), an official at the French president’s office said on condition of anonymity. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said France plans to buy 10 military transport planes from Empresa Brasileira Aeronautica SA.
“We have today consolidated our strategic partnership with France,” Lula said at a joint news conference in Brasilia.
The choice to move ahead on the sale with Dassault is a blow to competing bidders, Chicago-based Boeing Co. and Sweden’s Saab AB, as Brazil beefs up its military capabilities and seeks to expand access to technology. Should the negotiations work out, Brazil would have about 13 billion euros in arms purchases from France, including the 8 billion-euro accord for submarines and helicopters the countries signed in December.
The fighter jet contract would be worth about 140 million euros for each plane, the official in the office of the French president said. France has committed to building some of the Rafale jets in Brazil and is ready to deliver the first plane as early as 2013, the official said.
Breakthrough Sale
Lula made the announcement as Sarkozy finished a two-day visit to Brazil to push the South American nation to become the first foreign buyer of the Rafale. Dassault in the past five years has suffered a number of defeats on the international export market, leaving the French state until now as its only customer for the Rafale.
“We are doing with the Rafale what we did a year ago with the submarines,” Sarkozy said. “The head of state makes his decision, we start exclusive negotiations. It took nine months for the conclusion of the negotiations for the submarine. It’s a process.”
Boeing Co., which produces the F-18 Super Hornet, and Saab AB, maker of the Gripen plane, haven’t been approached for negotiations, Foreign Affairs Minister Celso Amorim told reporters. Amorim said negotiations with France concern a reasonable price, financial conditions, building the plane in Brazil and allowing Brazil to sell the plane to its Latin American neighbors.
‘Great Aerospace’
“With Lula we want to develop a great aerospace industry. We want to build planes together, develop planes together, sell planes together,” Sarkozy said during the press conference today.
Lula reiterated that Brazil is seeking transfer of the technology required to build parts of the aircraft on its soil, making it a key element for bidders to win the deal.
France is negotiating to sell the fighter to countries including India, Greece, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
Dassault developed the Rafale to succeed its Mirage model. France’s government is the only customer so far for the jet, with firm orders for 120 aircraft as part of a pledge to buy 294 jets over the next two decades.
Sarkozy said during the press conference the country plans to replace its Lockheed C-130 Hercules military transport planes, starting with 10 KC-390 jets under development by Embraer, as the Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil-based company is known. The purchase may cost about 500 million euros, according to the official in the French president’s office.
Military Contracts
This is the French leader’s second visit to Brazil after a trip last year during which he signed several military contracts. Brazil’s Senate last week approved a bank loan of 6.1 billion euros that the government will use to build five submarines and 50 helicopters in partnership with France.
Brazilian Defense Minister Nelson Jobim and his French counterpart, Herve Morin, attended the meeting.
Sarkozy is accompanied by seven ministers including Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, Energy Minister Jean- Louis Borloo and Junior Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau. Serge Dassault, the former chairman of the defense contractor who pushed forward the Rafale project, is among the 25 French business leaders accompanying the President
Brazil Moves Toward Buying Rafale Jets From Dassault (Update2) - Bloomberg.com
Sept. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Brazil opened talks with Dassault Aviation SA and France to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said, pointing to broader military cooperation with the French as a key factor in the choice.
Lula said talks started largely because France is offering access to the plane’s technology. The contract would be worth as much as 5 billion euros ($7.2 billion), an official at the French president’s office said on condition of anonymity. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said France plans to buy 10 military transport planes from Empresa Brasileira Aeronautica SA.
“We have today consolidated our strategic partnership with France,” Lula said at a joint news conference in Brasilia.
The choice to move ahead on the sale with Dassault is a blow to competing bidders, Chicago-based Boeing Co. and Sweden’s Saab AB, as Brazil beefs up its military capabilities and seeks to expand access to technology. Should the negotiations work out, Brazil would have about 13 billion euros in arms purchases from France, including the 8 billion-euro accord for submarines and helicopters the countries signed in December.
The fighter jet contract would be worth about 140 million euros for each plane, the official in the office of the French president said. France has committed to building some of the Rafale jets in Brazil and is ready to deliver the first plane as early as 2013, the official said.
Breakthrough Sale
Lula made the announcement as Sarkozy finished a two-day visit to Brazil to push the South American nation to become the first foreign buyer of the Rafale. Dassault in the past five years has suffered a number of defeats on the international export market, leaving the French state until now as its only customer for the Rafale.
“We are doing with the Rafale what we did a year ago with the submarines,” Sarkozy said. “The head of state makes his decision, we start exclusive negotiations. It took nine months for the conclusion of the negotiations for the submarine. It’s a process.”
Boeing Co., which produces the F-18 Super Hornet, and Saab AB, maker of the Gripen plane, haven’t been approached for negotiations, Foreign Affairs Minister Celso Amorim told reporters. Amorim said negotiations with France concern a reasonable price, financial conditions, building the plane in Brazil and allowing Brazil to sell the plane to its Latin American neighbors.
‘Great Aerospace’
“With Lula we want to develop a great aerospace industry. We want to build planes together, develop planes together, sell planes together,” Sarkozy said during the press conference today.
Lula reiterated that Brazil is seeking transfer of the technology required to build parts of the aircraft on its soil, making it a key element for bidders to win the deal.
France is negotiating to sell the fighter to countries including India, Greece, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
Dassault developed the Rafale to succeed its Mirage model. France’s government is the only customer so far for the jet, with firm orders for 120 aircraft as part of a pledge to buy 294 jets over the next two decades.
Sarkozy said during the press conference the country plans to replace its Lockheed C-130 Hercules military transport planes, starting with 10 KC-390 jets under development by Embraer, as the Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil-based company is known. The purchase may cost about 500 million euros, according to the official in the French president’s office.
Military Contracts
This is the French leader’s second visit to Brazil after a trip last year during which he signed several military contracts. Brazil’s Senate last week approved a bank loan of 6.1 billion euros that the government will use to build five submarines and 50 helicopters in partnership with France.
Brazilian Defense Minister Nelson Jobim and his French counterpart, Herve Morin, attended the meeting.
Sarkozy is accompanied by seven ministers including Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, Energy Minister Jean- Louis Borloo and Junior Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau. Serge Dassault, the former chairman of the defense contractor who pushed forward the Rafale project, is among the 25 French business leaders accompanying the President
Brazil Moves Toward Buying Rafale Jets From Dassault (Update2) - Bloomberg.com
