Military agreement may help Embraer win USAF dispute
Valor Econômico
The military agreement executed yesterday between Brazil and the United States helps Embraer in the dispute for the sale of up to 200 Super Tucano aircrafts to the US Air Force, informed yesterday the Minister of Defense, Nelson Jobim. This is the first military agreement between both countries since 1977, when the prior understanding, signed during the Cold War, was breached by the then President Ernesto Geisel. Its occurrence enables the Brazilian company to have some privileges in the selection made by the American Government. "There is the possibility of the United States waiving the bid for the purchase of aircrafts if the country has a military agreement", said Jobim, who attended the ceremony of execution of the military agreement with his fellow American, Robert Gates, yesterday.
The American Air Force opened a process of selection for the purchase of one hundred turboprop attack aircrafts that can be increased to another one hundred units. Embraer has already submitted a proposal which, if approved, shall represent the greatest sale of Super Tocanos ever made by the company. A basic version of this airplane costs between US$ 10 million and US$ 15 million, which means the contract value gets to billions of US dollars. The Americans want planes that can operate in antiguerrilla operations in Colombia. Should the Brazilian company win the dispute, it will have to open a plant in the United States.
Jobim said this dispute has nothing to do with the process of selection, by Brazil, of the fighters that will equip the Brazilian Air Force (FAB). The American Boeing applied to supply the jets in a project of modernization of the FAB, whose first stage, made up of a batch of 36 units, has an estimated value of US$ 2 billion. The American Government has made open campaign in favor of Boeing. "We do not want to bind one thing to another", said Jobim.
A framework agreement between Brazil and the United States was signed yesterday. Under it, there will be other agreements between both countries, some of which are already in force, such as the technological cooperation and the training of military personnel. There is no forecast, he said, of setting up an American base in Brazilian land. According to the Ministry, Brazil has similar agreements with nearly thirty countries, including Russia.