Posted on 12/19/2013 10:05:28 AM PST by sukhoi-30mki
It’s a compelling story: Brazil gets mad at the US for the NSA spying revelations, and snubs Boeing BA -0.46% for its long-awaited FX-2 fighter buy. Sweden gets $4.5 billion in business, and the U.S. pays a big economic price for eavesdropping on a neighbor. Countless articles have cited the NSA as the biggest factor, or at least a very big contributing factor, in Brazil’s decision.
Yet sometimes, a fighter procurement decision is just a fighter procurement decision. There’s a chance the NSA scandal played a role in Brazil’s decision. But it’s just as likely that this decision was an honest reflection of Brazilian Air Force (BAF) requirements, and a realistic appraisal of the options on offer.
Consider Brazil’s actual defense needs. The country isn’t in the Mideast, the Pacific Rim, South Asia, or any of the other global hotspots where conflict might erupt. It’s in a relatively tranquil place that seldom sees strategic confrontations (or, as Henry Kissinger once put it, Latin America is a dagger…pointed straight at the heart of Antarctica). The BAF’s main missions include patrolling the Amazon, countering drug traffickers, and coastal surveillance. Unless Venezuela can figure out how to use its Sukhoi Su-30 fighters (a highly unlikely development), Brazil faces no significant military air threats. There are no significant ground threats either.
Brazil’s original FX-2 choice was Dassault’s Rafale, a complex medium/heavy fighter with high acquisition and operating costs. However, this tentative selection was made in 2009, when Brazil’s economy was booming, and the country seemed poised to become an economic superpower. Then-President Lula had a vision of the country joining an elite club of countries that operate complex twinjets in the Rafale class, and of leveraging the technology to be transferred from France.
Since then, Brazil’s economy, and its currency, have slumpe
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
Merkel compared NSA to Stasi in heated encounter with Obama
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/17/merkel-compares-nsa-stasi-obama
German chancellor furious after revelations US intelligence agency listened in on her personal mobile phone.
Ian Traynor in Brussels and Paul Lewis in Washington
The Guardian, Tuesday 17 December 2013
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.