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Waiting continues for Brazil’s F-X2 contract decision By Stephen Trimble Between September 2009 and January 2011, Brazil's F-X2 fighter competition seemed more like a power struggle than an evaluation process, with the state's political leadership favouring the Dassault Rafale and the air force preferring either of two alternatives. In this narrative, the winning bid would belong to the victorious side of an internal battle within the Brazilian bureaucracy, with most bets on the Rafale - President Luiz Inácio "Lula" da Silva's declared favourite. However, the dynamics of the competition, worth at least $6 billion, completely changed on 6 December 2010,...

Plans to procure a new advanced combat aircraft for the Brazilian Air Force (Forca Aerea Brasileira - FAB), originally launched in the late 1990s, are facing a new delay, sources in Sao Paulo have confirmed to Jane's. The final decision on which platform will be chosen to fulfil the FAB's F-X2 competition for an initial batch of 36 fighters was supposed to have been made before President Luiz Inazio Lula da Silva left office at the end of 2010. However, with Lula out of office his successor, President Dilma Rousseff, wants to place the approximately USD5 billion programme on hold...

A São Paulo-based body that represents almost 60% of Brazil's aerospace and defence companies has issued a scathing attack on the government's open support for the Dassault Rafale in its 36-aircraft F-X2 fighter contest. In a public letter, the board of the CIESP organisation says it "is concerned with the conclusion of this [selection] process in which the meticulous, professional and serious work developed by the air force may be cast aside". The service's recommendations should "be abided and respected by the federal government", it adds. The statement comes after local media reports early this month claimed that Brazilian president...