In 2009, the Federal Government opened the FX-2 Program, whose finalists were the Dassault Rafale french, the Saab JAS-39E/F Gripen Swedish (at the time called Gripen NG) and the Boeing F / A-18E / F Super Hornet from the USA.
In December 2013, Gripen was announced as the winner of the tender. The first Gripen , F-39E FAB4100, was officially delivered to the Brazilian Air Force in 2019 and, after a series of tests in Sweden, arrived in Brazil in September 2020.
The fighter is still engaged in test flights from the Gripen Flight Test Center (GFCT) at Embraer facilities in Gavião Peixoto (SP).
To equip the planes, the FAB acquired IRIS-T, Meteor and A-Darter missiles (the latter developed by Brazil in conjunction with South Africa), Spice 250 and Spice 1000 bombs, of Israeli origin, and pods Litening G4 and Reccelite, also from Israel, used for identifying and guiding bombs and reconnaissance, apart from Ma BK-27 internal cannon (only available in single seat version).
Riders will also wear the TARGO II integrated display helmet, developed by Israel's Elbit Systems. Currently, F-5EM/FM pilots use the Dash IV, also from Elbit.
What was the American offer?
But back to 2009. On August 06 of that year, the US State Department, through the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), approved the sale of 28 F/A-18E fighters (single seat) e eight F / A-18F (two seats) Super Hornet for the Brazilian Air Force.
The contract for US $ 7 billion, or US$ 8,67 bilhões, converting to approximate current values, also provided for the supply of four spare F414-GE-400 engines.
The contract also included the sale of equipment, spare and repair parts, crew training, t mission planning system, transfer flight with in-flight refueling, test flights, engineering by the contractor and the Government of the USA, documents and manuals and other logistical materials.
For armaments, the acquisition of:
- AIM-9M Sidewinder heat-guided air-to-air missiles (28)
- AIM-120C-7 AMRAAM active radar-guided air-to-air missiles (28)
- AGM-88B HARM anti-radar missiles (10)
- GBU-31/GBU-32 JDAM GPS/Inertial Navigation Guided Bombs (60)
- AGM-154 JSOW glide bombs
- Pods for identification and guidance AN/ASQ-228 (V2) ATFLIR (36)
- JHMCS integrated display helmets (44)
- M20A61 Vulcan 2mm rotary cannons (36 already fitted to planes)
- Too many hangers and weapon launch rails
Check out a gallery of the weapons mentioned below:
The electronic package had the following items:
- Active Electronically Scanned Radar (AESA) AN/APG-79 (36 already installed)
- AN/ALR-67(V)3 Radar Alert Receivers (36 already installed)
- AN/ALE-47 chaff and flare launchers (40)
- AN/ALQ-214 Radio Frequency Countermeasures System (36 already installed)
- AN/ALE-50 towable decoys (112)
The ALE-50 is basically a towable “bait”. The system is launched by the aircraft and, by emitting radiofrequency signals, becomes a decoy for radar-guided missiles, protecting the aircraft that tows it. The ALE-50 has already been successfully tested in real combat.
The DSCA statement also stated that: “The proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States, helping to improve the security of a friendly country that has been, and remains, an important force for political stability and economic progress in South America.”
It should be noted that the DSCA document does not mention any offset agreement, which was negotiated between Governments and contractors in other instances.
Years later, in 2012, a F / A-18F Super Hornet held demonstrations at the Academia da Força Aérea, in Pirassununga (SP), during the celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the Esquadrilha da Fumaça.
The same aircraft was also presented at Anápolis Air Base (currently Wing 2), headquarters of the 1st Air Defense Group, the Jaguar Squadron, the FAB unit that will operate the Gripens. Still in 2021, the squadron should receive its first F-39.
In the end, as mentioned before, the FAB chose the Swedish fighter. 28 single-seat JAS-39E (F-39E) fighters and eight twin-seat JAS-39F (F-39F) fighters were purchased for SEK 39,8 billion.
The purchase of Gripen also brings growth and technical and industrial development to Brazil, through the transfer of technology, in addition to the generation of direct jobs.
*So far we have not found more recent documents with any type of change or different details.
