[quote][b][url=/v3/forum/am%C3%A9rique-15/topic/for%C3%A7a-a%C3%A9rea-brasileira-br%C3%A9sil-843/?post=43338#post-43338]ex-trident[/url] a dit le 06/03/2009 à 10:45 :[/b]

Retour à la case départ pour le programme F-X2

[quote][b]Brazil F-X2 Programme: Back to Square One?  Su-35 and Eurofighter back in Brazil[/b]

08:42 GMT, March 6, 2009 On 2 February, the three final contenders in the Brazilian Air Force's F-X2 competition for the procurement of 36 new-generation combat aircraft - Boeing with the F/A-18E/F, Dassault with the Rafale and Gripen International with the Gripen NG - submitted their detailed technical, financial and industrial proposals to the Air Force/Ministry of Defence joint commission that is formally in charge of the programme. The Commander of the Brazilian Air Force (FAB), Lt.Gen. Juaniti Saito is on record having stated that the winning design will be selected by June or July at the latest, with contract signature then expected by around October.

But on 5 February, the Defence Minister Nelson Jobim made a totally surprising statement during his official radio programme, 'Bom Dia, Ministro'. The Minister said: “Yesterday [4 February] I received at the Ministry a visit by a delegation of the Russian organisation Rosoboronexport, which represents Sukhoi company which offered to bring their Su-35 aircraft to Brazil for a new examination by the FAB. I said that it was certainly possible for them to bring their aircraft here, and that the FAB would evaluate it. The same will apply to the Italians who are offering the Eurofighter. That is, by July/August we will have the results of the technical options currently being assessed by the FAB, and we will then take a political decision."

On the face of it, the statement by the Minister would seem to indicate a political intervention to effectively overturn the results of the first selection by the joint commission, which did eliminate the Su-35, the Eurofighter and the F-16 and force the FAB into re-evaluating all proposals again (if Rosoboronexport and Alenia are actually allowed to re-enter the competition, Lockheed Martin would most certainly demand the same).

At the time of this writing, the official position of the Command of the FAB is that they have not been informed of any change in the programme structure and time schedule.

Apart from the perplexing implications of the Defence Minister's apparent move to interfere with an ongoing technical and financial evaluation process, any delay in the F-X2 programme risks to wreck the entire process. The FAB absolutely needs to arrive at a binding decision within the next few months, both because the impact of the global economic crisis is already being felt (Treasury has demanded for 50% of the investment portion of this year's defence budget to be freezed), and because 2010 being a presidential election year any major procurement decision will have to be postponed until a new administration takes office.

It is sobering to remember in this regard that the programme is called F-X2 because a previous F-X programme collapsed in 2005 under very similar circumstances.[/quote]

http://www.defpro.com/daily/details/262/[/quote]