Global Marketplace
148
M
arch
2014
westward from Ceyhan. As well as for the signing parties, the
Turkish-Kurdistani deal holds immense significance for major
oil companies. But the activation of the pipeline angered
Baghdad, which claims sole authority for the management of
Iraqi oil.
A penalty for snoopery?
Boeing’s loss is Saab’s gain as
Brazil picks a Swedish-made
fighter jet over the American
front-runner
Brazil has awarded Saab a ten-year, $4.5 billion contract for
36 fighter jets, a prize that was widely considered Boeing’s
to lose – which it did, in a keen disappointment for the US
aircraft maker. The Brazilian defence minister, Celso Amorim,
told reporters at an 18 December news conference in
Brasilia that the Swedish aircraft maker was selected over
Chicago-based Boeing because it had agreed to share more
technology with contractors and because many parts for the
new jet, the Gripen NG, would be made in Brazil.
The announcement came at a time of heightened tension
between Brazil and the United States. In September, the
Brazilian president, Dilma Rousseff, cancelled a state visit
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to Washington after revelations that the National Security
Agency (NSA) was spying on foreign heads of state, including
her. At the United Nations that month, President Rousseff
sharply criticised the US for its “illegal interception of
information and data.”
When asked at the news conference in December if the
spying had anything to do with the decision to award the
contract to Saab, Mr Amorim did not answer directly. Instead,
he reiterated what he had said in a statement: that the
decision in favour of Saab was based on the three factors of
performance, effective transfer of technology, and costs – “not
only of acquisition, but also of maintenance.”
From São Paulo, Brazil,
New York Times
reporter Dan Horch
noted that Brazil did have financial and practical reasons to
award the contract to Saab. Both jets under consideration use
the same engine but the Super Hornet, Boeing’s contender,
has two engines; the Gripen, one. A study cited by Mr Horch,
from the military publisher IHS Jane’s, said that the Gripen
costs about $4,700 an hour to fly – the lowest among modern
fighter jets – versus $11,000 for the Super Hornet. (“Brazil
Snubs Boeing in Fighter Jet Deal,” 18 December)
›
Richard L Aboulafia, an aviation analyst at Teal Group in
Fairfax, Virginia, estimated the cost of a basic version of
the Gripen at about $45 million, compared with $55 million for
the basic F/A-18 Super Hornet. He supposes that indignation
over NSA spying was a lesser factor in Brazil’s choice of Saab
over Boeing than cost.
