PAUL LEWIS / RIO DE JANEIRO
Air force has to decide whether to upgrade its Mirage IIIs or take secondhand aircraft
Brazil's decision to delay the F-X fighter programme to 2004 has left the air force having to decide on how to fill an interim shortfall in combat capability, either by extending the life of its elderly Dassault Mirage IIIs or considering a range of secondhand aircraft on offer.
Defence minister Jos‚ Viegas has indicated a decision on the $760 million F-X competition will not be taken before 2004, as the country focuses on social programmes and reviving the economy. Even if Brazil sticks to the new schedule, and many industry sources believe it could again slip, it will be 2007 before F-X deliveries begin and at least another year before initial operational capability is reached.
Brazil is starting to retire its oldest 18 Mirage IIIEs, due to be phased out by the end of 2004. "This represents a gap and there is now a lot of thought being given to an interim solution," says Maurico Botelho, Embraer president. The company, allied with Dassault, Snecma and Thales, is pushing the politically favoured Mirage 2000BR for F-X and is keen to forestall the air force opting for a new type in the interim.
Botelho suggests any immediate threats can be addressed by a combination of the Embraer ALX and 45 upgraded Northrop Grumman F-5BRs, which may be supplemented by the purchase of surplus Swiss F-5E/Fs. The air force has made the two programmes its top procurement priorities ahead of F-X. Production of the first of 76 ALX light attack turboprops will start in May, with delivery in December, while an Israeli F-5E testbed will fly next month equipped with the Elbit integrated cockpit, mission systems and Fiar Grifo radar selected by Brazil.
Meanwhile, France has dispatched its air force chief to Brazil to discuss other options, including supplementing or extending the life of the Mirage IIIs and possibly interim pilot training on French Mirage 2000s. Snecma regional export director Michel Coquelet says spare Mirage III Atar engines are available. The proposed Mirage 2000BR will include a new weapons/navigation system derived from the Dassault Rafale, different from the French air force fighter and limiting the value of early training, acknowledges Dassault executive vice-president Bruno Cotte.
Watching closely is Saab/BAE Systems, whose Gripen offering scored the highest in the air force's F-X technical evaluation. It has not yet made any alternative proposals, but sources say one could be quickly fashioned on the lease deal concluded with Hungary using surplus Swedish aircraft. Another option is a Lockheed Martin proposal in concert with Varig for 19 surplus Dutch Lockheed Martin F-16A/B fighters with a local structural upgrade to the Falcon-up standard. Other offers include Israeli Kfirs and surplus South African Cheetah C/Ds.
Source: Flight International