"Keith Willshaw" wrote in message ...

Saab have sold around 40 Gripen to SA and Hungary, and are
negotiating with the Brazilians.

But it's almost sure they won't sell the Gripen here. Competitors to
replace the aging Mirage IIIE's based in Anápolis are the Su-35, SAAB
Gripen, F-16 and the Miragge 2000-5 (let's forget the MiG-29). Seems
like Air Force's aircraft of choice is the Su-35 and the "political"
choice is the Mirage 2000-5. The Mirage is built by Dassault, who is
one of the members of the european consortium who owns 20% of EMBRAER,
which is a strong political "card in the sleeve". OTOH, magazines and
newspapers say the russians are offering full tech transfer, including
of weapons, and a very stron economical "compensation". The Gripen has
been considered too short-legged and subject to restritions by the US
(engine, etc...).

Final decision should come out in March, unless it is postponed for
the 200th time. Let's see :-)