Brazil unveils first supersonic fighter jet assembled in country

By Gabriel Araujo

GAVIAO ‌PEIXOTO, Brazil, ​March ​25 (Reuters) - Brazil became the first Latin American nation to build a supersonic fighter jet ‌on Wednesday when it unveiled the first ⁠Gripen plane assembled in the country.

Brazil first signed the contract ‌for Saab's Gripen in ‌2014, choosing it over Boeing's F-18 Super Hornet and the Rafale, made by France's Dassault, to ​replace its aging fleet of fighter jets.

The country joins Western powers such as the United States ⁠and France, as well as major developing economies including Russia, India ​and China, in building a supersonic fighter jet.

Its deal with Swedish defence group Saab ​included the production of 15 ‌of the 36 jets under contract at Brazilian planemaker Embraer's Gaviao Peixoto plant ⁠in Sao Paulo state under a technology transfer agreement.

Saab said it expects to use the Brazilian production line ⁠as an export hub, a prospect bolstered by an agreement ​last year for neighboring Colombia to acquire Gripen fighters.

"This is the first time since 1937, when Saab was founded, that ‌a fighter aircraft is manufactured outside Sweden," said Saab CEO Micael Johansson.

The Gripen ‌production line underscores Brazil's growing ambitions in military ⁠aviation, with Embraer's C-390 ‌Millennium cargo jet ​gaining traction among European buyers.

(Reporting by Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Brad Haynes and Alexander ‌Smith)

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