Factory Projected to Manufacture Brazilian Fighter Jet Parts Still Far From Becoming a Reality

10/09/2017 - 10h55

Despite having been announced to the public four years ago, the factory that was supposed to produce fuselage parts for Brazil's fighter jets in São Paulo has yet to be built.

The city of São Bernardo do Campo is threatening to go to the Federal Public Ministry in order to determine whether manufacturer Saab, which had announced that it would set up the factory in the city in order to produce the parts to a Brazilian version of the Gripen NG fighter jet, is planning on keeping its word.

The two-seat aircraft will be designed alongside Brazilian company Embraer, although, to that end, the factory in charge of the fuselage parts is key, especially when considering that the configuration of the two-seater is not the same as the one-seat version.

Folha has learned that the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) is concerned about the timeline involving the Brazilian half of the project, despite claims that the project is underway. Saab did not position itself on the matter. Sources who are involved in the project said that a solution was not far off.

In 2013, the manufacturer said that it would build a US$ 150 million factory in São Bernardo do Campo, and that it would send the Gripen parts to Embraer's assembly line, in Gavião Peixoto (SP) - 15 of the 36 fighter jets must be manufactured in Brazil, as per the contract terms, including all eight of the two-seat models.

Saab announced this year that it would be hiring and training 250 employees who would then be stationed in São Bernardo. The city has said that it is unaware of any such initiative.

Sources who are involved in the project commented on the fact that, even though the Brazil-Sweden agreement was announced in 2013, it was only signed in 2014, and financing was only approved in August of 2015.

The Gripen jets will cost Brazil 39.3 billion Swedish Kronas, or, given the current exchange rate, US$ 4.8 billion, while international financing will take place over the course of 15 years, starting in 2023.

According to the timeline, the first two fighter jets will arrive from Sweden in 2019, followed by another six in 2020 and another 12 in 2021 and 2022, while the last four will be manufactured by Embraer in 2024.

Among the concerns of São Bernardo do Campo mayor Orlando Morando (PSDB), who claims to be "fully interested in the factory", is a political one.

The idea of using the Gripen project to contemplate the city belonged to Luiz Marinho (PT), an ally of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, as well as a candidate for the gubernatorial race in São Paulo and the mayor of São Bernardo between the years of 2009 to 2016.

Translated by THOMAS MATHEWSON

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	SAAB
	First flight success for Gripen E