page_title: Brazilian Air Force
section_title: Developments
hierarchical_section_title: Brazilian Air Force / Inventory / Developments
caption_attribution_description: Mirage IIIEBR (F-103) at Anapolis, Brazil in 1995.
context_page_description: The Brazilian Air Force is the air branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces and one of the three national uniformed services. The FAB was formed when the Army and Navy air branch were merged into a single military force initially called "National Air Forces" in 1941. Both air branches transferred their equipment, installations and personnel to the new force.
  According to the Flight International and the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the Brazilian Air Force has an active strength of 80,937 military personnel and operates around 566 aircraft. The Brazilian Air Force is the largest air force in the Southern Hemisphere and the second largest in the Americas after the United States Air Force.
context_section_description: In the early 2000s, with renewed economic stability, the FAB underwent an extensive renewal of its inventory through several acquisition programs, the most ambitious of which was the acquisition of 36 new front-line interceptor aircraft to replace its aging Mirage III. Known in the late 1990s as the F-X Project, the program was postponed during the presidential mandate of Fernando Henrique Cardoso, who in the end of 2002 left the decision for his successor Luís Inácio ‘Lula’ da Silva, who postponed it again in 2003 and 2004.  It was postponed indefinitely in 2005.
  On July 15, 2005 one agreement was set with the French government for the transfer of twelve Dassault Mirage 2000s (ten "C" and two "B" versions) second-hand ex-Armée de L'Air. Known as F-2000s in Brazil, the first two aircraft arrived at Anápolis Air Base on September 4, 2006.
  In 2007, Brazilian Air Force's Institute for Advanced Studies started the 14-X development, a hypersonic scramjet demonstrator envisaged to fly at 30 km of altitude at 3 km/s, corresponding to Mach number 10. In March 2012 a Mach 7 variation has been suggested, named as 14-X S.
  On November 4, 2007 the F-X Project was restarted.  Known as Project F-X2 from the start of 2008, and with a bigger budget, the competitors for acquisition were the Eurofighter Typhoon, Sukhoi Su-35, Gripen NG, Dassault Rafale, Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and, although information on Lockheed Martin's F-35 Lightning II was requested, Lockheed Martin presented an F-16 Fighting Falcon variant (designated F-16BR). In October 2008, FAB released a shortlist of 3 aircraft: Saab Gripen NG, Dassault Rafale and Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. In February 2009, the three companies provided their final bids. In September 2009, following a surprise French visit to Brazil, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Nicolas Sarkozy, from France, made a new military cooperation agreement. Lula, on an interview at TV5 Monde, said French Rafale was a step forward, as technology transfer would be effective.
  On September 7, 2009, Brazilian Independence Day, it was announced Brazil would negotiate 36 Dassault Rafale. But the Defence Minister did not confirm the final decision.
  On January 5, 2010, after lobbying by Air Force Officers and Commanders, it was reported that the final evaluation report by the Brazilian Air Force placed the Saab Gripen NG ahead of the other contenders. The decisive factor was apparently the overall cost of the new fighters, both in terms of unit cost, and operating and maintenance costs, and the personal preference of the test pilots. Rafale was reported not to be even the second choice. It was announced in February 2011 that the decision would be further delayed due to budget cuts. And that July the decision was put off for yet another six-month extension.
  However, in 2013, yet another six-month delay was announced. In early June 2013, after a visit from US Vice President Joe Biden with Brazilian President Dilma Rouseff; Biden assured President Rouseff that the US Congress would approve technology transfer for Boeing's F-18s. In a move apparently following the NSA spying scandal, Russia has also offered Brazil a stake in the development of the Sukhoi PAK-FA 5th generation jet fighter with complete stealth technology transfer.
  Saab won the competition on 18 December 2013. The change away from the American jet was due to the 2013 Global surveillance disclosure, according to Reuters reporting; other sources agree with the official rationale that the decision was due to cost and technological transfer.  As of January 2014, Brazil is in negotiations with Saab to lease current model Gripens while they wait four years for the next generation jets on order to be developed and built.
  On July 28, 2015, the Brazilian government met with a Swedish trading commission to revisit the contract and request a low of 2.58% in interest rates to 1.98% per annum, generating a savings of 1 billion dollars in 25 years. Sweden rejected the application and signing the contract is seriously threatened with limit until Octobe
caption: A Brazilian Air Force Mirage IIIEBR (F-103) at Anapolis, Brazil in 1995.
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "3000", "Image ImageLength": "1964", "Image BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Image Compression": "Uncompressed", "Image PhotometricInterpretation": "2", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image PlanarConfiguration": "1", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS2 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2014:03:06 23:39:39", "Image ExifOffset": "252", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "390", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4158", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1400", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "870"}