DEFENSE
Brazil rolls out its first domestically built fighter jet
Fuselage of a Gripen jet being produced in Brazil. Photo: Saab/FAB
The federal government plans to roll out Brazil's first domestically assembled F-39 Gripen fighter jet today. The event is set to take place at Embraer's sprawling facility in Gavião Peixoto, a city 300 kilometers to the northwest of São Paulo.
The origins of the Gripen program trace back to 2013, when Swedish aerospace company Saab beat out rivals Boeing (US) and Dassault (France) to win Brazil's competition for a next-generation combat aircraft.
The contract, signed in 2014 and worth USD 5.4 billion at the time, covered 36 jets — 28 single-seat F-39E models and eight two-seat F-39Fs — along with logistics, armaments and, crucially, a sweeping technology transfer agreement. Of those 36 aircraft, 15 were to be assembled on Brazilian soil (the local production line was inaugurated in 2023).
The jet being put on display today is…
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