Sukhoi Said 'Sure Thing' In $700M Brazil Tender

BRASILIA, Brazil -- Sukhoi's Su-35 fighter jet has a "close to 90 percent" chance of being the winner in a Brazilian tender to buy up to 24 new supersonic fighters for $700 million, Sukhoi's Brazilian partner said Tuesday.

The purchase, which may be decided next week, is set to be one of the biggest arms deals in recent Latin American history and is hotly contested by such heavyweights as Lockheed Martin Corp. with its F-16 fighter, BAE Systems PLC, and Brazil's Embraer together with France's Dassault Aviation SA.

But Sukhoi's bid with its so-called Su-35 Super Flanker fighter is likely to beat them all, said Joao Brasil, a director at Brazilian rocket and missile maker Avibras Aerospacial SA, which will help produce the Russian jet if the partners win the contract.

Sweden's Saab is bidding in the contest together with BAE with its Gripen fighter, while Embraer and Dassault are offering a version of Dassault's Mirage strike plane.

"We are not opening the Champagne bottles until next week," Brasil said, but added, "we are getting close to 90 percent" certainty of winning. "All the circumstantial evidence is pointing that way."

A report in the daily Folha de Sao Paulo over the weekend said that Brazil's air force had pinpointed the Su-35 as its first choice in the competition on technical grounds, listing qualities such as its long flying range and extensive reach of its radar systems in addition to low price tag.

"If we can confirm that we are chosen technically, then we are sure to have won," said Brasil, adding that he had not seen the air force report, as it had not been released.

However, politics and not just technicalities will enter into the play when the decision is taken. President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, the heads of both houses of Congress, the finance minister and defense ministers all sit on the council that has the final say.

While there have been previous delays in the tender, Brasil said the council is expected to meet on June 12 and formally announce its decision on June 15.

The government has not said when it will make the final decision.

Sector experts have seen Embraer and Dassault as the likeliest winners because their bid offers an element of local production to the jets if they win, securing jobs for the country's flagship company. Brasil disputes Embraer's argument that it would be the only company offering some production of its plane locally, saying Sukhoi and Avibras would do the same and that the Su-35 could also eventually be made in Brazil for export.

Brasil said what his company will do locally in the production of the Su-35 is to write the software for the plane, in addition to the arms, systems and electronics integration.

Additionally, Brasil said his company and Russia would jointly build a $220 million service center in Brazil, ensuring that all repairs and maintenance will be done here -- the only bidders in the competition offering such follow-up.

Brasil, whose company teamed up with Sukhoi during a visit to Russia earlier this year by Cardoso, said a deal with Russia would also offer the greatest advantages in other areas such as increased trade.

"[Vladimir] Putin was very assertive in showing Russia's interest in presenting this bid," when he met with Cardoso, Brasil said. "If this bid is seen from a country-to-country scenario in terms of which country Brazil can triple or quadruple its trade with, the answer is Russia."