INTERVIEW-Boeing may partner with Embraer in Brazil jet bid
By Eduardo Simoes
SAO PAULO, July 14 (Reuters) - Boeing Co (BA.N), the world's second-largest plane maker, might be ready to share military technology with Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer (EMBR3.SA) if the U.S. company wins a bid to build 36 fighter jets to the Brazilian Air Force, a top company executive said on Tuesday.
Brazil, Latin America's largest country, is planning to build up its military capabilities partly to help protect huge recent oil finds off its southern coast. A Boeing victory in the program would allow it to transfer technology and pave the way for a broader partnership with Embraer in projects involving the production of the Super Hornet fighter jet and other products, said Michael Coggins, who heads customer relations and new business for Boeing. Brazil has made technology sharing a condition of bidding for contract.
"In working out a program with Embraer it is obviously going to be different because we are talking about a partnership of equals," Coggins told Reuters on Tuesday. "We could develop other products which we could sell on world markets."
The Defense Ministry said that final bids for the deal were submitted last month from Boeing, Sweden's Saab (SAABb.ST) and France's Dassault Aviation (AVMD.PA). A decision could be announced in August or September, Defense Minister Nelson Jobim said on Monday from Paris, where he is meeting with French officials to discuss aspects of defense technology-sharing programs. Although none of the companies have disclosed the cost of the program, specialists expect it at $2 billion. Analysts say there is the possibility that the Brazilian government boosts its jet purchases to 100.
An Embraer spokesman said the company has been approached by Boeing, Saab and Dassault to hold preliminary talks on a potential technology transfer program. He said there are no definitive accords signed with neither of the companies.
Coggins declined to elaborate on the new products or platforms that would be developed with Brazilian companies if Boeing won the bidding.
(Reporting by Eduardo Simoes; Writing by Guillermo Parra-Bernal; Editing by Richard Chang)
((eduardo.simoes@thomsonreuters.com; +55 11 5644 7759)) Keywords: BRAZIL DEFENSE/BOEING Keywords: BRAZIL DEFENSE/BOEING
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