Category: Latin America

Brazilian Defense Minister Doubts Sincerity of US Technology Transfer Promises

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He talks about extensive difficulties in getting essential technology transferred as a part of contractual obligations:

According to the minister, the most controversial matter among the suppliers is the technology transfer issue and he emphasized that, in this area, the United States doesn’t a have a favorable history.

“The trouble with the United States,” he stated, “are past issues. The past is a big example of technology transfer embargo. We experience this here today at the Cetex.”

Jobim revealed that during his visit to the technological center he heard reports by military men stating that American companies would supply technology for the finishing of military equipments, such as batteries and propellers, only in ten years.

While the quote is unclear, and I think intentionally so, I believe that this is a shot across the bow regarding the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet’s AESA radar, the APG-79.

Truth be told, with the obvious issues with the Superbug’s aerodynamics, it’s the slowest of the three finalists, and the under-wing environment is noisy, hence the “splayed” arrangement of its stores pylons (see picture), required for safe stores separation, which increases drag.

Additionally, it’s significantly larger size vs. its competitors, about 20% more than the Rafale, and about double the Gripen, which necessarily increases the cost per flight hour, makes it clear that its sensor suite, and the ability for Brazil to modify these systems to meet its needs, becomes paramount to Boeing’s bid.

Ecuadorian Helo Crash Air Show

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Click for full size



They walked away from this?

Here is the video

Thankfully, there were only minor injuries at the crash, which occurred during an armed forced day celebration, but in keeping with my policy of never letting a crash with video and a happy ending go unnoticed, here it is.

I will say that it is kind of surreal how the marching band never misses a step in the video as the helo comes down.

H/t Graham Warwick

Honduran Talks Still Up In Air

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2 days ago, Ousted Honduran President ManuelZelaya was saying that the talks had broken down, but now he is saying that an agreement is imminent.

I think that there has likely been some movement on the part of the forces behind the Coup who currently hold power, and that the denial of entry visas into the United States for current Honduran office holders was a part of this change of heart.

It would have been nice if the US had gotten tough on the coup from day 1 though.

Good News in Honduras

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It appears that a deal has been agreed to regarding President Manuel Zelaya. (also here)

Whether or not Zelaya needed to be removed from office, what happened was a coup. He was abducted at gunpoint by the military and put in exile: That’s a coup.

If there had been a vote in parliament, or an order from the courts to arrest him, that would be a legal removal.

I will note here that the lack of involvement of Obama and the State Department is both striking and depressing.

This is a Feature, Not a Bug

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Not a part of the pale elites. What a surprise.

So, victims of Paramilitary violence in Columbia, and their relatives, are celebrating a supreme court ruling forbidding the extradition of former paramilitaries to the United States on drug charges:

[Bela] Henriquez [shown] wants to find out as much as she can from the paramilitaries who murdered her father in 2001. Julio Henriquez was killed because of his work organizing poor farmers along a vital cocaine-trafficking corridor. In testimony two years ago, one of the commanders, Hernan Giraldo, confessed to ordering her father’s murder.

But she says the details were scant — and that the testimony didn’t mean that justice was served.

And then, Giraldo was extradited.

Giraldo and the other paramilitary commanders took with them a treasure trove of historical information about the links between Colombia’s elite and the paramilitaries, says Michael Reed, a lawyer with the International Center for Transitional Justice, a New York group that studies the efforts to unravel Colombia’s war crimes.

“Basically a political decision was made to trump human rights investigations and prosecutions with drug-trafficking prosecutions,” Reed says.

(emphasis mine)

No, Michael Reed is wrong. A political decision was made to make deport the paramilitaries to the United States in order to silence them. This is not about being nice to the United States, it is about silencing the professional killers hired to murder labor organizers, literacy volunteers, and anyone else who was trying to show the peons something beyond their stations.

Rafale Win in Brazil Less Certain

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Brazil has officially extended the final bid deadline until October 2, and there are now reports that the Rafale was not the first choice of the Brazilian Air Force, with the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) favoring the F/A-18 E/F, and the “engineers” favoring the Gripen.

I would assume that the FAB refers to the guys who fly, and that the “engineers” are the maintainers.

The latter is far from surprising. As the Gripen is less than ½ the size of its competitors, with ½ the number of engines, the simple laws of physics say that its per flight hour costs, and logistical tail, will be significantly less than either its French or American competitors.

The austere field capabilities of the Swedish jet may have influenced this too.

My guess is that the Rafale was “selected” on the basis of French technical offsets, which are at a level that the Swedes are unable to provide, and the United States is unwilling to provide, but these are considerations that is unlikely to bear much weight with a military service.

Coup Conspirators in Honduras Up Pressure

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In addition to the police shooting a man dead, state security forces have surrounded the embassy where Honduran President Manuel Zelaya has taken refuge after slipping back into the country.

While Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been out front in all this, all we’ve heard from Obama is crickets.

With one simple step, a freeze on money transfers back to Honduras from expats, we’d have Zelaya back in office for the 2½ months remaining in his term.

US inaction has the effect of legitimizing coups against leaders who are unfriendly to Wall Street, and I’m wondering if that is a feature, rather than a bug.

The Whack Job Wing of the Cuban Exile Community has Been Castro’s Greatest Ally

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It looks like the Cuban regime has finally started to relax its grip on the population of this island:

Communist Cuba has begun dismantling a vast system of state gratuities and subsidised goods and services in favour of higher wages, more individual choice and targeted welfare.

The move is part of President Raúl Castro’s drive to modernise an economy in which, he recently admitted, two plus two often equals five in terms of spending and three when it comes to performance.

They are not doing this because they want to, but because they have to.

In the “bad old days”, they could rely on a bellicose United States to unite their population, but unlike his predecessors, Barack Obama has made it clear that he has no interest in listening to the dead-ender extremists who claim to speak for the Cuban community, and with that threat removed, the Cuban government now has to produce results.

Now, if only Barack Obama would treat Congressional Republicans the same way.

Brazil Deal FX-2 Not Done

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It appears that the deal has not been sealed, much less finalized, and the Brazilian Defense Minister is saying that the Gripen and Super-Hornet. “could be still allowed to “redefine” their offers for the FX-2 contract.”

My guess is that deal was 98% done at the time of the initial announcement, and the Brazil is angling for more support, either technically or via purchase, for their C-390 transport.

Background here.

Brazil (Probably) Buys Rafale

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So, Dassault has finally gotten an export sale of its Rafale fighter, to Brazil. (Official announcement in Portuguese on a very poorly configured web server)

There were a number of things that helped with this:

  • The Rafale had already taken off and landed on Brazil’s aircraft carrier (see below).
  • The French agreed to purchase the Embraer KC-390 transport, which the US wouldn’t, and the Swedes couldn’t.
  • The France and Brazil are already collaborating on the Brazilian nuclear attack submarines, which, once again, which the US wouldn’t, and the Swedes couldn’t (or maybe they could, as the collaboration with the French is non-nuclear, and the Gotland class AIP boats would have a systems to a nuke boat).

This breaks the logjam for Rafale, but the customer, which has a significant aerospace industry with indigenous design capabilities and extensive existing ties, is fairly unique.

That being said, we also have this report (Google Translation from Portuguese) saying that the deal may not be completely nailed down yet.

H/t ELP Defens(c)e Blog for the tip/vid that the Rafale has already been launched from, and landed on the Foch, which was sold to the Brazilians and rechristened NAe São Paulo.

Gripen and Super-Bug Go With Local Manufacturers to Win Brazil Competition

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Boeing is taking the more conventional route, with the company
looking for manufacturers of components for the F/A-18 E/F, while Saab is offering to move as much as ½ of its production for the Gripen, along with a significant partnership in marketing and development.

I think that the Gripen is at a disadvantage here. First, the aircraft will have to operate over large inhospitable stretches of the Amazon rain forest, which would favor a two engined design, and second, the G/A-18, along with the Rafale, can be operated from Brazil’s aircraft carrier, but it’s clear that Saab is considers this order crucial to the continued existence of the program, and so it is moving very aggressively to win this competition.

Coup in Honduras

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As near as I can figure out, the pity is that both sides cannot lose, see here, here, and here.

You have the corrupt land owning/political class in one corner, and a megalomaniac president in the other.

One waits to see what Obama will do beyond condemning this, because even if the President is a jerk, as it appears, this is a coup.

Contest for Brazilian Fighters Kicks Into High Gear

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The lead competitors are the SAAB Gripen, Dessault Rafale, and the Boeing Super Hornet, with Super Bugs systems being their selling point, the Gripen’s short/rough field capabilities being their selling point, and the Rafale’s independence of US political restrictions being their selling point.

The down sides are, single engine for the Gripen, poor aerodynamics for the F/A-18E/F, and cost, lack of other export orders, and a relatively limited number of weapons qualified for carriage for the Rafale.

It appears that Brazil looks at this order as a way to expand its domestic aerospace capabilities through offsets and tech transfers, which probably would favor the French, who are desperate to get an export order.

This raises an interesting question: This is a large order, but just how many are one Brazilian?

Yeah, I know, lame joke.

Gripen NG AESA Radar in Flux

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Originally, SAAB had contracted with Thales for its AESA antenna to be integrated with the Gripen NG, and while this will happen, Thales is refusing to make this available for production variants, because they are heavily tied into the Dassault Rafale, so far winless in export competitions, and the Gripen is competing against it for the Indian MMRCA and the Brazilian fighter competition.

This is further complicated by the fact that while the Thales system is compatible with the existing signal processor from the Saab PS-05 MSA radar already flying on the JAS-39 C, some of the successors would likely require that that this be changed, increasing integration costs.

So SAAB is casting about for another radar, hopefully one that is US content free, so as to avoid US export restrictions.

Bolivians Plebiscite Ratifies New Constitution

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Evo Moralez got the new constitution he wanted for Bolivia:

Bullet points

  • President can now hold 2 consecutive terms.
  • State ownership of water resources. (There was a water privatizaiton fiasco, where people were charge something like 1/3 of the monthly salary for water)
  • Reserved spaces in the legislature and bureaucracy for the Indian population.
  • Guarantees reproductive rights.
  • Removes Catholicism as the state religion.
  • Limits on the size of new landholdings.
  • Expands the states control of the economy.
  • Tightens state control of energy resources.

Generally, it looks like a good thing, though I am always dubious of mandates of ethnically allocated slots in either government or bureaucracy.

Brazil to Buy French Assistance on Nuke Boat

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It’s a part of a $12 billion purchase by Brazil

Brazil on Dec. 23 signed contracts worth $12 billion to buy 50 military transport helicopters and five submarines from France.

The submarine deal involves the purchase of four conventionally powered Scorpene submarines, and the construction of a nuclear-powered submarine to be built with French cooperation.

It’s unclear to me what “French Cooperation” means, though it appears that the nuclear reactor would be a wholly Brazilian endeavor.