MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Brazil Re-evaluates Purchase of Warships and Aircraft
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is re-evaluating a six billion dollar plan to purchase eleven warships, as part of her plan to slash government spending, the Folha de Sao Pablo reported. Read full article
Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesPotential supplies of the ships include British BAE, French DCNS and German
Jan 26th, 2011 - 09:03 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The news is a harsh blow to French company Dassault Aviation, who up until last week, sources claimed, seemed to have beaten rival Boeing in bidding to supply the aircraft.
perhaps we will see who the Brazilians prefer, French German or British,
if they are short of money, then only the best will do, unless of course she decides to stick with what she has got and wait,
Bad news for Britain in S. America, again.
Jan 26th, 2011 - 09:32 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Well, all we can do is wait and see, but the outcome will be interesting,
Jan 26th, 2011 - 09:36 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The US jet's are very cheap, they might go for them.
Jan 26th, 2011 - 09:55 pm - Link - Report abuse 0TWIMC
Jan 26th, 2011 - 10:13 pm - Link - Report abuse 0”A former Marxist guerrilla who was tortured by Brazil’s former military regime, it is ironic that Ms Rousseff now has power over the armed forces’ ability to purchase new toys.”
blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2011/01/25/dilma-takes-aim-at-defence-spending/
I would really hope Dilma reconsiders the whole ”defense toys” purchase strategy.
It is just too much against any imaginable regional enemy but too little against the big strategic players of the North.
A good idea, in my opinion, would be for Brazil to establish a whole new age of “State of the Art” missile and robotic technologies in cooperation with Venezuela and Argentina.
Argentina has the technicians.
Venezuela got the money.
Brazil;… the garotas :-)
Think, I mean this in the kindest way - but Argentina has no defense industry.
Jan 26th, 2011 - 10:21 pm - Link - Report abuse 0As for the news, it is hard to know whether it is true or is an expression of the old habit of the Br media to invent news pieces out of thin air just to be proven wrong 5 hours later.
That's correct... we have no defense ........... against your garotas.
Jan 26th, 2011 - 10:31 pm - Link - Report abuse 0But we have some brains that could “Think”.............. if you keep tose garotas away ;-)
“ .. Argentina has the technicians.
Jan 26th, 2011 - 11:52 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Venezuela got the money.
Brazil;… the garotas ...”
Does 'garotas' mean balls Think? Because the others on the list certainly have none!
#5 I agree with you 100%, Latin America needs to have their own military defence industry, how and when is what many patriots need to know. I don't have to like you or agree with you, but Martin Fierro thought me something about my brother you will never get from your fancy hollywood collection, if you knew me, I would slap you behind the head for the kind of lip-service you offer the brits. sometimes I think, you don't really think, ”Es por esto que tenes el apodo (Think) ?”, somethings don't take much thinking. who would of thought that GM engineers might be cleaning Tata's factory floors in India, everything is posible nowdays.
Jan 27th, 2011 - 12:36 am - Link - Report abuse 09 I (#)
Jan 27th, 2011 - 01:11 am - Link - Report abuse 0kind of lip-service you offer the brits.
may I ask what lip service please ,
nothing wrong with a bit of lip service ..... nothing at all :-)
Jan 27th, 2011 - 01:47 am - Link - Report abuse 0@ 11 Nothing wrong, but he's a man, don't you care? eww
Jan 27th, 2011 - 02:00 am - Link - Report abuse 0That's correct... we have no defense ........... against your garotas.
Jan 27th, 2011 - 02:50 am - Link - Report abuse 0No twinkle head, Forget meant, your silly nation doesn't have the technicians as you try to claim that your nation has them, and has no military defense, because it cannot afford all those toys Brazil is thinking about buying. Admit, you hope they will cancel it, because it scares Argentina.
(13) Fido dido
Jan 27th, 2011 - 07:01 am - Link - Report abuse 0You say:
”Admit, hope they will cancel it, because it scares Argentina.”
I say:
Scares Argentina? Why?.... How?.....
As the balance of power is TODAY and in the foreseeable future, Brazil could invade and overtake Argentina in a matter of days,…………. if not hours……………
We could as well install an answering machine at our Defense Ministry.
If the Brazilians should call us to declare War, they would be greeted by a polite : “We Surrender”
How many minutes would you “Think” it would take Germany to invade your little Dutch polder?
You Tulip Bulb!
Exbrain - ” ... Lip service is an idiom meaning 'giving approval or support insincerely' (Concise Oxford Dictionary)...”
Jan 27th, 2011 - 07:25 am - Link - Report abuse 0No idea what you're talking about!
I don't think we should worry about Brazil, after all it's not them occupying Islas Malvinas Argentina ilegally, I think the british who didn't get their Argentine passport should be worryed, they could wake up tomorrow as they did in 1982 while the world slept and find themsleves on a ship that will go titanic half way throught the trip, imagine that, I hope the Argentine Military will not make the same mistakes twice, nobody will care for 3000 pirats.
Jan 27th, 2011 - 07:28 am - Link - Report abuse 0What Argentine military? Argentina spends almost the least of any country in South America on its military, the only one which spends less is Surinam. Your problem is that everytime you build up your military, they take over!
Jan 27th, 2011 - 08:25 am - Link - Report abuse 0Argentina couldn't kick its way out of a paper bag!!
“Potential supplies of the ships include British BAE”
Jan 27th, 2011 - 08:58 am - Link - Report abuse 0http://en.mercopress.com/2011/01/19/letters-of-sympathy-to-flood-victims
175 Martin_Fierro
”I wonder if those deals made with the UK were indeed finalized, if not she may choose to cancel them like she did with the French and their Dassault Rafale. (worth looking into)”
I told you so ;-)
(17) Hoyt
Jan 27th, 2011 - 09:25 am - Link - Report abuse 0Your best comment ......ever!!!
***“What Argentine military? Argentina spends almost the least of any country in South America on its military, the only one which spends less is Surinam. Your problem is that everytime you build up your military, they take over!”***
As Supermac once said to some deranged pale settlers:
”The wind of change is blowing through this continent. Whether you like it or not, ……..
ARGENTINA HAS KICKED ITS WAY OUT OF THAT PUKE BAG!!!
And speaking about kicking…….. A bit of sports history: Argentina vs. British Pirates
Enjoy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejTTJmJSHkk
Well, one thing is for certain, Brazil won't be buying Military hardware off Argentina, and Brazil has its own money from Oil Exports, so why would they need investment from Chavez?
Jan 27th, 2011 - 09:30 am - Link - Report abuse 0It is only Argentina that allows Chavez to buy influence in Argentine affairs, because Argentina is corrupt and broke.
20 Wireless,
Jan 27th, 2011 - 09:39 am - Link - Report abuse 0No, we'll just build stuff together...
http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2010/11/02/Argentina-Brazil-to-build-cargo-plane/UPI-39931288741419/
http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2010/11/02/Argentina-Brazil-to-build-cargo-plane/UPI-39931288741419/
http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2010/11/02/Argentina-Brazil-to-build-cargo-plane/UPI-39931288741419/
Martian - look up the word 'potential' ... you may learn a lot!
Jan 27th, 2011 - 11:28 am - Link - Report abuse 0Think - good for you ... so you feel confident about building up your military ??
And wind, Think .... repeats !
“ .. Argentina has the technicians.
Jan 27th, 2011 - 02:24 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Venezuela got the money.
Brazil;… the garotas ...” (Think@ #5)
As they used to say in the old British sit-com “Veeery interesting - but Stupid!”
I take your point about the irony of Dilma's past and her present responsibilities, but the South American package you propose plays to national weaknesses rather than strengths. (or... maybe this is your 'cunning plan' ;-)
Seriously, I sincerely hope there is a big down-sizing of military hardware orders by Brasil. The last thing this continent needs is an arms race between the nations of SA or against the nations of the north.
We have seen how 'defence' expenditure removes the food from babies mouths. A big military establishment need not be a mark of 'manliness' or Development in this continent - the Chinese have shown us 'the new way' to win a place in the First World.
Down-play the military and up-play the infrastructure and education.
,we have over a hundred planes [when they are built]
Jan 27th, 2011 - 04:03 pm - Link - Report abuse 0we can put some on our new carrier, [when they are built]
if we can wait ten years, the world will be our oyster ?
“We have seen how 'defence' expenditure removes the food from babies mouths.”
Jan 27th, 2011 - 05:40 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@GeoffWard: no nation in the world spends more in the defense area than the US. With the exceptions of Chile and Colombia, all other South American countries - including the much maligned Venezuela - spend less than 2% of GDP in the military. So go spread your paternalistic dovism elsewhere - up North perhaps, where a certain country is in serious danger of facing a sovereign debt crisis if it keeps spending in the military the way it does.
@Martin: The latter link, the one about the nuclear submarine, refers to a hypothetical collaboration that is no longer going to happen. The idea firstly was to have both Brazil and Argentina sign the submarine agreement with France. France would manufacture the submarine and BR and ARG would only have to build the nuclear reactors. For some reason, that is no longer going to happen. Brazil signed the treaty with France by itself, and Argentina, if I'm not mistaken, plans to design its own nuclear submarine in response.
Jan 27th, 2011 - 05:55 pm - Link - Report abuse 0As for the build cargo plane, it will be designed by Embraer. The other countries that will take part in the program - Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and the Czech Republic - will only manufacture parts to be assembled by Embraer.
25 Forgetit87 : “@GeoffWard: no nation in the world spends more in the defense area than the US. With the exceptions of Chile and Colombia, all other South American countries - including the much maligned Venezuela - spend less than 2% of GDP in the military. ...”
Jan 27th, 2011 - 07:46 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I guess you are young and South American.
You might have read about the Cold War between the US and the USSR. The 'game' was to out-spend the other on weapons. The USSR lost and lost its empire. There was much starvation out in the countryside.
I would not wish it to happen to you and your in whatever country you live in - national assets are small and there are already many, many poor to look after.
This is not an anti-war, 'dove' position; it is an anti-arms-spending position when it is, in my opinion, unnecessary.
If you can recoup the losses to the nation through corruption, and add the redistribution of excess military hardware expenditure, then any South American nation can do a lot for the development of its country and its people.
Oh I don't care about the Cold War. And I don't because any comparison between the Cold War with the situation now seen in South America, can only be made by someone who has lost his sense of proportion. As I've said, all countries in South America, save for Chile and Colombia, spend less than 2% of their GDPs in the military budget. That makes South America the region with the smallest military budget in the world. And again, if you want to lecture anyone about the evils of military keynesianism, go speak with your American brethren: they are the ones whose fiscal situation is deteriorating, they're the ones whose budget deficit is forecasted to reach 11% of GDP this year, they're the ones who are indebted to a multitude of countries in the world, and they are the ones whose economy seem to be crumbling just like the Soviet Union's was in the 80s.
Jan 27th, 2011 - 08:02 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Didn't realise Argentina was so weak, perhaps Chile might take the opportunity to right a few wrongs.
Jan 27th, 2011 - 08:17 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Ah, Mr Forgetit #28, I begin to see your picture!
Jan 27th, 2011 - 09:32 pm - Link - Report abuse 0You are an ex-conscript to the Argentinian military who has an inferiority complex because you have *actually experienced* military inadequacy.
Even so, don't deny that military money can be better spent elsewhere.
And as for my 'American brethren' (sic), I did know one once, but as she was breathtakingly female she could certainly not be called a 'bretheren'!
Hahahaha, you couldn't have made more wrong assumptions about me in a single sentence. Be that as it may, I agree that the military is not the most productive kind of investment to be made when one considers long term effects of public spending on the economy. This is correct but is also irrelevant when it comes to South America because the region as a whole does not overspend in the military. Your argument would be far more relevant had you directed it to a country like the US or Russia - specially the US, for Russia at least has neither a large public debt nor budget deficits. As for South American countries, many of them, specially Argentina and Brazil, have since the 90s neglected their armies, an expression of vengefulness towards the military. As a result, most of them, with the exceptions of Chile and Colombia, have inadequate armies. It is natural, therefore, that at some point they would attempt to catch up with the rest of the world. They seem to be doing that now. Even so, their enlarged military expenditures continue to be lower than those we see in the rest of the world.
Jan 27th, 2011 - 09:53 pm - Link - Report abuse 026 Forgetit86,
Jan 28th, 2011 - 02:17 am - Link - Report abuse 0Many countries showed interest in purchasing the plane, only Argentina is actually building parts for it. Unless I'm wrong, I'll have to look into it.
As for the sub you're probably right, but it does raise another point. Brazil doesn't have a nuclear program like Argentina does, no reactors that I'm aware of. Aside from a thousand other reasons to maintain cooperation, this would be a good one.
@Martin: AFAIK, all countries that have ordered the KC 390 will take part in its manufacture. That is probably a condition they have imposed to buy the plane: they buy the plane and in exchange, by taking part in its construction, they stimulate their own industries. In the link below, you can see that, in stating its interest in purchasing 12 KC-390 cargos, Colombia is also seeking to take part in its construction.
Jan 28th, 2011 - 02:51 am - Link - Report abuse 0http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/09/01/346892/colombia-formalises-embraer-kc-390-interest.html
As for the nuclear thing, Brazil has had the ability to make nuclear reactors since the late 80s (the first reactor built in here is called IPEN/MB-01). The reactors that will move the Scorpènes will be built by Brazil. For some reason, Argentines have always had the perception that that their nuclear program is the most advanced in Latin America, perhaps because it is the oldest one. There was certainly the case for some time, but I don't think this is so any longer, even though Argentina's nuclear industry remains very competitive (at least the Aussies are very approving of it).
Thanks for the info
Jan 28th, 2011 - 03:54 am - Link - Report abuse 0MercoPress, Thursday, January 27th 2011
Jan 28th, 2011 - 02:29 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Let’s stop Fooling Around and Spending so Much on Arms Says Uruguayan President Mujica. The President of Uruguay Jose Mujica, on Wednesday concluded a two-day visit to Peru aimed at deepening trade and political relations. His next official port of call is Venezuela.
Said Mujica. “Let’s stop fooling around and spending so much money on arms when we have to spend a lot of money on other things and we owe so much to poor people who have been forgotten and ignored.”
Wow, a South American President says REDUCE ARMS EXPENDITURE AND SPEND ON THE POOR.
*That’s just what I said before I was so rudely contradicted by a South American poster.
I 'Forget' who it was.
It's very stupid of you to use Mujica as the owner of truth just because what he says fits your argument.
Jan 28th, 2011 - 04:06 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Anyway, this is an American official saying that he doesn't believe there's an arms race in South America; and he doesn't because military spending in the region is low:
http://en.mercopress.com/2010/08/26/mercosur-spends-less-that-2-of-gdp-in-defence-no-arms-race-in-the-region
@GeoffWard
Jan 31st, 2011 - 07:44 am - Link - Report abuse 0BTW where are you from?
Salvador
Jan 31st, 2011 - 12:42 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Salvador, Bahia? :P
Jan 31st, 2011 - 03:38 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@GeoffWard
Feb 01st, 2011 - 02:16 am - Link - Report abuse 0I know understand your “You are an ex-conscript to the Argentinian military who has an inferiority complex because you have *actually experienced* military inadequacy.” To Forgetit87.
Who is not Argentininean. Haha may be your are neighbours
I'm not from Salvador, but I've been there before.
Feb 01st, 2011 - 02:33 am - Link - Report abuse 0Commenting for this story is now closed.
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