Moscow eyes joint development of weapons within BRICS

Indo-Russian defence cooperation in projects such as BrahMos and the production of the SU-30MKI planes is being used a model for joint development with Brazil and South Africa within BRICS.

Last week, Anatoly Isaykin, general director of Rosoboronexport (the sole Russian government agency for the export and import of military products) told the mass media that negotiations between Russia, Brazil and South Africa on the joint development of weapons and military equipment within the framework of BRICS should be held by the end of this year.

“For the time being, we are working directly with each country, but we are also thinking on collaborative projects involving several countries at once. In particular, three-party negotiations between Russia, Brazil and South Africa on joint development of military products have been scheduled for this year,” said Isaykin.

The head of Rosoboronexport added that at the end of September, a large international arms exhibition will be held in South Africa, at which matters of military cooperation within the BRICS will also be discussed. Also, by the end of 2014, Russia may sign a contract with Brazil to supply Pantsyr-S1 (Armour-S1, NATO designation is SA-22 Greyhound) air defence missile and cannon systems to this country.

Till date, Russia has had no experience of defence interaction with South Africa and Brazil, except for some sale of air defence equipment to the latter. In the 1990s, the possibility of South Africa equipping its Mirage fighters with Russian made engines was discussed, but those words remained words, says head of the Analytical Department of the Institute of Political and Military Analysis, Alexander Khramchikhin.

Igor Korotchenko, a military expert and chief editor of National Defence magazine believes that cooperation between Russia, Brazil and South Africa could take place, for instance, on the same Pantsyr-S1 systems.

“The plan is to set up production of Russian weapons that will then be supplied to the markets of smaller states in the respective regions,” says Korotchenko. “In this case, South Africa is the gateway to the African market, and Brazil is the gateway to the Latin American one. Of course, these should be relatively inexpensive weapons, which would be relatively easy to produce and would see demand in those markets, especially in the African one, where there are just a few high-budget countries. At the same time, Uganda, for instance, has purchased Russian fighter jets worth $740 million. In other words, those who want to strengthen their defences do have the money.”

He noted that Russia’s cooperation with India sets a good example. “An example of this is the cooperation between Russia and India: we have a licensing contract for SU-30MKI planes currently being implemented,” Korotchenko says.  “In this project, some of the components are produced by India itself, while others are supplied by Russia. Therefore, forms of interaction may differ, and this all depends on the level of the partner country.”

According to an assessment by the director of the Centre for Strategic Studies, Ivan Konovalov, implementing joint projects on development of weapons and military technology involving Russia, Brazil and South Africa within BRICS is a quite logical decision in the circumstances where the West has reduced Russia’s possibilities for manoeuvring in the joint development of weapons.

“Europe, at the present time, is cutting off contacts with us in the military industry environment; as far as China is concerned, most probably, we will simply share technologies with it; whereas only India is perhaps one of the few countries with which we are carrying out joint development projects at a high level. An example of this is the BrahMos missile, jointly being developed by Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya OJSC and India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation” says Konovalov.

He noted that for Russia and Brazil it would be logical to develop joint projects in the field of ground-attack aircraft and military transport planes. “Brazilians have come far in the field of ground-attack aircraft. We can say that the Super Tucano aircraft manufactured by Embraer are quite popular internationally, and are used in the fight against insurgency and drug trafficking,” Konovalov adds.

“As for military transport planes, here too it is possible to find common ground, especially taking into consideration that our cooperation with the Ukrainian state enterprise, Antonov, with which we have worked for so long, by and large, without result, is now most likely over.”

Konovalov said that Brazil is also interested in Russian air defence systems.

“As far as South Africa is concerned, since as far back as apartheid times, this country has achieved greater success in comparison with many other countries in the development of light armoured vehicles,” says the expert. “South Africans were constantly fighting on several fronts, so they know about armouring very well. An example of this is the MRAP machine gun vehicle protected from explosions. Therefore, cooperation with South Africa will be very useful for Russia in this field as well. Of course, in recent years, we have also made significant progress, but joint development projects are potentially a commercial success. Joint projects for both small arms and mine clearance systems are also possible.”

Konovalov adds that South Africa is interested in Russian helicopters.  “In 2013, the South African company Denel Aviation and the Russian Helicopters opened a service centre to repair and maintain Russian-made helicopters in South Africa. And this sector is also promising, although not in terms of joint development, but in terms of market participation for our companies.”

Konovalov believes that both Brazil and South Africa are interested in the development of a good product. “Naturally, both we and they only provide what we consider necessary. Let’s say, if you take the Russian-French Atom armoured vehicle project, which has now been shut down, we provided the cannon and the arms, and the French provided the body and the chassis. That is, each side develops its own systems. It is obvious that during any sale we provide documentation and drawings, but this is the law of the market. Again, for the Brazilians, the military industrial environment these days is not only a segment of the market but also a political issue.”

President of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems, Konstantin Sivkov, noted that the decision to jointly develop weapons and military equipment within BRICS is crucial from the military-political point of view, because it would enables us to set up a unified military industry environment.

“The news about the joint development of arms and military equipment within the BRICS demonstrates that the grouping is beginning to shift from a purely economic alliance to a military-political one, which is already a serious development,” says Sivkov. “From the geopolitical point of view, these developments are absolutely correct. Let's say, this is the same as the deal with China on gas: the profitability for us is small, but it is an extremely important decision that makes China our military and political ally. And we can already see proof of this: once the situation arose where we blocked the supply of food from Europe, China immediately gave us guarantees that it would supply fruit and vegetables to us, even though the Chinese have certain problems with food products.”

According to Sivkov, Brazil now claims the role of the geopolitical leader in South America and also the role of the leading power in the South Atlantic region. For this reason, it requires a powerful navy, powerful long-range military aircraft with a long-distance operational range and the relevant missile systems with which navy ships are usually equipped. Of course, neither Germany nor France will provide Brazil will modern technology, so the country is very interested in the development of joint projects.

“Any economic alliance will inevitably turn into a military and political one for one simple reason: once close economic cooperation begins between two countries, the question of protection of their interests immediately arises,” says Sivkov. “For instance, with today’s intensity in Russian-Chinese relations, we can safely say that a military alliance is being drawn up. The intensity of joint military exercises taking place by the two countries is comparable with that which the Soviet Union carried out with the Warsaw Pact countries,” says Sivkov.

Sivkov sees potential for a grand military alliance between the BRICS members. “After we have begun cooperation with Brazil and South Africa, we will provide for integration of the weapons systems of Russia, India, China, Brazil and South Africa into a unified military and industrial environment,” he says.

Russia to offer fighter sales and development to Brazil

Russia is to offer Brazil joint development of the Sukhoi T-50 (PAK-FA) fifth-generation fighter in a bid to secure an order for its Su-35S 'Flanker-E' combat aircraft, Russian media disclosed on 14 October.

 

A military delegation is expected to make the offer when it visits the South American country in the coming days, according to RIA Novosti .

 

"During the talks in Brazil, we are ready to offer deliveries of ready-for-sale advanced aircraft like the Su-35, but also joint development of a next-generation [combat] aircraft of the T-50 type," the publication quoted a delegation source as saying.

 

The Brazilian Air Force's (Força Aérea Brasileira - FAB) is in the middle of its F-X2 fighter competition to find a replacement for its ageing Dassault Mirage 2000 aircraft. Along with the Eurofighter Typhoon and Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon, the Sukhoi Su-35 has already been axed from the proceedings, leaving the Saab JAS 39 Gripen E, Dassault Rafale, and Boeing FA-18E/F Super Hornet to battle it out for the 36-jet tender.

 

Although the Brazilian government has delayed its announcement of a winning platform until after the 2014 general election, it has made it clear that it will not be reopening the competition to admit new offerings. As such, any Russian bid would need to be outside the scope of the F-X2 programme.

 

Brazil's National Defence Strategy (NDS) approved in 2008 is inextricably tied to the National Strategy of Development (NSD), and development of the country's indigenous aerospace industry is as important to the government as fielding a new fighter aircraft. "If we want to have a strong defence strategy, it has to be with a strong development strategy to strengthen our defence industrial base.

 

The focus is national technological independence," General Aprígio Eduardo de Moura Azevedo, FAB Chief of Staff, said during the IQPC International Fighter conference in late 2012.

 

While the Su-35S is a highly capable 4+ Generation platform that employs fifth-generation systems such as the NIIP Irbis-E passive electronically scanned array (PESA) radar, any Brazilian interest in the Russian proposals will likely hinge on the co-development work being offered on the PAK-FA.

 

India is already onboard with the Russian programme, which it designates the Fifth-Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA), or Future Prospective Fighter (FPF), and with the project in its prototype stage, there is still plenty of scope for Russia to offer development opportunities to Brazil.

 

Venezuela main purchaser of weapons in 2012, but Brazil has largest defence budget

The defence industry is booming in Latin America amid economic growth and greater concerns regarding national security, said the renowned security and defence consultancy firm IHS Jane's. Imports of weapons soared 16% in the subcontinent in 2008-2012, climbing from 3.42 billion to 3.96 billion dollars annually, the firm said in a report called “The Balance of Trade.”

 A display of Venezuelan military power

The report said Venezuela imported some 1.2bn in 2012, surpassing Brazil, the country with the largest defence budget in the region. The document highlighted that the trend may continue even after the demise of former President Hugo Chávez.

IHS Jane's analyst Ben Moores said that Venezuela was halfway in its rearmament program and that it would be very costly to drop it.

The US remains the top defence supplier in the region, with 758.52 million dollars in 2012. But Russia, particularly thanks to sales to Venezuela, stood behind the US with 730.8 million.

In May, the Russian government weapons exporting firm Rosoboronex stated that Venezuela's arms contracts amounted to 11 billion dollars, thus turning Russia into the second largest seller of arms to the region.

Brazil has the largest defence budget with 30.6bn dollars in 2012, which is three times more than Colombia’s 12.9bn and more than five fold Mexico’s 5.8bn and Venezuela’s 5.5bn.
 

Why Super Tucano Is Super

Guatemala is buying six Brazilian A-29 Super Tucano aircraft for their air force. The Super Tucano is a single engine turbo-prop trainer/attack aircraft that is used by over a dozen nations. This aircraft carries two internal 12.7mm (.50 caliber) machine-guns and can carry up to 1.5 tons of bombs and rockets. It can stay in the air for 6.5 hours at a time. It is rugged, easy to maintain, and cheap. You pay $15-20 million for each Super Tucano, depending on how much training, spare parts and support equipment you get with them.

 

This aircraft can be equipped to carry over a half dozen of the 250 pound GPS smart bombs (or half a dozen dumb 500 pound bombs), giving it considerable potential firepower if rigged to handle smart bombs. The Super Tucano comes equipped with a GPS guidance system. Max altitude is 11,300 meters (35,000 feet) and cruising speed is 400 kilometers an hour. Naturally, this aircraft can move in lower and slower than any jet can. The Super Tucano is also equipped with armor for the pilot, a pressurized cockpit, and an ejection seat. Not bad for an aircraft with a max takeoff weight of 5.4 tons.

 

The Super Tucano can double as trainers. It's easier to train pilots to use the Super Tucano, cheaper to buy them, and much cheaper to operate them. It costs less than a tenth as much per flying hour to operate a Super Tucano compared to a F-16.

 

Guatemala is the sixth South Latin American customer for the Super Tucano joining Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, and Ecuador. Twelve countries (including Afghanistan, Angola, Burkina Fasso, Indonesia, Mauritius and Senegal) have bought Super Tucano, which has become the world’s leading counter-insurgency aircraft. Guatemala will use it to help control the growing problem with drug smugglers moving cocaine to North America. 

 

These "trainer/light attack aircraft" can also operate from crude airports, or even a stretch of highway. Aircraft like this can carry systems to defeat portable surface to air missiles. They can carry smart bombs as well.

Brazil investigating sale of 20 Embraer E-190 to Aerolíneas Argentinas fearing surcharges

Brazil’ aircraft manufacturer Embrear is again resurfacing suspicions regarding the sale of commercial planes to Aerolineas Argentinas involving several million dollars in surcharges. The company informed the US Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, that it is investigating companies from five different countries to which it sold aircraft allegedly in transactions suspicious of irregularities.

In 2009 Argentina signed an agreement for the purchase of 20 Embraer E-190 aircraft for government controlled Austral, an operation apparently involving 698 million dollars with a unit price of 34.9 million dollars. The E-190 is considered a mid range aircraft highly competitive and with a capacity of 100 to 115 pax.

However this sum is considered excessive by analysts if compared with what the going market price was at the time. The operation 80% financed by the Brazilian Economic and Social development bank, BNDES, was signed by Federal Planning minister Julio De Vido; then Transport Secretary Ricardo Jaime and then Aerolineas Argentinas president and currently Justice minister Julio Alak.

Magistrate Sergio Torres opened an investigation on suspicion that the Argentine government had paid 5 to 6 million dollars in excess for each aircraft, which would add up to 100/120 million dollars. Aerolineas Argentinas and the government rejected the claims arguing that in effect the original price was 30.6 million for each unit and the additional 4.3 million was the result of spares and pilots’ instructions.

The situation set off alarm bells in the aircraft industry and a warning from United States SEC office to which the Brazilian government responded by opening an internal investigation.

And last month Embraer sent an update report to SEC on investigations so far: “We received a summons from SEC in September 2010 requesting about certain operations relative to overseas sale of aircraft. In reply and to consultations over possible breach of US legislation on foreign corrupt practices, we contracted a foreign solicitor for an internal investigation into transactions with three specific countries”.

Likewise Embrear says it is willing to expand the area of investigation and has done so including two additional countries and in close cooperation with the US Secretary of Justice and SEC. “In case authorities decide on measures against us or the sides involved reach an agreement to solve the issue, we could be obliged to pay strong fines or incur in other sanctions”.

The case not only refers to market prices of the time but to the fact that when a big number of aircraft are involved, they usually are benefited with additional rebates.

According to the specialized magazine Aircraft Commerce, in November 2008, an E-190 was sold to Aeroméxico for 29 million dollars and in July 2009, TACA airlines paid 30.5 million dollars for an E-195. Air Europa in 2009 paid 31 million dollars, also confirmed by the Airline Fleet Management magazine. Finally Ascend Aviation Insight said that in 2009, the E-190 had a going price of 27.85 million.

Argentina and Brazil private sectors team up to promote exports to Arab countries

With the intention of boosting exports to Arab nations, the Argentine and Brazilian chambers of commerce have established an Arab-South American Commerce Federation it was reported in Buenos Aires.

The aim is to increase both countries’ exports to the region after reaching a combined total revenue of 30 billion dollars last year, with six billion corresponding to Argentina.

Edgar Omar Figueredo, the Argentine-Arab Chamber of Commerce president, explained that the core objective of the new entity is the co-ordination of commercial relations and economic and investment cooperation between South America and Arab nations.

The institution’s creation was sealed last week in Buenos Aires with the initial incorporation of Argentina and Brazil’s chambers of commerce, while Colombia, Uruguay, Chile and Peru will gradually join in.

“The chamber’s challenge is not only to increase the level of trade between the regions but also to better organize the activities of promotion in fairs and missions along with overcoming non-tariff barriers still in force,” Figueredo added.

With its formal headquarters in Sao Paulo, the Federation will congregate business chambers currently exporting to more than 20 Arab countries.

In approximately 20 years, Argentine trade with Arab states has increased exponentially, from U$S 342 million in 1990 to six billion dollars in 2012.

“In line with the integration of the South-South countries, our intermediate institution will strengthen the first steps of companies when trading with Arab countries, with a very large potential for growth,” Figueredo affirmed.

The head of the chamber which conglomerates 200 national firms highlighted that the trade is almost 98% favourable to Argentina, with similar proportions for Brazil.

The Argentine-Arab Chamber of Commerce president added: “The Arab countries are hungry for consumer products and today have a very high purchasing-power, which makes it a very interesting market for the region.”

However, Argentina and Brazil not only benefit from exports, but also the heavy investment from Arab states in recent years toward production, tourism and real estate infrastructure.
 

‘The Argentine joke’ and Cristina Fernandez as Pinocchio, headlines of Brazil’s influential magazine Veja

One of Brazil’s most influential magazines and with the largest circulation, Veja, included a controversial piece which questions Argentina’s economic and social statistics than come under the responsibility of the non less famous Indec.

Under the heading of “The Argentine Joke”, the article is not kind with Argentine culture and is illustrated with President Cristina Fernandez as Pinocchio, the long nosed child fiction marionette whose nose keeps growing for not saying the truth.

“Cristina Kirchner with her economic stats does the same as her militants with history facts, a coarse manipulation of reality” says Veja adding crudely that “falsifying history is in fact one of the characteristics of the (Argentine) national culture”, says Veja.

“To hide the wreck of her mishandling of the economy, Cristina Kirchner uses the fable of the present as intensely as she does with the past. Official economic stats have become a joke. The official annual inflation rate is 10%, the true real value is 24% with the projection of reaching 30% towards the end of the year”, points out the article.

Likewise Veja argues that as “with authoritarian governments it does not need to prove coherence”, and the country was forced to appeal to the freezing of prices to tame the increases but overall the rise in the value of goods and services runs quicker than that of salaries.

With a strong degree of caustic irony Veja says that “it is going to be fun to follow this tragic-comedy from the balcony, because for the Argentines it will inevitably become a tragedy”.

Veja’s circulation is approximately a million copies and is weekly reading for the political establishment and business community.

.Brazil opens naval shipyard to build conventional submarines and eventually a nuclear powered one

Brazil advanced toward its target of joining the small club of nations that have nuclear-powered submarines with the opening of a naval shipyard installation that will build French-designed submarines.

President Dilma Rousseff inaugurated the factory that will make metal hull structures for four conventional diesel-electric Scorpene attack submarines and eventually a fifth submarine powered by a nuclear reactor developed entirely by Brazil.

She said Brazil, which is Latin America’s largest economy was a peaceful country but a defence industry was needed to deter and prevent violent conflict.

“This facility allows our country to affirm itself on the world stage and, above all, develop in an independent sovereign way,” Rousseff said.

The submarines will be made by French shipbuilder DCNS in a joint venture with Brazil’s Odebrecht at the Brazilian Navy base on Sepetiba Bay south of Rio de Janeiro.

The 7.8 billion Reais (3.95bn dollars) program will turn out the first conventional submarine in 2015 and the nuclear-powered submarine will be commissioned in 2023 and enter operation in 2025, the Brazilian Navy said in a statement.

Brazil re-launches industry to develop high precision rockets and missiles

Brazil is pursuing a multimillion-dollar program to revive and modernize its precision strike technologies with the aim of developing rockets and missiles both for domestic military use and exports.

Under military rule Brazil developed profited from precision rocket exports mainly to Mid East

Brazil under military rule from the mid-1960s to mid-1980s profited from precision rocket exports, many to former Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein and Arab states in the Persian Gulf.

The end of the Iraq-Iran war and the Cold War set Brazil's defence industry back, with production shutdowns, job losses and collapse of the export market but all that is intended to change.

The one billion Real (480 million dollars) initial outlays by the Defence Ministry is focused on updating Avibras' ASTROS, acronym for Artillery SaTuration ROcket System, which is capable of launching multiple rockets.

A modernized ASTROS 2020 configuration will include the production of a GPS-guided short-range rocket and an AV-TM300 missile that gives the new system a 180-mile strike range.

That level of reach would stand out in the global market, as it would rival the US Multiple Launch Rocket System and Army Tactical Missile System combined, Defence Industry News said on its website.

Analysts said the Brazilian investment indicated the government's strategy to regenerate defence manufacturing neglected over nearly three decades.

Brazil has been investing in research and development of GPS-guided rockets and has sought to increase their range during the development process. Earlier versions of 180mm SS-AV-40 guided rockets are known to have a range of about 25 miles but Brazilian research has also looked into developing jet-powered cruise missiles to increase the range.

A full ASTROS system includes one battalion level command vehicle in charge of three batteries, fire control vehicles, rocket launchers, ammunition re-supply vehicles, recovery vehicles and a mobile weather station.

The vehicles are usually transported in a C-130 vehicle but Brazil's Embraer aircraft maker is also developing a tactical military transport aircraft that hopes to compete with the Hercules as well as rivals from Europe, Russia and Israel.

Brazil's defence revival has seen a hard fight to claw back market share when its Engesa S.A. filed for bankruptcy in 1993 after Avibras applied for bankruptcy protection in 2008 but was rescued with government funding.

As part of the support incentives, the Defence Ministry in August announced financing of 760 million dollars from its Growth Acceleration Program. At least 30 Astros and associated vehicles are likely to be part of that acquisition.

Sao Paulo turned into a shoot out battle ground between drug lords and the police

The wave of killings in South America’s largest city, Sao Paulo is attributed to a resurgence of attacks from the criminal gang PCC (First Command of the Capital) against the police, which is also involved in reprisals turning the Brazilian metropolis into one of the most violent in the country.

“We see this as a revenge process executed by organized crime” against the police said Ignacio Cano, head researcher of the Violence Analysis Lab from the University of the Rio do Janeiro state.

“There have been police operations with many victims or an excess use of force, supported by public officials” to which organized crime has responded, said the expert.

But there are other opinions. “The PCC is sending a political message to the new government: back off or we’ll kill more policemen” according to Julio Jacobo Waiselfisz, author of an annual publication on violence in Brazil and a researcher for the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences.

“There’s an open war between this group and the state. The population is frightened” he added. Fernando Haddad, a candidate for Rousseff’s ruling Workers’ Party, was elected mayor of Sao Paulo on Oct. 28.

In September the official number of homicides in Sao Paulo soared to 144, more than double a year ago. Officials will only make public October’s stats at the end of November, but the media is anticipating the number could be at least 145 which represent an 86% increase over a year ago. Dozens more have been killed this month, over 30 only last weekend.

Since the beginning of the year a hundred members of the police have been the target of criminal gangs, with forty of them clearly plain executions. A list with names, physical descriptions and addresses of police officers found during a raid in one of the favelas (slums which surround all major Brazilian cities) is considered a clear signal that the current violence wave is focused mainly in killing law enforcement officers.

“I believe the PCC is responsible for the attacks against the military police” said Camila Dias, an expert from the Violence Study Nucleus from the University of Sao Paulo, “but some groups inside the police are also involved in reprisal attacks and executions”.

Relatives from civilians killed insist that the military police is involved in indiscriminate killings to revenge their comrades executed. A woman solicitor suspected of being close to the PCC was shot to death over the weekend while at a gas station, reported the Brazilian media.

The attacks and executions recall the violent month of May 2006 when a wave of killings, jail uprisings and street barricades attributed to the PCC, which operates from the inside the prisons’ system left over 170 people killed, 47 of them police officers, leaving Sao Paulo during a week paralyzed and at the mercy of the shootouts and arson of government property and the transport system.

PCC was created in 1993 at the Taubaré prison, close to Sao Paulo. Nowadays it operates from inside and outside the Sao Paulo prisons’ system and is involved in drug trafficking, killing of police and local officers that they can’t bribe and other crimes.

The Brazilian media says the PCC gang has 1.300 members while Sao Paulo authorities limit it to “no more than forty”. A recent report signed by twelve Sao Paulo prosecutors claims the prisons’ system of the state is in the “hands of PCC”.

President Dilma Rousseff’s administration last week pledged additional federal aid, including increased intelligence and drug-combating operations, as well as heightened police controls at access points to Sao Paulo, as schools and stores were forced to close in some of the city’s northern neighborhoods because of violence.

The homicide rate in Sao Paulo state had fallen to 10.1 per 100,000 inhabitants last year from 35.3 per 100,000 in 1999, according to the website of the state’s public security secretary. However this year through September, murders in Sao Paulo have risen to 3,536 from 3,225.

Brazil remains one of the world’s most-violent counties with an average homicide rate over the past decade that has remained little changed at 26 per 100,000 inhabitants.
 

A-Darter could be followed by further South African-Brazilian air force missile projects

As a result of the success of the current A-Darter programme, it is possible that the Brazilian Air Force will undertake further joint development projects with South Africa. However, although some preliminary discussions have taken place, no formal negotia- tions have started and no decisions have been made. Importantly, however, the agreement signed between the South African Department of Defence and the Brazilian Ministry of Defence in 2003 provided for the development of mutually beneficial defence projects, and not just for the A-Darter programme.

“The partnership is outstanding. The relation- ship we have with South Africa is a benchmark for Brazil, for the air force, and for Brazilian companies,” affirms Brazilian Air Force A-Darter project manager in South Africa Colonel Valter Malta. “We’ve worked with many countries and companies and we particularly like working with South Africa. The opportunity to work on the development of a latest generation missile is a highlight as well.”

The A-Darter is a fifth-generation infrared (IR) homing air to air missile (AAM), being jointly developed by South Africa and Brazil under the leadership of Denel Dynamics, which is the missiles and unmanned air vehicles business of the State-owned Denel defence industrial group. Although classified as short-range, it has a longer range than most missiles in its category.

In addition to the air force, the Brazilian partners in the programme are missile company Mectron (developer of the MAA-1 and MAA-1B Piranha IR-homing AAMs, the MAR-1 anti- radar missile and the MSS-1.2 anti-armour missile), Avibrás (best known for its surface to surface bombardment rockets) and optronics and electronics company Opto Eletrônica.

There are 25 Brazilians working on the A-Darter in South Africa, of which 14 are air force personnel (from the Aerospace Science and Technology Department) and 11 from the three companies, but hundreds more are directly and indirectly working on the programme in Brazil.

“We’ve made a lot of progress in developing the A-Darter,” reports Malta. “It’s a successful project for both countries.” The start of production of the new missile is foreseen for 2014 or 2015, and, since the beginning of the project, it has been the intent to have two production lines, one in each country.

In South Africa, the A-Darter has already been integrated on to the South African Air Force’s Saab Gripen fighters and is also being integrated on to its BAE Systems Hawk fighter-trainers. Integration of the missile on Brazilian Air Force fighters will take place in Brazil, with the support of Denel Dynamics, which is the design authority.

The programme is reviewed by regular bilateral contractual meetings which take place twice a year, alternating between South Africa and Brazil. The most recent meeting, in September, was in South Africa. These meetings are attended by both technical personnel and logistics personnel from both countries.

The Brazilian delegation comes from the air force agency that manages the programme on behalf of the South American country, the Combat Aircraft Programme Coordinating Commission (abbreviated to Copac in Portuguese), and is normally headed by the head of the commission. However, the dele- gation to the latest meeting was headed by the number two man in the Brazilian Air Force, the chief of the Air General Staff, Air Lieutenant Brigadier (equivalent to General in South Africa) Aprígio Eduardo de Moura Azevedo.

He was head of Copac when the A-Darter joint development project had been established and he had signed the programme agreement on behalf of the Brazilian Air Force. His presence was an expression of his continuing interest in the programme.

Brazil mocks Argentina after “super-match” was cancelled because of power failure

Chaco Governor Jorge Capitanich publicly regretted and apologized on Thursday for the major embarrassment caused by the suspension of an Argentina-Brazil friendly match scheduled for Wednesday night when the stadium floodlights failed.

 Governor Capitanich publicly apologized for the embarrassment

The Brazilian press mocked Argentine organizers and said that the “Super duel match of the Americas” turned into the “Super embarrassment of the Americas”.

The teams, picked only from domestic leagues, were due to meet for the second time in two weeks after Brazil won 2-1 in the first match of the “Superclasico of the Americas” doubleheader in Goiania on September 19.

The players took the field and lined up for the anthems but Chilean referee Enrique Osses delayed kick-off until full lighting could be resorted after a generator failed. The teams spent more than half an hour on the pitch warming up and chatting among themselves until they were led off again.

With no back-up generator available in the vicinity, Osses abandoned the match an hour after the scheduled kick-off, embarrassing the Argentine Football Association, who had organised the match in Resistencia, capital of Chaco.

AFA sources said no new date was immediately available for the match since the international calendar was packed until the end of the year.

Governor Capitanich said the fans would receive refunds and announced an administrative investigation into the whole incident.

Capitanich made the announcements next to Omar Judis, head of the province’s power company who blamed the failure to poor material in cables and the control board.

“All the tests during the previous week could not anticipate what happened”, said Judis.

Meanwhile Brazil had its own less publicized embarrassment when the country’s power corporation Electrobras electricity provision failed in five states and for several minutes, reaching distant cities as far as Rio do Janeiro and Curitiba.

According to the official report from the Brazilian regulator a peak of consumption ‘misbalanced’ the normal power supply from the huge Itaipu hydroelectric dam, causing problems at a distribution centre in Foz de Iguaçu next to the Argentine and Paraguayan borders.

The blackout hit the states of Parana, Minas Gerais, Rio do Janeiro, Acre and Rondonia, mainly in metropolitan areas. Power was restored half an hour later.

Unrelated to the incident in north Argentina that forced the suspension of the super match, Brazil has a vulnerable power grid and major blackouts such as that occurred Wednesday night are not uncommon.

Brazil begins rebuilding Antarctic base destroyed by deadly fire last February

Three navy supply ships will head for Antarctica next month to begin rebuilding a Brazilian naval base destroyed by a deadly fire in February, Defence Minister Celso Amorim said Monday.

Defence minister Celso Amorim made the announcement

“Next month, with the end of the winter on the continent, our ships will set off to begin dismantling parts of the base affected by the fire,” he said during a meeting of Latin American officials managing Antarctic programs.

The fire destroyed 70% of the Comandante Ferraz base, which was established in 1984 in Admiralty Bay, King George Island, near the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula.

The navy vessels will ferry temporary installations, which will be dropped on the heliport of King George Island, to be used by some Brazilian researchers, a defence ministry statement said.

Other Brazilian researchers will be stationed at Antarctic bases run by Argentina and Chile.

Amorim said the aim was to begin work on the new Brazilian base in November 2013.

He said President Dilma Rousseff was firmly committed to the reconstruction of the base and thanked South American countries for their assistance during the February emergency.

Malfunctioning electrical generators were believed to have caused the blaze. This at the same time prevented the water pumps from working thus impeding fire workers to control the blaze.

Staff and equipments from bases belonging to other countries were brought to Comandante Ferraz to help contain the disaster.

Scientists working under the Brazilian Antarctic Program use the navy base to study global warming, as well as coastal and marine ecosystems.