By Gabriel Araujo
GAVIAO PEIXOTO, Brazil, March 25 (Reuters) - Brazil became the first Latin American nation to build a supersonic fighter jet on Wednesday when it unveiled the first Gripen plane assembled in the country.
Brazil first signed the contract for Saab's Gripen in 2014, choosing it over Boeing's F-18 Super Hornet and the Rafale, made by France's Dassault, to replace its aging fleet of fighter jets.
The country joins Western powers such as the United States and France, as well as major developing
economies including Russia, India and China, in building a supersonic fighter jet.
Its deal with Swedish defence group Saab included the production of 15 of the 36 jets under contract at Brazilian planemaker Embraer's Gaviao Peixoto plant in Sao Paulo state under a technology transfer agreement.
Saab said it expects to use the Brazilian production line as an export hub, a prospect bolstered by an agreement last year for neighboring Colombia to acquire Gripen fighters.
"This is the first time since 1937, when Saab was founded, that a fighter aircraft is manufactured outside Sweden," said Saab CEO Micael Johansson.
The Gripen production line underscores Brazil's growing ambitions in military aviation, with Embraer's C-390 Millennium cargo jet gaining traction among European buyers.
(Reporting by Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Brad Haynes and Alexander Smith)
