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.
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