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l’article des echos est ici:
http://www.geostrategique.net/viewtopic.php?t=6357&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=105&sid=e8a16e5cf9af5cb25d6ae00e601c16c2

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Jusqu’au début de l’été, le match à trois se résume pourtant à un duel franco-suédois. A partir de mi-juillet, changement d’ambiance : Boeing et l’administration Obama déroulent le rouleau compresseur. Depuis son lieu de vacances, le président américain appelle Lula pour lui indiquer que les Etats-Unis iront loin en matière de transfert de technologies, et qu’il se porte garant du Congrès, dont l’accord est indispensable. « Je vous le confirmerai plus tard », ajoute-t-il. De son côté, l’avionneur américain et ses relais commencent à distiller des informations négatives sur le Rafale, obligeant Paris à des mises au point par différents canaux.
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L’essentiel se joue en coulisses

Washington et Boeing tentent alors d’ébranler l’édifice. Un haut responsable brésilien présente des éléments nettement défavorables au Rafale au président Lula et à son ministre de la Défense. L’heure de vol ressortirait à 21.000 dollars, près de 3 fois plus cher que celle du F-18, pourtant plus lourd. Le Brésil n’obtiendrait pas l’exclusivité d’exportation en Amérique du Sud. Pire, il faudrait débourser 70 % du contrat avant de toucher le premier appareil. « Nous ne pensions pas que cela irait aussi loin dans la désinformation », explique un des négociateurs. La ficelle est un peu grosse, mais elle porte. Et puis, comme il s’y était engagé, Obama appelle Lula pour lui confirmer que le Congrès est dans la poche.
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http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Rival_bidders_pull_out_all_stops_for_Brazil_fighter_jet_deal_999.html
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Craig Caffrey, an analyst for Jane’s, a highly respected defense information group based in London, said France’s offer “is seen as a huge advantage both economically and politically” by Brazil.

Boeing, in contrast, “have their hands tied by US export regulations and so cannot offer the same level of technology transfer.”

And while Saab could offer good industrial participation and technology, “some of the key components included in the Gripen NG such as the engine and AESA radar are not made by Saab or a Swedish company thereby making full technology transfer impossible.”

The Gripen’s engine is made by US company General Electric, and therefore subject to US export controls, while the advanced active-array, multi-targeting radar is made by Italian firm Selex.

Caffrey said France’s Rafale was “in my opinion probably the best platform” in the Brazilian contest “so the air force is highly unlikely to be against the selection of the aircraft.”

Although it was the most costly of the three jets, with an estimated price tag per unit of 56 million euros (82 million dollars), “if price is taken out of the equation, which the government appears to have done with this announcement, then the Rafale bid becomes stronger,” he said.
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http://www.spacewar.com/reports/US_offers_technology_to_win_Brazil_fighter_deal_officials_999.html
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The Rafale, which has stealth-like technology and cutting-edge cockpit interfaces and threat detection, was seen as Brazil’s favored choice, largely because France was offering full transfer of technology—the key demand in the tender.

Saab, too, has promised to share knowhow with Brazil—even though the Gripen’s engines were US-designed and therefore subject to US foreign military sales authorization.

It was unclear what technology the United States was prepared to share from the F/A-18, which was the oldest model aircraft on offer, having been flying since 1980.

One consideration, both for Brazil and for the United States, was likely to be how the F/A-18 might stack up against Venezuela’s air force should any future confrontation take place.

Venezuela recently purchased 24 Russian and Chinese-developed Su-30MK2s, a modern fighter considered to have superior performance over the US plane.
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http://www.spacewar.com/reports/UAE_F-16_pilots_spar_with_US_top_guns_999.html
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U.A.E. F-16 pilots spar with U.S. top guns

According to Jane’s Defense Weekly, the U.A.E. pilots and ground crews spent two weeks preparing for the exercises at the Arizona Air National Guard’s 162nd Fighter Wing at Tucson International Airport.
by Staff Writers

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UPI) Sep 1, 2009
The elite F-16 pilots of the United Arab Emirates air force are honing their dog-fighting skills with the U.S. Air Force’s top guns in the skies above Nevada as the Arab states of the Gulf build up their military power to confront Iran.
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The main strike capability of Iran’s air force consists of an estimated 43 Soviet-era Sukhoi Su-25K Frogfoots and Su-24MK Fencer Ds as well as 24 French-built Mirage F-1Es.

Many of these are former Iraqi air force jets that were flown to Iran during the 1991 Desert Storm war to prevent their destruction by U.S.-led forces liberating Kuwait. Tehran has refused to return them to Iraq.

Iran also has 25 aging MiG-29A and MiG-29UB Fulcrums, also formerly owned by Iraqi air force, that comprise its main fighter interceptor force.

It still deploys 25 U.S.-built F-14 Tomcats that were acquired during the reign of the shah in the 1970s.

But these are no longer considered to be a match for the cutting-edge F-16E/Fs and French Dassault Aviation Mirage 2000 combat aircraft flown by the U.A.E. air force.

The U.A.E. is also considering the acquisition of a new aerial strike force of as many as 80 Dassault Rafale multirole combat jets that will give it an even greater punch than it has now.

‘Big power’ Brazil stands by Iran, Venezuela: Lula
by Staff Writers Brasilia
(AFP) Sept 3, 2009

http://www.energy-daily.com/reports/Big_power_Brazil_stands_by_Iran_Venezuela_Lula_999.html

Brazil is poised to become one of the 21st century’s great powers, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told AFP, as he fended off international criticism of its role as a “conciliator” in dealings with Iran and Venezuela.
 

The future of what is already Latin America’s biggest economy, with its vast new oil discoveries, rapidly developing industrial base and bulk of the Amazon forest, is secure, he said in an exclusive interview on Wednesday in his official residence.

“I don’t know if I’ll be alive to see it, but I think Brazil will become a big power in the 21st century. We have everything a people needs to become a big power,” he said.

And with those ambitions comes a flexing of muscles in the international arena said Lula, 63, one of the principal opponents to the West’s increasing pressure on Iran over that country’s nuclear program.

Soon, probably this month, he is to host Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the latter’s first overseas trip since being declared the winner of disputed June 12 elections.

Lula slammed a renewed push by the United States and European countries for sanctions against Iran over fears its nuclear program was hiding the development of atomic weapon.

“We need to convince them politically. They can’t be backed into a wall,” he said. “This policy of ‘all or nothing’ doesn’t exist.”

Iran had a right to peaceful nuclear energy, he insisted, adding that he believed the US-led criticism of its arch-foe in the Middle East was reminiscent of Washington’s fallacious justification for the war in Iraq.

“Even today, those leaders in favor of the war in Iraq are unable to explain why they invaded if there were no chemical weapons. Well, I am seeing the same sort of things starting to happen over Iran,” he said.

Brazil’s role, he said, is that of “pacifier, of conciliator”—particularly in Latin America.

“I have more meetings with the presidents of Latin America than I do with my own children,” he said, employing one of his ready smiles.

Lula also stomped on any attempt to isolate another US nemesis, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

But while he continued to stress that Chavez was the victor of multiple elections, in his interview with AFP Lula said he would never have cracked down on independent media as the Venezuelan leader recently did.

“I wouldn’t do what Chavez did with the media,” Lula said.

The gruff former union leader, who himself received rough treatment in Brazil’s press before becoming president, added however: “I also think the media shouldn’t have done what they did with Chavez for so long.”

Lula also spoke about bridges built with the West, including Brazil’s alliance with France, as evidenced by Lula’s invitation to French President Nicolas Sarkozy to attend Independence Day celebrations in Brasilia next Monday.

“We are determined to build this strategic partnership, to boost France-Brazil ties.”

Brazil already has closed a deal to buy five submarines from France and there is speculation Lula’s government will purchase 36 ultra-modern French fighter jets ahead of rival offers from the United States and Sweden.

Lula declined to say which way that decision would go, but said France’s offer to share all the technology that goes into its Rafale fighters made its bid the most attractive.

“France has shown itself to be the most flexible country in terms of transfer of technology,” he said.

Part of the reason Brazil is so strongly beefing up its military is to defend vast new offshore oil fields discovered over the past two years.

Those subsalt fields—which Lula expects will turn Brazil into one of the top 10 oil-exporting nations in the world—were this week put under the control of the state-run oil group Petrobras, according to a draft legal reform yet to be approved by Brazil’s congress.

Lula said the plan would secure Brazil’s future, and he believed foreign companies would still bring the necessary investment even on the more restrictive terms.

“It’s a big opportunity, and we’re not going to throw money away,” he said.

“It was the right decision to adopt this model.”

Brazil also is going to live up to its environmental responsibilities, the president said.

“We have a moral obligation to reduce Amazon deforestation,” he said.

He added that Brazil’s offer to meet specific reduction targets in greenhouse gas emissions at a UN meeting on climate change in Denmark in December will be balanced against its aim to become an industrial powerhouse.

“Nobody thinks that Brazil should have the same responsibility as Britain, as France or other countries that have been industrialized and emitting greenhouse gases for a century,” he said.

He added: “If these talks are carried out seriously, we are convinced a serious deal is possible.”

Une illustration des tortures us en Afghanistan : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ct8MAGb5TMM on aura peut-être des protestations ou des publicités “d’amnesty international”, r.s.f etc ?