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BRAZIL

Rousseff tells Hollande: no fighter decision yet

Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff on Tuesday tied the decision on a multi-billion dollar fighter jet order, in which France's Dassault is a leading bigger, to the country's economy picking up.

Rousseff tells Hollande: no fighter decision yet
Dilma Rousseff and François Hollande meet in Paris. Photo: Michel Euler/AFP

"We have pushed back the choice… and this will take some time depending on how long it takes the Brazilian economy to recover," Rousseff said at a joint press conference with her French counterpart François Hollande.

Brazil is looking to buy 36 multi-purpose jets to modernise its air force in a contract valued at between $4 billion and $7 billion.

The Rafale fighter, built by French firm Dassault Aviation, is up against the US aviation giant Boeing's F/A-18 Super Hornet and Swedish manufacturer Saab's Gripen.

Brazil, which boasts the world's sixth-largest economy, began considering buying a new fighter model several years ago, but Rousseff said the government had postponed making a decision in the face of a sharp economic slowdown.

The Brazilian economy rose 2.7 percent last year, sharply down from a sizzling 7.5 percent in 2010.

"We are waiting for growth at a higher rate that will permit us to make this project a priority again," said Rousseff.

She said there were signs that growth was picking up "but we still have to be careful about extraordinary expenditures".

Brazil posted 0.6 percent growth in the third quarter after stagnating with 0.1 percent growth in the first quarter and 0.2 percent in the second.

In late September, a senior Brazilian government official told AFP on condition of anonymity there would be no decision on the contract before next year.

He dismissed suggestions that Brazil, which is currently experiencing sluggish economic growth, already favoured a particular plane.

The early favourite was the Rafale, but Brasilia finds it too expensive and has been pressing for a better price. Paris has offered full technology transfers in its bid to win the contract.

Boeing's F/A-18 Super Hornet is cheaper, but Brazilian officials are wary of Washington's possible use of technology restrictions.

Hollande emphasised that France was willing to share technology in order to clinch the first foreign sale of the fighter that is the mainstay of the French airforce and was used in the NATO air campaign against former Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi's regime.

"We have always wanted transfers," said the French president. "That is the method we have selected."

Rousseff's predecessor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, publicly expressed his preference for the Rafale in 2009, but since taking office in January 2011 Rousseff has repeatedly pushed back taking a decision.

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DEFENCE

France recruits 1,800 extra staff to cyber warfare unit

The French defence ministry on Wednesday announced plans to significantly boost the country's four-year-old cyber warfare force, citing the "growing number and gravity" of hacking attacks on the country.

France recruits 1,800 extra staff to cyber warfare unit
French defence minister Florence Parly. Photo: Alain Jocard/AFP

The government had already planned to add an additional 1,100 recruits to a unit created in response to the growing number of cyber attacks on the West, mostly blamed on Russia and China.

Defence Minister Florence Parly told a cyber security conference in the city of Lille on Wednesday she had decided to go further to try make France “a cyber security champion”.

Warning of a “Cold War in cyberspace” she said she would hire an extra 770 cyber combattants on top of an additional 1,100 already planned, bringing the force’s staffing level to 5,000 by 2025.

France and other Western countries are alarmed over a growing number of increasingly aggressive cyber attacks, including data breaches and ransomware attacks, which typically see hackers encrypting victims’ data and then demanding money for restored access.

Recent high-profile targets have included a US oil pipeline, Ireland’s health service and India’s flag carrier Air India.

Parly said that the French army needed to increase it use of the “cyber weapon”.

“Our opponents do not shy away from doing so, whether state powers, terrorist groups or their backers,” she said.

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