Brasília, October 3, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The Minister of Defense, José Viegas, informed on Thursday (2) that, by the end of next July, Brazil will know what airplanes will be purchased to replace its Mirages, which should cease flyinjg in December, 2004. Viegas said that the bidding process for the acquisition of 12 combat aircraft, for the price of US$ 700 million, has already recommenced and that five companies should participate in the competition.

As for retiring the "Big Scrap Heap," the plane that President Lula uses on his international flights, the Minister of Defense informed that the new Presidential plane should be selected among Boeing and Airbus models. The Minister explained that the reason for choosing a plane manufactured by an international company, rather than Embraer, is that the Brazilian company does not produce a large-scale aircraft that meets Presidential international travel requirements, even though Embraer is the world's fourth largest airplane manufacturer. (DAS)