The strong commitment of Chinese enterprises by winning the System Management Blue Amazon, a gifted project with over 4,000 million euros
(Defensa.com) The Brazilian Navy began the defining analysis of the proposals of the three consortia submitted bids for the Program Management System from Blue Amazon (SisGAAz) this month. The objective of the program is the surveillance and protection, through a high-tech system, an extension of 4.5 million kilometers from Amapá to the south of Rio Grande do Sul. The overall budget will be around 4,360 million euros and the execution time would be extended until 2027. The finalists will be announced by November.
The main contractor SisGAAz, should be responsible for the coordination and execution of development work and systems integration (radar, communications devices, satellites, aircraft, UAV, patrol vessels, etc.) manufactured by the various program providers. The Navy and the Ministry of Defense require the prime contractor is a Brazilian company with EED certificate (Strategic Defense Company), so far obtained for less than 30 groups.
Embraer DS dispute the project with its subsidiaries (Bradar, Atech and Visiona) in partnership with Airbus DS, Odebrecht Defense and Technology (ODT), is presenting the American group MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA), Indra and Saab as partners. Orbital Engineering, supplier of the space program, proposes a partnership with China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, innovating on partnerships.
Thirteen consortia came to participate in the initial phase of the project, but recent budget cuts in defense projects led to the withdrawal of most companies, such as Andrade Gutierrez, Queiroz Galvão, Systems Defesa e Tecnologia Engevix, Synergy Defense and Security, Oil and Gas IESA, and the controversial OAS group, which had already announced his resignation to participate in this process, after many complaints against him for fraud scandal Petrobras, that even you would leave a voluminous contract a regasification unit in Uruguay.
In August 2014, ORBITAL, signed a cooperation agreement in aerospace with China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC) and the Shanghai Institute of Space Power Sources (SISP). The company was the first in the country, so far, to sign agreements with Chinese institutions, and Embraer, which has units in China, or projects like the new research vessel of the Brazilian Navy, "Vital Oliveira" being built in shipyards Xinhui.
The agreement was reached in round of negotiations held in China between Brazilian companies and the country, promoted with the support of the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB), in December 2013, when there was the launch of the fourth satellite of Sino program Brazil Earth Resources Satellite (CBERS) and subsequent exchanges and visits, including visits to the Chinese Ministry of Defense of Brazil. Taking advantage of these contacts, ORBITAL Engineering joined for the Chinese group SisGAAz CASIC, a company created in the reorganization of the defense industry of China in the 90s and has a portfolio of products ranging from surface-to-air type MANPADS satellites and advanced electronic systems.
Last July, the Minister of Science, Technology and Industry for Defense of China, Xu Dazhe preparatory meeting in order to encourage partnerships in the fields of tele observation, telecommunications and technology, announced interest the interest of China in expanding cooperation in Brazil for the protection of natural resources, such as the System Management own the Blue Amazon (SisGAAz) programs. There is also a large and growing Chinese partnership in relation to the exploitation of hydrocarbons, whose profits could be reversed in joint defense.
Besides who will head the program, other renowned firms should participate as providers of prime contractor, such as Boeing and Insitu, with the UAV Scan Eagle, Elbit Hermes 900 or proposing IAI Heron UAV with proposing some techno-fixes this or otherwise-with one of the consortia, perhaps known radar manufacturers like Terma Danish and Italian Gem, etc.
The CEO of Airbus Group's international strategy, Marwan Lahoud, said this is the first large-scale cooperation with Embraer in an area that is not aeronautics. The company has the opportunity to offer a broad portfolio of products SisGAAz systems involving maritime control and surveillance (radar, satellites and combat systems). The last time the two companies worked together was in 2005, when Airbus provided a naval mission system for EMB-145 maritime patrol P-99 Embraer sold to Mexico.
The program, given the growing current budgetary problems highlighted in the new government of Dilma Rousseff, also runs the risk of being divided into segments according to the availability of resources and major or urgent priorities. Recently, in this regard, the Directorate of Strategic Project Management of the Brazilian Navy and Ezute Foundation renewed their consulting agreements. A new no-bid contract was signed on 19 December alarming some industry operators who expected more competition and at this stage.
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