Exclusive: Rousseff "starting over" in Brazil jets tender

By Brian Winter

BRASILIA (Reuters) - New Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has decided to delay awarding a multi-billion dollar Air Force jet contract and reevaluate the finalists' bids, in a move that could signal a realignment of Brazil's strategic and defense alliances, sources with knowledge of the decision told Reuters.

The surprise decision is a blow to France's Dassault, which as recently as last month looked like a lock to quickly win the deal, and puts its U.S.-based rival Boeing back in with a chance.

Rousseff's predecessor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, had while in office repeatedly expressed his preference for Dassault's bid to build at least 36 Rafale jets at a cost of more than $4 billion as part of a long-running effort to modernize the Brazilian Air Force fleet.

The other finalists for the contract were the Gripen NG, produced by Sweden's Saab, and Boeing's F-18.

Lula left office on January 1 without resolving the issue, although many observers believed the final decision in favor of Dassault was a mere formality since Rousseff was Lula's chief of staff and she has retained many of his Cabinet members, including the defense minister.

Instead, Rousseff has opted to "start over" in her evaluation process with no clear preference for any of the finalists, a senior government source said.

"This is her decision now ... and she wants to look carefully at the details," the source said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks.

In a sign that Boeing is still in the running, Rousseff personally asked U.S. senators visiting Brasilia last week for additional technology transfer guarantees from the U.S. Congress to bolster the Boeing bid, sources with knowledge of the conversation said.