Brazil: Mirages Point to a Growing Arms Bazaar

Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim signed an agreement with French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie in Paris on July 15 to purchase 12 Mirage 2000-C fighters from France. The deal, worth $73 million, will provide for the transfer of the fighters from the French air force's inventory beginning in 2006. The newer aircraft will replace the Brazilian air force's Mirage III ERs, which have been in use for 30 years. The Brazilian deal comes as other countries in South America are looking to upgrade their armed forces and is another indication that the continent is becoming a burgeoning arms market.