**Brazil has entered into negotiations with France to buy 36 fighter jets, the two countries have announced.**In exchange for the $4bn tender, France would buy about a dozen military cargo planes, they said in a joint statement.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy is in Brazil to attend Independence Day celebrations, but a formal decision on the deal is not expected this week.
France is competing with the United States and Sweden to supply Brazil’s air force with 36 new modern warplanes.
Ahead of President Sarkozy’s visit, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signalled that France’s Rafale jet, built by Dassault, was favourite.
The Rafale had an “exceptional comparative advantage” because of France’s guarantee to share all military technology with Brazil as part of the deal, he told the AFP news agency.
Talks with France over the deal were at a “very advanced stage”, he told other media outlets.
If it goes ahead, this will be the first time France has sold the Rafale overseas.
Presidents Sarkozy and Lula were expected to sign on Monday an already-agreed $10bn (£6bn; 7bn euros) deal for Brazil to buy five French submarines and 50 military transport helicopters.