Denmark, Sweden eager to buy and sell arms

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- The Scandinavian countries are in an arms deal frenzy: While Sweden is in negotiations to sell fighter jets to Brazil, Denmark is looking to buy a host of weapons systems to boost its troops in Afghanistan.

The Danish Defense Ministry is looking to procure naval helicopters, anti-explosive devices and drones to update its military equipment and boost its 700 troops in Afghanistan, Lt. Col. Per Lyse Rasmussen, the Danish defense industry attache, said at a conference in Washington, Defencenews.com reports.

At the same time, Denmark is making its armed forces lighter and more mobile, cutting back mainly on heavy equipment such as tanks, jet fighters and heavy artillery.

Instead, it wants to buy more products like Raven, a drone produced by AeroVironment. The drone has helped safeguard a Danish battle group in Afghanistan that is fighting alongside British soldiers in the volatile Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan.

Denmark is also looking to buy electronic military equipment, including radios, night-fight equipment and devices to detect, jam and dispose of roadside bombs.

Neighboring Sweden is not looking to buy, but to sell.

Sweden is hoping to sell at least 36 of its Gripen Next Generation fighter jets to Brazil. The producer of the Gripen NG, Saab AB, is competing with France's Rafale (with the Dassault Rafale) and Boeing (with the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet) for the contract valued at anywhere between $4 billion and $7 billion.

Sweden recently updated its bid with an offer to provide technology transfer, a move that had brought rival France ahead of the pack.

Earlier this month, French President Nicolas Sarkozy traveled to Brazil to visit President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. They issued a joint last joint statement opening Brazil's official negotiations to buy 36 of Dassault's Rafale jets. While the statement did not mean an end to the tender process, Rafale is seen as the favorite to get the deal, also because the French bid included significant technology transfer.

The same has now been offered by Sweden, which promised last week that 40 percent of the ordered jets would be built in Brazil, and that the Brazilian Air Force would get full access to the technology used in the Gripen NG.

The multi-role aircraft is equipped with a General Electric F414G engine and an active electronically scanned array radar system.