 In 2001 , Brazil under President Fernando Henrique Cardoso announced the F @-@ X tender to procure a replacement for its aging aircraft including the Dassault Mirage IIID / E and Northrop F @-@ 5 . Sukhoi partnered with <unk> to submit the Su @-@ 27M for the US $ 700 million tender that would see at least twelve aircraft delivered to the Brazilian Air Force . Other contenders were the Mirage 2000 , F @-@ 16 , MiG @-@ 29 , and JAS Gripen . Any contract would have been accompanied by an offset agreement that would see the winning bidder provide input to Brazil 's aviation industry . Had the Su @-@ 35 won , Russia would have purchased 50 Embraer airliners for use by Aeroflot . The Su @-@ 35 and Mirage 2000 were the front @-@ runners to the program , but the former was favoured for its superior flight characteristics . According to the Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies , the Su @-@ 35 would have been the first heavy supersonic fighter to be delivered to Latin America . The tender was suspended for much of 2003 as the newly elected President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva focused more on social welfare . The tender was again suspended in 2005 , pending the availability of new fighters . 
