"We cover all the requirements. The (Brazilian) pilots will be happy" if Saab wins the contract next month, Bengt Janer, head of the company's campaign pushing the Gripen NG fighter, told AFP.

"We are very optimistic, we have (a) very interesting program," he said.

At stake is a deal to supply Brazil with 36 aircraft to update its aging fleet of 12 French-made Mirage-2000s.

Saab's Gripen NG is up against the proven F/A-18 Super Hornet made by US group Boeing and France's high-tech Rafale fighter by Dassault.

The deal is estimated to be worth between two and four billion dollars, depending on which of the bids is selected.

Brazil's defense minister, Nelson Jobim, will this month study his air force's evaluation of the three aircraft, which will be called on to protect Brazil's vast territory over the next 40 years.

Jobim is said to favor the Rafale, largely because of France's promise to share technology so that Brazil's Embraer aircraft maker can one day make and export its own sophisticated fighters.

But Janer said Saab, too, was more than willing to share its know-how.

And he added that the major weakness of the Gripen - the fact that no prototype of the plane yet exists - was in fact a strength, because Brazil could have a say in custom-building the jet to its needs.

Brazil can help create a "totally new concept," he said.

"We are sure that our hands-on technology transfer is the strongest in this program," he said, adding that Brazil's air force can evaluate the NG's capabilities on the older JS 39D aircraft, modified for longer range and better airborne EASA radar.

The Gripen NG is also the cheapest of the three in contention, he stressed, putting its "flyaway" price - excluding maintenance and integrated systems - at $50 million.

However, Dassault is believed to be keen enough to score the Brazil contract that it might consider steeply cutting its price.

Despite widespread praise for its fast and highly maneuverable double-engine plane, the high cost-per-unit - estimated at more than twice that of the single-engine Gripen - has put off more than one buyer around the world, and Dassault has yet to make a single foreign sale.

But there has been speculation that Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's invitation to French President Nicolas Sarkozy to attend Brazilian Independence Day celebrations with him in Brasilia on September 7 could provide an opportunity for an announcement of a Rafale win.

Against those two bids, the US F/A-18 is considered an outsider. Although a proven element in US-allied air forces, Brazil is especially wary of the US track record of leveraging military contracts to influence client nations.

Boeing is also understood to have ruled out technology-sharing, though it has said it would seek Brazilian suppliers for some components if chosen.

As sought-after as the Brazilian contract is, it is eclipsed by a much bigger competition conducted by India, which plans to spend up to $12 billion on renewing its air force.