The image is powerful and painful for any Argentinian with industrial memory. At Gavião Peixoto , Embraer's facilities in São Paulo , President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva this week presided over the rollout of the first F-39E Gripen fighter jet produced entirely on Brazilian soil. This is an unprecedented milestone for Latin America: the local manufacturing of a state-of-the-art supersonic fighter .

This achievement is the result of a strategic contract signed in 2014 with the Swedish firm Saab, which included an aggressive technology transfer package. Of the 36 units acquired, 15 will be assembled by Embraer, training Brazilian engineers and technicians in advanced industrial processes and critical defense systems .

"This project allows us to consolidate our deterrent power, increasing our capacity to guarantee national sovereignty and regional security ," declared Brazilian Defense Minister José Múcio . Lula's words on social media reinforced the idea: " It is a very symbolic moment, demonstrating a country that believes in itself, invests in technology, and reaffirms its sovereignty."

For Brazil, the Gripen is not just a defense vector; it is a symbol of autonomy and strategic power in a turbulent geopolitical context.

The inverted mirror: From the avant-garde to the scrap heap

The Brazilian situation inevitably provokes a bitter reflection in Argentina. If we go back 70 or 80 years, the situation was inversely proportional. In the 1940s and 1950s, when Brazil was just beginning its industrialization, Argentina was already a global pioneer.

Under the impetus of Brigadier Juan Ignacio San Martín and with the talent of engineers like Kurt Tank , the Military Aircraft Factory (FMA) in Córdoba launched aeronautical engineering marvels such as the Pulqui I and Pulqui II , making Argentina one of the few countries in the world to manufacture jet aircraft. The Huanquero and the Pucará were also developed there; the latter was used in the South Atlantic Conflict.

However, after decades of systematic disinvestment, political instability, privatization attempts, and a chronic lack of strategic vision in defense, the now-named Argentine Aircraft Factory "Brigadier San Martín" (FAdeA) is, according to various sectors, in its final stage of dismantling and production shutdown. Projects are barely surviving, and the ability to manufacture its own fighter jet now seems like a distant utopia.

Lessons in sovereignty

The contrast is stark. Brazil understood that defense and the aeronautical industry are pillars of national sovereignty and geopolitical projection. Embraer , now one of the world's largest aircraft manufacturers, grew under the protection of a long-standing state policy.

Argentina, possessor of the eighth largest territory in the world and with a vast Pampas and Antarctic sectors to protect—threatened by the persistent British occupation of our Malvinas Islands—exhibits an alarming state of defenselessness. While its neighbor equips itself with cutting-edge technology and industrial autonomy to deter any threat, Argentina seems resigned to losing its historical productive capacity, remaining at the mercy of external decisions.

The Gripen's launch in Brazil should be interpreted in Argentina not with envy, but as an urgent wake-up call. Sovereignty isn't proclaimed; it's built with investment, technology, national industry, and a firm political will to defend what is ours. History shows us that we could do it; the present demands we react before the last vestige of our aeronautical glory becomes a flat plane.