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Saab JAS 39 Gripen, Eurofighter Typhoon, Dassault Rafale and Boeings Super Hornet were all possible options.

Only the Rafale was any real competitor. The rest all have glaring issues that disqualify them immediately.

What issues? The Crippen is a great plane.

So great that only Brazil was willing to buy them. And not at all because they were the best planes they could get, but because Brazil strongly prefers to not buy from the US and SAAB offered a great technology transfer deal.

Why does Brazil prefer to not buy from the US?

Political reasons that may or may not make sense. Brazil would perhaps benefit in many ways by aligning themselves with the US, but for a variety of reasons they simply don't want to do that.

In the fickle Brazilian political environment, not aligning with the US might end up being a rather pragmatic move. As a politician, who knows how badly your successor will fuck up those ties?

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