The head of the Saab plane maker criticized the multi-billion-dollar contract to supply fighter jets to Brazil as too political.

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"It is always a political decision, and that is why it is very difficult to predict the outcome," Saab chief executive Åke Svensson told Swedish news agency TT in Brasilia.

Svensson is part of a Swedish delegation to Brazil, headed by King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia and including Defence Minister Sten Tolgfors and business leaders.

According to reports, Saab's Gripen NG fighter is favoured by the Brazilian air force, but Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Defence Minister Nelson Jobim have repeatedly said they prefer the more powerful and more expensive Rafale jet by France's Dassault company.

The F/A-18 Super Hornet by US group Boeing is seen as an outside contender because of doubts that Brazil would obtain the total technology transfer it is seeking as part of the deal.

Svensson said Saab's Gripen fighter had come out ahead in evaluations on price and technology, but said that might not be enough to secure a deal. "This is a political decision that in the end President Lula will make on his own," he said.

The winning company will supply 36 fighter jets to Brazil, for an initial value of between four billion and 10 billion dollars, with the possibility of many more fighters being added later on.

A decision is expected within the next two weeks.