"Of course, any opportunity for U.S.-Brazilian cooperation helps the bilateral relationship," said Ana Paula Ferreira, Boeing's communications director in Brazil. The head of Embraer's defense unit, Carlos Aguiar, applauded the contributions from U.S. partner Sierra Nevada and Boeing, which supplied weapons on Embraer's second Super Tucano bid. "There's no doubt the closer collaboration with Boeing clearly helped qualify our proposal even more," Aguiar said in a telephone interview after the decision.