Brazil to sign helicopter deal with France by July

BRASILIA, March 11 (Reuters) - Brazil will sign a deal with France by July to build 50 military helicopters as part of a broader strategic defense alliance, Brazil's defense minister said on Tuesday.

"We should sign all the necessary documents in June or July," Nelson Jobim told Reuters in an interview. A Brazilian subsidiary of Eurocopter (EAD.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) is to build the units, he said.

Both countries are also to sign by December a strategic defense alliance including the construction of a nuclear submarine in Brazil, Jobim said.

(Reporting by Raymond Colitt)