UPDATE 1-Brazil to sign helicopter deal with France

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By Raymond Colitt

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.

"I don't see any obstacle (to the submarine deal). There's political agreement," Jobim said.

The idea was to create a joint venture to build at least one conventional submarine and subsequently another one with nuclear propulsion developed by Brazil.

Brazil has embarked on a major program to upgrade its armed forces, planning to buy and build equipment to defend offshore oil riches and a porous border in the Amazon jungle.

"We won't have a dissuasive force in the Atlantic if we don't have a fast tool -- the nuclear submarine -- with domestic participation," Jobim said.