As U.S. carriers, F-35s and drones crowd the skies off Venezuela, Brazil has quietly fired one of Europe’s deadliest air-to-air missiles for the first time. In a single BVR-X exercise over Natal, a Brazilian F‑39E Gripen launched a live Meteor, proving it can kill from beyond visual range and joining the elite “first-shot, first-kill” club. Officials call the Gripen–Meteor combo a new pillar of national defense as Washington shuts Venezuelan airspace and strikes suspect ships. Is this just a weapons test—or the moment South America’s balance of air power flips?
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