Lieutenant-Brigadier General Carlos de Almeida Baptista Junior said the Air Force will further reduce its order due to budget unpredictability, according to the report.

"We can't afford it in the short term," O Globo quoted him as saying.

The Air Force had said in November it would unilaterally cut its original 28-aircraft order to 15, but in February had reached a deal with Embraer to reduce it to 22 planes.

Embraer said in a statement regarding the matter that it has a contract with the Brazilian Air Force to supply it with 22 aircraft, while the Air Force did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Alberto Alerigi Jr. and Peter Frontini; Editing by Sandra Maler)