By Gabriel Araujo

GAVIAO PEIXOTO, Brazil, March 25 (Reuters) - Brazil became the first Latin American nation to ‌build a supersonic fighter jet on Wednesday ‌when it unveiled the first Gripen plane assembled in the country.

Brazil ​first signed the contract for Saab's Gripen in 2014, choosing it over Boeing's F-18 Super Hornet and the Rafale, made by France's Dassault, to replace its aging ‌fleet of fighter ⁠jets.

The country joins Western powers such as the United States and France, as well ⁠as major developing economies including Russia, India and China, in building a supersonic fighter jet.

Its deal with Swedish ​defence group ​Saab included the production ​of 15 of the ‌36 jets under contract at Brazilian planemaker Embraer's Gaviao Peixoto plant in Sao Paulo state under a technology transfer agreement.

Saab said it expects to use the Brazilian production line as an export hub, a prospect ‌bolstered by an agreement last year ​for neighboring Colombia to acquire ​Gripen fighters.

"This is ​the first time since 1937, when Saab ‌was founded, that a fighter ​aircraft is ​manufactured outside Sweden," said Saab CEO Micael Johansson.

The Gripen production line underscores Brazil's growing ambitions in ​military aviation, with ‌Embraer's C-390 Millennium cargo jet gaining traction among ​European buyers.

(Reporting by Gabriel Araujo; Editing by ​Brad Haynes and Alexander Smith)