geral, não tem havido reações adversas, na mídia, à nova Estratégia
Nacional de Defesa (END) e aos acordos com a França. A esta altura,
seria de se esperar uma "grita" geral, dos pacifistas de todos os matizes...
Abaixo dessa matéria, uma outra sobre a integração operacional entre a
aviação de caça da Marinha e da FAB, na realização do Exercício
INTERCEPTAER.
Abs.
Geopolitical Diary
A BOOST FOR BRAZIL'S MILITARY
December 24, 2008
Stratfor
Brazil and France signed a substantial defense deal on Tuesday that
brings Brazil a step closer to breaking out of a century of military
navel-gazing, and indicates that Brasilia could be getting serious about
attaining the tools of power projection.
The deal — which the French say is worth $12 billion — includes a plan
for Brazil to purchase 50 of Eurocopter subsidiary Helibras' EC725
helicopters, which will be built domestically. France will also help
Brazil assemble four Scorpene-class conventional patrol submarines as a
precursor to construction of a Scorpene-class nuclear submarine.
Stipulating that the submarines and helicopters will be manufactured in
Brazil, the Brazilians will gain the expertise needed to build up their
military-industrial capacity, which has languished, and invigorate their
own arms industry. Using foreign designs to construct weapons at home is
something Brasilia has actively encouraged over the years. This
circumvents the arduous, expensive and error-prone process of creating
entirely new designs, and it educates domestic engineers.
This defense deal has been in the works for the better part of 2008, but
this is not the first serious cooperation between the two countries.
France sold Brazil the Clemenceau-class aircraft carrier Foch, and
earlier in 2008 signed a deal to construct 50 Super Puma helicopters.
There also is little doubt that it was an infusion of French investment
and expertise that brought Brazilian private airline manufacturer
Embraer into a position to compete in the international aircraft market.
Future deals could include the sale of France's Dassault Rafale fighter
jet, which has been struggling to compete in the European market but
could be a perfect fit for Brazil.
But there are grander implications of these French partnerships.
Although Brazil is unquestionably the geopolitically dominant country in
South America, it has lacked the wherewithal to extend control to its
own borders, much less beyond. Even more compelling has been the absence
of existential threats to the state's security. With massive
geographical barriers protecting it to the north and west, Brazil has
had to worry only about Argentina to the south and about protecting its
coastline. But with its southern borders settled for a century or so at
this point, and Argentina at risk of economic collapse, the threat of
Argentine aggression is not particularly compelling. And with very
limited global traffic in the southern Atlantic, Brazil's naval needs
have been minimal.
Brazil's military has thus been relatively inward-focused, as shown by
the military's heavy involvement in politics — including a period of
military rule from 1964 to 1985. But recently, Brazil has discovered
enormous oil deposits off its coast, and its shipping lanes will become
increasingly important if the country achieves its goals of becoming a
major exporter of oil and (increasingly likely) agricultural produce.
These developments appear to have awakened the Brazilians to the
possibility that they might have something really worth protecting.
Indeed, the long-discussed submarine program has been pitched as a way
of protecting the country's stationary oil platforms, even though
submarines are not capable of directly defending such a target.
Submarines are, however, an excellent ace in the hole should Brazil
engage in a shooting war, as they would allow Brazil to threaten
adversaries' shipping lanes.
Beyond these immediate applications, WHAT IS BECOMING CLEAR IS THAT
BRAZIL COULD BE REALIZING THAT IT IS THE PRIMARY POWER OF SOUTH AMERICA
— and the deal with France may be the first step toward acting like it.
Noticiário Naval
Caças da FAB e da Marinha realizam exercício
22/12/2008
No período de 10 a 12 de dezembro, o Comando de Defesa Aeroespacial
Brasileiro – COMDABRA - coordenou o exercício INTERCEPTAER. O exercício
teve como propósito promover o adestramento de pilotos e controladores
da MB e da FAB, por meio da execução de missões de interceptação
empregando as aeronaves AF-1 (A-4 Skyhawk) e F-5E/M, a fim de contribuir
para incrementar a interoperabilidade entre as duas Forças.
As aeronaves do Esquadrão VF-1 (MB) e do 1º GAVCA (FAB), realizaram
diversas missões de interceptação, a partir da Base Aérea de Santa Cruz,
alternando-se como caçador e alvo, tendo sido controladas por militares
de ambas as Forças, operando a partir do Centro de Operações Militares
de Brasília, o COPM-1, utilizando o sistema de visualização radar D/ACOM.
O exercício foi considerado extremamente válido e atingiu todos os
objetivos propostos de padronização de procedimentos, troca de
experiências e de adestramento para futuras Operações Conjuntas, quando
forem empregados meios aéreos das duas Forças.
Fonte: COMDABRA
