Commander of the Brazilian Navy warns that 40% of naval assets will be decommissioned by 2028
By 1T (RM2-T) Daniela Meireles
Invited by the Foreign Relations and National Defense Committee of the Chamber of Deputies (CREDN), the Minister of Defense and the Commanders of the Navy, Army and Air Force presented, on Wednesday (17), the current panorama of national defense, with the needs and main projects of the Forces. The hearing, which is usually called at the beginning of the legislative year, aims to help guide the decisions of parliamentarians.
The Minister of Defense, José Mucio Monteiro Filho, warned of the progressive reduction in the resources allocated to the portfolio over the last ten years, which, according to him, has seen a decrease of almost 50%. “The big challenge is to have budget predictability. We don’t have parties or caucuses. We are dependent on the responsibility of whoever draws up the budget. We need to have continuity in order to maintain our programs and honor our commitments.”
Predictability PEC¹
The head of the Ministry of Defense proposed inaugurating a new relationship with the CREDN (National Defense Committee of the Chamber of Deputies), to debate projects with the contribution of suggestions and criticisms from deputies. “Dialogue is an instrument of democracy. Defense has no electoral appeal, but it is important for the security of Brazilians, institutions and our wealth,” he said, stressing the need for the Chamber’s support for the so-called “Predictability PEC¹”, which aims to progressively increase the budget allocated to Defense to 2% of the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
According to Minister José Mucio, the member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have made a commitment to allocate 2% of GDP to the military. “Brazil invests the least in the sector. Our rate is 1.1%, well below the world level of 2.2%. We’re left with sailors without ships, airmen without planes and soldiers without equipment. The world is arming itself; if we want to live in peace, we need to prepare ourselves,” he warned.
Concrete threats
The concern is shared by the Commander of the Navy, Fleet Admiral Marcos Sampaio Olsen. “In the past, Brazil was the second country in terms of shipbuilding and today it lacks the political will and long-term strategy to ensure this status for the Brazilian state. Unfortunately, the national maritime mentality and a more mature defense consciousness are still lacking,” he says.
For Admiral Olsen, there is a mistaken understanding that the country is not the target of international threats. “It’s not true that Brazil is a peaceful country with established borders. Borders at sea are under discussion at the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,” he said, pointing to specific cases in which the Navy has identified foreign ships in the Brazilian maritime area, carrying out surveys and mapping submarine communication cables, without the proper authorization from the Brazilian Maritime Authority.
Dependence on the sea
The presence of these foreign vessels in Brazilian jurisdictional waters threatens the economic interests of the country, which extracts 98% of its oil production and 87% of its natural gas from the sea, as well as transporting 95% of its foreign trade and disposing of 90% of its agribusiness products by sea. It is estimated that around 25% of jobs in Brazil depend directly or indirectly on the sea. “The economy of the sea represents 16% of the national GDP and we believe that this contribution is underestimated. Brazil is a country dependent on the use of the sea; it is unviable without it,” he said.
Despite the importance of Brazil’s jurisdictional waters, as the Commander of the Navy pointed out, a significant number of the ships in the Brazilian Naval Force are obsolete and in need of renewal. “The Force’s diagnosis today is that 50% of the vessels that have been part of the Brazilian Fleet since the 1980s have been decommissioned and that 40% of what remains will be taken out of active service by 2028. These are assets that have a very long operational life and the cost-benefit of maintenance is not justified,” he said.
The Navy’s Strategic Programs, including the Submarine Development Program (PROSUB), the Nuclear Program and the “Tamandaré” Class Frigate Program, continue to be developed despite the current budgetary situation. “What we are seeing is a serious loss of capacity in this strategic sector. It’s surprising that Brazil, as the ninth largest economy in the world, has the 25th largest navy. We are on the opposite side of the world in terms of defense spending,” said the Admiral.
About the hearing
This Wednesday’s hearing was called at the request of the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations and National Defense (CREDN), Congressman Lucas Redecker (PSDB/RS²); and Congressman Albuquerque (REPUBLICANS/RR²), an alternate member of the Committee. “This is an edifying and prolific tradition of dialogue between the Executive and Legislative branches on a topic that is of interest to society, in order to update strategic directions and Defense priorities,” said Congressman Redecker.
Notes:
¹PEC stands for Proposed Constitutional Amendment. To amend the Constitution is to modify the current text in order to insert a change into it. A PEC is a proposal to change the Constitution, which must be discussed and voted on before it can be approved. If the PEC is approved, the changes become part of the Constitutional text.
The processing of a PEC in the National Congress involves analysis, discussion, voting, approval, promulgation and publication. It goes through a mandatory process in both Houses of Congress: the Federal Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. During this process, the proposal is examined by committees and voted on in two rounds. To be approved, the PEC needs to receive three-fifths of the votes of the senators and deputies. Once approved, it is promulgated and published in the Federal Official Gazette, making the amendment part of the text of the Federal Constitution.
Who can propose a PEC?
– Federal deputies or senators: at least one third of the 513 deputies (171) or 81 senators (27).
– President of the Republic.
– Legislative Assemblies: more than half of the 27 State Assemblies, with a simple majority of their deputies 1
²Acronym for Brazilian political party
*** Translated by DEFCONPress FYI Team ***