Naval News : African and Latin American Nations


Official specifications released by CHRDI • MTOW of 500kg including a 70kg payload.
• Control radius and endurance 100 km and up to 4hrs
• Cruise and maximum level flight speeds of 120km/h and 140 km/h, respectively, and a service ceiling of 13,123ft (4,000m)

The UAV’s primary missions include maritime wide-area motion imagery (WAMI) and ship identification/acquisition.

Wide Area Motion Imagery (WAMI) is an airborne Optical Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (OISR) data gathering system that combines multiple advanced sensors, cameras, and processors into one integrated unit.
 
(rfi 03.27)

France will help Brazil develop nuclear propulsion on its submarines, says Emmanuel Macron​


Published on: 27/03/2024

President Emmanuel Macron announced on Wednesday 27 March that France was going to help Brazil develop nuclear propulsion on future submarines, while assuring it would respect its "non-proliferation" commitments. "I would like us to open the chapter for new submarines (...), to look nuclear propulsion in the face while fully respecting all the most rigorous non-proliferation commitments", he said at the launch of a Franco-Brazilian conventionally-powered submarine at Itaguai, near Rio. "You want it, France will be at your side", he added./deepl
 
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(rfi 03.27)

France will help Brazil develop nuclear propulsion on its submarines, says Emmanuel Macron​


Published on: 27/03/2024

President Emmanuel Macron announced on Wednesday 27 March that France was going to help Brazil develop nuclear propulsion on future submarines, while assuring it would respect its "non-proliferation" commitments. "I would like us to open the chapter for new submarines (...), to look nuclear propulsion in the face while fully respecting all the most rigorous non-proliferation commitments", he said at the launch of a Franco-Brazilian conventionally-powered submarine at Itaguai, near Rio. "You want it, France will be at your side", he added./deepl
It was during a speech by President Macron at the launch of Brazil's third Riachuelo-class submarine
 
(rfi 03.27)

France will help Brazil develop nuclear propulsion on its submarines, says Emmanuel Macron​


Published on: 27/03/2024

President Emmanuel Macron announced on Wednesday 27 March that France was going to help Brazil develop nuclear propulsion on future submarines, while assuring it would respect its "non-proliferation" commitments. "I would like us to open the chapter for new submarines (...), to look nuclear propulsion in the face while fully respecting all the most rigorous non-proliferation commitments", he said at the launch of a Franco-Brazilian conventionally-powered submarine at Itaguai, near Rio. "You want it, France will be at your side", he added./deepl

I still do not understand why Brazil thinks it's wise to spend the kind of investment it would need to build & maintain SSNs.

They have no regional threat that would warrant an SSN.
 
I still do not understand why Brazil thinks it's wise to spend the kind of investment it would need to build & maintain SSNs.

They have no regional threat that would warrant an SSN.
what they say:

(…) Brazilian authorities have sought to develop naval nuclear propulsion since 1979. This goal has worried international nuclear observers for decades. However, Brazilian researchers argue that the country’s quest is part of a project aimed at modernizing the Brazilian economy and gaining international influence (…)

The Brazilian military argues that it needs a nuclear-powered submarine to protect the country’s coastline, where most of the country’s population lives and most of Brazil’s oil reserves reside. (…)

Brazil Moves Closer to Developing a Nuclear-Powered Submarine - Nuclear Network
 
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(rfi 03.27)

France will help Brazil develop nuclear propulsion on its submarines, says Emmanuel Macron​


Published on: 27/03/2024

President Emmanuel Macron announced on Wednesday 27 March that France was going to help Brazil develop nuclear propulsion on future submarines, while assuring it would respect its "non-proliferation" commitments. "I would like us to open the chapter for new submarines (...), to look nuclear propulsion in the face while fully respecting all the most rigorous non-proliferation commitments", he said at the launch of a Franco-Brazilian conventionally-powered submarine at Itaguai, near Rio. "You want it, France will be at your side", he added./deepl
Is this a change in commitment from before?
 
Is this a change in commitment from before?
(an edit from my last), YES it is:

Brazil negotiates agreement with France on nuclear fuel for submarines
22.03.24 Source: Poder Naval (Brazil)

The Itamaraty Palace (Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs) said on Friday 22nd that the Brazilian government is in talks with France so that the European country can cooperate even in the nuclear fuel part of the "Álvaro Alberto" submarine, which is being developed as part of Prosub (the Brazilian submarine programme).


"Regarding the first point [of the question], nuclear fuel [for the submarine] and the cooperation that France could have in this area, we believe that this is an area in which there may have been resistance in the past, but today there are discussions. on this possibility: that France could cooperate with us in this area, in the light of nuclear energy, nuclear fuel", declared Ambassador Maria Luisa Escorel de Moraes, Secretary for Europe and North America at the Itamaraty Palace.


This statement was made by the ambassador, in response to a question from the daily Folha de São Paulo, during a press briefing held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Brasilia, to detail certain aspects of the president's visit to Brazil French, Emmanuel Macron, next week.

“Yes, it is a strategic, sensitive, delicate subject, but yes: the two countries are also talking about it,” added the diplomat.

Prosub is part of a strategic partnership agreement signed between France and Brazil in 2008, which provides for the construction of four conventional submarines (two of which are ready) and a nuclear-powered attack submarine, named “Álvaro Alberto”.

The information that the French would be ready to cooperate even on the nuclear fuel part of the “Álvaro Alberto” ship represents a change in Paris’ position, with possible geopolitical implications. Indeed, the agreement signed in 2008 with France provided for “long-term French support for the design and construction of the non-nuclear part of the submarine”.


In practice, so far, this has contributed to the design of the nuclear-powered submarine's hull – but not the technology to accommodate the reactor (which Brazil knows how to make) inside the hull and connect it and provide energy. for propulsion. .

Negotiations on the issue are delicate because the United States opposes the sale of equipment and transfer of know-how that would lead to a scenario in which Brazil obtains the capacity to operate nuclear-powered submarines .

The main difference between a conventional ship and a nuclear ship is the autonomy and the length of time it can remain submerged, making detection difficult. While conventional submarines must come to the surface periodically, there are virtually no time limits for nuclear submarines (except only for the needs of the crew themselves).

Today, only the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – the United States, China, Russia, France and the United Kingdom – and India, which is not a signatory to the Treaty of nuclear non-proliferation (NPT), have this technology. They all have atomic bombs.

Although the nuclear-powered submarine is a priority for the Brazilian government, the project is moving slowly, because Brazil needs more know-how and equipment from France and because there is budgetary inconsistency.

In October last year, Folha revealed that the French chief of staff, Brigadier General Fabien Mandon, had traveled to Brasilia the previous month to participate in a meeting with Admiral Petrônio Aguiar, director general of nuclear development of the Navy. The objective was to discuss the terms of a supplement to the agreement for the construction of the nuclear-powered submarine.


In this complementary agreement, Brazil negotiates, among other subjects, to purchase equipment from France for the turbine and generator
, which would use the energy generated by the reactor and is not manufactured in the country.

Macron will arrive in Belém tomorrow Tuesday for a three-day visit to Brazil.

Accompanied by President Lula, he also passes through Itaguaí, where he will attend the launching ceremony of the Tonelero conventional submarine, also built as part of Prosub.
/end

—-/—-​

Verbatim (from 1:25:00 in the last video posted):

"The great peace-loving powers of Brazil and France must realise that in an increasingly disorganised world, we sometimes need to know how to speak the language of firmness in order to protect peace", said the President of the Élysée Palace.

As for the SNA that Brazil intends to build, Mr Macron said he hoped that "we would look nuclear propulsion in the face while fully respecting all the most rigorous non-proliferation commitments". He added: "This framework exists and is possible. You want it. France will be at your side".
 
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