Yesterday, the President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, defended investments in Defense, assuring that they strengthen the economy and help generate jobs.
During a visit to the Itaguaí Naval Complex, in the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro, where ships are being built for the Navy’s Submarine Program (Prosub), Lula said that one could not think only from the opposing point of view but must believe in the positive side, including the issue of the lack of economic resources.
“If you don’t have money in the budget to invest, let’s make partnerships with the private sector so that PPPs (Public-Private Partnerships) can be built and make the investments Brazil needs,” he said.
The Brazilian president visited the Humaitá submarine at the Itaguaí Naval Complex, which is in the final phase of sea trials and is expected to be delivered to the Navy’s operations by the end of this year.
The Humaitá is the second of a fleet of four conventional diesel-electric submarines.
This submarine and another nuclear-powered submarine are part of Prosub, which has a planned budget of R$40 billion (about $7.6 billion), including the construction of ships and the infrastructure of the Itaguaí Naval Complex.
“We emphasize that it is a conventionally armed submarine, with conventional weapons, like the ones we have now. Only its propulsion will be nuclear, which gives it enormous autonomy.”
“It can remain much longer underwater and stay at sea, which greatly increases the submarine’s capabilities,” he said.
For his part, Prosub’s main advisor, Rear Admiral Luiz Roberto Cavalcanti Valicente, recalled that the agreement that gave rise to the program was signed with France in 2008, during Lula’s second term in office.