Brazil Revives Its Big Marine War Game, With US Troops Back After 2025 Halt
BRAZIL · DEFENCE
Key Facts
- —The country Brazil has about 213 million people and an economy roughly the size of Italy’s. Its armed forces have not fought a war since 1945 and train mostly at home.
- —Why it matters Operation Formosa, run by the Navy’s marines since 1988, is Brazil’s best-known field exercise. It is also a barometer of which foreign militaries Brazil trains with.
- —Why now In 2025 the Navy cancelled the exercise, citing budget limits, during a diplomatic crisis with Washington. This year it returned with US troops.
- —What happened The exercise closed on Thursday 24 September with a live demonstration in Formosa, Goiás, about 80 km from Brasília.
- —The numbers About 2,900 Brazilian troops, 198 vehicles, 33 armoured vehicles, eight aircraft and 18 drones. Another 115 soldiers came from the US, France and Paraguay.
- —What it means for you Nothing changes for residents or visitors. The drills took place inside a closed military training ground.
- —Still open Whether next year’s edition keeps the new industry fair, and whether other foreign partners return, has not been announced.
Brazil has wrapped up Operation Formosa 2026, its main annual land exercise led by Navy marines. It brought the Army and the Air Force into the same field, and US troops back after last year’s cancellation.
The Defence Ministry said the exercise ended on Thursday 24 September in Formosa, a town in Goiás state. It mobilised about 2,900 Brazilian troops, armoured vehicles, drones, helicopters and the Astros rocket artillery system.
What the exercise is
Operation Formosa has run since 1988. It is organised by the Navy’s marine corps, the Corpo de Fuzileiros Navais, to keep marines ready to deploy fast.
It takes place at the Formosa Training Field, an Army range of more than 100,000 hectares. That is larger than New York City, and it allows live ammunition, armour and artillery.
According to G1, the site is the only one in Brazil able to handle launches from the Astros system. Astros is a truck-mounted rocket artillery system built by Avibras, Brazil’s main missile maker.
Since 2021 the Army and the Air Force have also taken part. The Defence Ministry now coordinates the exercise as a joint operation of all three services.
Who did what
The Navy supplied most of the troops, mainly from its Fleet Marine Force, according to the trade site Defesa em Foco. Marine armoured vehicles such as the US-made JLTV and the Swiss-designed Piranha took part.
The Army lent the range and fielded its Brazilian-built Guarani armoured vehicles. A joint battery of 105 mm Light Gun howitzers also took part.
The Air Force flew A-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft, made by Embraer. A KC-390 Millennium transport simulated a supply drop to troops on the ground.
UH-15 Super Cougar helicopters also took part. A joint special forces team opened the final demonstration with a military free-fall parachute jump.
Drones and snipers then carried out reconnaissance before an assault on a simulated command post. The Astros rocket system was also deployed in the same sequence.
What was new this year
For the first time, the exercise hosted a defence industry fair, the Formosa Expeditionary Defence Exhibition. The ministry says it ran from 21 to 24 September, with 22 company stands.
Missile maker SIATT said it carried out live firings of its MAX 1.2 AC anti-tank missile. The marines are fitting that missile to a new vehicle-mounted anti-tank system called SMACE.
Avibras showed its Tactical Cruise Missile, which the company says can hit targets up to 300 kilometres away. That is a little less than the distance from Washington to New York.
The company’s future has drawn attention after Avibras, Brazil’s rocket maker, passed to the Batista brothers. Its Astros launch vehicles served in the exercise.
Defence Ministry Secretary-General Cinara Wagner Fredo also pointed to women in the field. She noted members of the female intake of Brazil’s initial military service took part.
The foreign troops, and last year’s gap
On 26 August Defence Minister José Múcio authorised 115 foreign troops to enter Brazil for Operation Formosa. They were 55 from the United States, 40 from France and 20 from Paraguay.
The US contingent was cleared to bring weapons, ammunition and optical targeting equipment, according to the order in the official gazette. Observers came from Argentina, Angola, Bolivia, Cameroon, Italy and Mexico, among others.
In August 2025 the Navy cancelled the exercise at the last minute. The defence news site Poder Naval reported budget limits and tension with the Trump administration as the reasons.
By then, about 2,000 troops, more than 100 vehicles and eight helicopters were already on the move, the site reported. The ministry told commanders to put money into a different joint exercise and the COP30 climate summit.
The guest list has shifted before: in 2024 Chinese troops joined the Brazilian military exercise for the first time. China does not appear on this year’s published list.
Scale and cost
The ministry’s figure is about 2,900 Brazilian troops. Defesa em Foco gave a lower estimate of about 2,500, so the exact count should be treated as approximate.
The camp itself was built for up to 3,000 people. In July the marines hired a contractor for R$3.24 million (about US$625,000) to supply power, food, sanitation and communications.
That contract was reported by O Tempo from the official gazette. The conversion uses 5.19 reais per US dollar, the open.er-api.com rate on 27 September 2026.
The ministry did not publish the overall cost of the exercise. The Navy’s budget was squeezed by a spending freeze earlier this year.
Ties with Washington remain workable, as the Navy chief’s recent remarks suggest.
What comes next
Admiral Paulo César Bittencourt Ferreira heads joint operations at the ministry. He says each service’s traditional drill is being turned into a joint one.
He named Formosa for the Navy, Perseu for the Army and Tínia for the Air Force.
“We do not imagine the use of the armed forces in any other way than a complementary one,” he said. No date for the 2027 edition has been published.
The exercise does not signal a new alliance or a change in Brazil’s neutral foreign policy. Hosting US, French and Paraguayan troops is a return to past practice, not a treaty commitment.
It also does not mean a military build-up. Most of the hardware shown is already in service, and the new missiles are still being developed or tested.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Operation Formosa?
An annual field exercise run by the Brazilian Navy’s marines since 1988 at an Army training ground in Formosa, Goiás, near Brasília. The Army and Air Force have joined it since 2021.
Which foreign troops took part in 2026?
Brazil authorised 115 foreign troops: 55 from the United States, 40 from France and 20 from Paraguay. Officers from several other countries, including Argentina, Angola and Mexico, attended as observers.
Why was the exercise cancelled in 2025?
The Navy cited budget limits, during a diplomatic crisis with the United States. Funds went to another joint exercise and the COP30 climate summit.
Did the exercise affect the public?
No: the drills took place inside a closed military range of more than 100,000 hectares. No restrictions for residents or travellers were announced.
Sources: Brazilian Defence Ministry, closing statement of 25 September 2026; Poder360 and G1 on the foreign-troop authorisation of 26 August 2026; Defesa em Foco and Tecnodefesa on the industry exhibition; O Tempo on the camp contract; Poder Naval on the 2025 cancellation.
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