Submarine Development Program
The Submarine Development Program is a partnership signed between Brazil and France in 2008, with the objective of transferring technology for the manufacture of military vessels. It is a component of the Brazil's Defense Strategy to develop the country's naval power with the production of four conventional submarines and the first Brazilian nuclear-powered submarine. The program will make Brazil one of the few countries to have nuclear technology, alongside the United States, Russia, France, the United Kingdom, China, and India.
Although the program began in 2008 with the goal of providing the Brazilian Navy with a "large naval force," it dates back to the 1970s when the Navy began seeking to master nuclear energy. In order to shorten the development time of such a program, Brazil sought partners in other countries in the hope of establishing a partnership in which technology and knowledge could be transferred for the construction and maintenance of modern submarine vessels. France was the country that made itself available for the deal, and several points were signed, which together culminate in the construction of four conventional submarines and one nuclear submarine.
In addition to the construction of the submarines, the PROSUB also foresees the construction of a complex called the Shipyard and Naval Base. This is where the submarine sections will be joined. This complex will also be responsible for installing the nuclear reactor for the first nuclear-powered submarine,. The justification given by the Navy is that it is necessary to guarantee the protection of the Blue Amazon against any attempts to claim this territory and/or its resources. According to the Brazilian Navy, submarines are fundamental to dissuade these claims.
The submarines coming from the program will be used to patrol the Blue Amazon and Brazilian coastal waters. Currently the first two conventional submarines and S Humaitá ) are already being tested, while two others are under construction. As for the nuclear-powered submarine, the Álvaro Alberto, it will have the function of patrolling the deepest Brazilian territorial waters, since its autonomy will only be limited by the amount of supplies stored, and a replica of the nuclear reactor that will be installed in the submarine is already being tested.
History
Background
At the end of the 19th century, the Brazilian navy was going through difficult times and was outclassed by the military forces of Argentina and Chile. At the beginning of the 20th century, the military powers of the time saw the submarine becoming an effective weapon of war, but Brazil did not have the capacity to build its own. Beginning in 1891, voices such as that of then Lieutenant Felinto Perry were heard promoting a naval campaign to acquire submersibles for Brazil. In the 1900s, the Brazilian navy strove to elevate itself before the South American countries; an ambitious naval investment led to several vessels being purchased, including three submarines from Italy. The first three submarines of the Brazilian Navy, the F1, F3 and F5 of the, would essentially act in the training and instruction of Brazilian crews, and shortly after their arrival in Brazil the Submersible Flotilla was created. The Italians continued to be the source of the Brazilian submarine force, and in 1929 the Humaytá arrived in Brazil. Shortly thereafter, in 1933, when the old Foca-class submarines were taken out of service, the Submarine Force was deactivated, leaving the Brazilian military with only one submarine. In 1937, a new class of submarines was incorporated into the Navy, the Tupy, with three submarines built in Italy: the Tupy, Tymbira and Tamoyo, and the Submarine Force was reactivated. These submarines would participate in World War II in the training of convoy escorts and in the training of anti-submarine tactics for surface units and aircraft.At the end of World War II, Brazil had positioned itself on the side of the victorious allies, and Italy, which had fought on the side of the Axis powers, was no longer able to continue supplying Brazil with the submarine weapons the Brazilian Navy needed. Having strengthened the relationship with the United States during the war, the country became the submarine supplier. In the post-war period, through the Military Assistance Program, from which surplus material from the war could be obtained at special prices, including boats and parts, Brazil reinforced its submarine naval power with the acquisition, from the end of the 1950s of two Gato-class submarines and S Riachuelo ), five GUPPY II-class submarines, S Rio Grande do Sul, S Bahia, S Rio de Janeiro, and S Ceará ), and two GUPPY III-class submarines and S Amazonas ), for a total of 11 submarines.
File:Submarinos_em_deslocamento.jpeg|thumb|Submarines of the Brazilian Navy before the creation of PROSUB
In 1967, the 10-Year Renewal Program for Floating Resources was approved, which aimed to renew and strengthen the Navy and included six submarines. An interesting aspect of this program was also the nationalization of means, or the reduction of the level of dependence, through the local manufacture of components and parts; even so, Brazil still did not have the capacity to build its own submarines, and the obstacles placed by the United States in the supply of modern sonars and rocket launchers led the Navy to look to Europe. Therefore, three s were ordered from England, the S Humaitá, S Tonelero, and S Riachuelo. The search for the national capacity to produce these means led the Navy in the late 1970s to start thinking about a new naval program with a greater focus on the possibility of regional conflicts, directing its power to defense but this time with a greater focus on offense. In 1979, Admiral Maximiano Eduardo da Silva Fonseca took command of the Navy and managed not only to launch what would be the Navy Nuclear Program but also to sign a contract for technology transfer and technical capability with the German shipyard HDW, leading to the construction of submarines in Brazil as the Tupi class, with the four submarines S Tupi, S Tamoio, S Timbira and S Tapajó. The first submarine would be built in Germany, and the others in Brazil, after the necessary knowledge and skills were acquired during construction of the first one.
In the 1980s, the Navy Arsenal of Rio de Janeiro was designated by the Brazilian Navy as the submarine construction site and, in fact, was the target of investment in the training and qualification of its professionals and in the modernization and adaptation of its industrial facilities. The first submarine built entirely in the country was the Tamoio, which went to sea in 1994. In that decade, two other submarines were built locally, the Timbira and Tapajó. The Brazilian Navy and the Germans then signed, in 1995, contracts for the supply of materials and equipment for the construction of a fifth submarine, the S Tikuna, incorporating modifications worked on by Brazilian engineers and with several technological innovations, especially in power generation, the firing direction system, and sensors.
Beginning of the program
Although the Tikuna was launched in March 2005, in October of the same year the SMB-10 project was suspended by the Navy Command. This project had as its objective the construction of a 100% Brazilian conventional propulsion submarine of 2,500 tons. Overall, the project foresaw the production of six units in the Navy Arsenal of Rio de Janeiro. Since the 1970s, the Brazilian Navy has sought to master the complete nuclear fuel cycle and be able to build a nuclear-powered submarine. In order to shorten the time it would take to reach the goal, the Brazilian Navy decided to look for partners capable of building conventional and nuclear-powered submarines and that, at the same time, would agree to transfer technology so that Brazil could carry out its own projects. Later, France would be the only power willing to transfer technology to the Brazilian Navy, and would offer as a starting point its most modern line of conventional submarines, the. In 2007, President Luíz Inácio Lula da Silva visited the Navy Experimental Center, where the Navy had been developing for decades what would be a nuclear reactor for a future submarine, but always developing slowly due to budgetary constraints. With the visit, the President of Brazil announced the release of one billion reais over eight years in order to push the project forward once and for all. The money would also fund research grants, logistics, and maintenance.Starting in 2008, Brazil began a radical change in its military policy, with the objective of consolidating itself as the greatest power in Latin America. The National Defense Strategy, launched in 2008, established that Brazil should have a "naval force of stature"; from this would emerge the Submarine Development Program, a partnership with France for the transfer of technology and the construction of four conventional submarines and, initially, a nuclear-powered submarine, with a view to national production of more units by 2040. The four conventional submarines of the would be produced in Brazil, and are expected to be built and launched between 2010 and 2020. In 2009, the development of the nuclear-powered submarine was announced. Construction was scheduled to begin in 2016, but was delayed until 2023. This submarine project is based on the Riachuelo-class submarines, only larger and with nuclear propulsion, which is being developed by Brazilian technicians, and is designed based on the experience acquired from the French.
Training
After the goals were stipulated, Technical Assistance and Brazilian training for the conception, design, manufacture, operation and maintenance of structures and the submarines themselves, with emphasis on the nuclear-powered submarine were planned. Therefore, a group of more than two hundred professionals from the Brazilian Navy and from the companies Itaguaí ''Construções Navais and Nuclebrás Equipamentos Pesados was assembled and sent to France to receive the necessary training and instruction for the undertaking. Part of the training was initially conducted in Cherbourg, where the Brazilian engineers and technicians monitored the construction of the forward sections of the first PROSUB submarine, the S-BR1, which would become the S Riachuelo'', and qualified in various types of procedures such as welding, forming of parts, manufacture of structures, and other processes applied to submarine construction.The Naval Group company built a submarine design school in Lorient, where 31 military engineers and civilian professionals from the Brazilian Navy have obtained a range of technical knowledge in submarine design; among the technological application exercises carried out at that time were a reduced design of a conventional submarine, a design of a nuclear-powered submarine, and initial studies about the interfaces of a nuclear submarine. These elements were formed over a period of more than two years. Other acquired skills include knowledge of submarine combat systems, through the technology park in Sophia Antipolis, where sonars are manufactured, in Ruelle, where the strategic equipment factory is located, and in Saint-Tropez, where production of a new type of torpedo to be used by French submarines and future Brazilian submarines is located.
After this training phase in France, the Brazilian Navy engineers returned to Brazil with the responsibility of passing on the knowledge acquired and to begin with the realization of the submarine project, relying, however, on the technical assistance of the company that trained them, this being one of the clauses of the contract. This team of trained personnel consists of two hundred engineers, and the team is expected to reach six hundred at the highest point of the nuclear-powered submarine project. Several French engineers and technicians are also accompanying the project in various aspects, such as in the manufacturing of the resistant hulls at NUCLEP, in the construction and activities of the Steel Structures Manufacturing Unit, as well as in naval base works and shipyards. However, the development of the nuclear plant for the future nuclear submarine is the exclusive responsibility of the Brazilian Navy, and is not part of the PROSUB, and therefore no French citizen is present in this component of the program.