By IANS/EFE,
Brasilia : Half of the Brazilian armed forces’ military equipment is obsolete and in no condition to be used in combat, according to a government report published by the daily Folha de Sao Paulo.
The document, which according to the newspaper was prepared by the defense ministry, also criticises the strong concentration of troops and bases in the prosperous southeastern part of the country, something that “reveals the fragility of the armed forces” and the scarce presence of the military in other regions of the country.
The newspaper offers details about the inadequate condition of the country’s war material and cites as an example the fact that of the army’s 1,953 armoured vehicles, only 1,079 are operational.
With regard to the navy, the report says that the Brazilian military fleet consists of 98 vessels of different kinds, of which only 48 are being used while the rest remain in port or in drydock.
The situation is similar in the air force, where only 85 of its 208 fighter-bombers are able to be used, along with 100 of its 298 transport aircraft and 27 of its 73 helicopters.
In recent years, the Brazilian government began developing a plan to modernise the armed forces, a plan that has led to pacts with several countries for the purchase of military equipment.
The main such agreement was signed with France in 2009 and sets forth the joint construction of five submarines, one of them nuclear powered, and also 50 model EC-725 helicopters manufactured by the firm Eurocopter, an affiliate of the European EADS group, which will all be acquired by Brazil.
The modernisation plan includes holding a bidding for the purchase of 36 modern fighter-bombers in which the French firm Dassault Aviation’s Rafale aircraft is in the running, along with the Gripen built by Sweden’s Saab and the F-18 Super Hornet manufactured by the US firm Boeing.
The bidding, which was expected to have been decided last year, was placed on hold by the government of President Dilma Rousseff within the framework of a sharp budget cutback decided upon in February.
According to government officials, the purchase of the fighter-bombers has not been ruled out, but that will only be decided upon at the end of this year or in 2012.