Portugal's Army to get new missiles in €32 million NATO deal

Portugal’s Army is to be supplied with new radar and air defence missiles at a cost of €32 million in a contract stretching to 2026, according to Defence Minister, José Azeredo Lopes.

The purchase order signed by Lopes indicates that the weapon systems are for "anti-aircraft protection of military forces and the protection of sensitive places and high-visibility events."

The weapons will be purchased through the NATO procurement agency with the €32 million paid off in stages by 2026.

This year the purchases will cost €500,000, rising in 2018 to €4 million.

The Defence Minister justified the purchases due to the need to build up the Protection and Survival Capacity of the armed forces.

The contract with the NATO Support and Procurement Agency includes eight anti-aircraft artillery command and control system, two radars, eight missile systems and eight tactical armoured vehicles to transport them.

The purchase of these weapons systems also will fill gaps in low and very low altitude anti-aircraft protection, “an essential and relevant asset in the National Air Defense System,” said Lopes.

Portugal’s armed forces chiefs have complained of budget cuts that during the recession have restricted their capability to fulfil the dual roles of national defence and international obligations.

Previous equipment purchases have involved corrupt payments by suppliers and non-completion of offset agreements, notably in the case of two submarines purchased from Ferrostaal, Thyssen and HDW in Germany in 2004 and a 240 armoured vehicle purchase order in 2012, both under Paulo Portas as Defence Minister and both of which involved backhanders to military, politicians and civil servants. No case was ever brought to trial in Portugal despite clear evidence of corrupt payments having been made.

The only hope for clarification of the unssemly mess is from the forthcoming Operation Marques trial and any results from the various investigations into Ricardo Salgado and Grupo Espirito Santo whose various banks transferred millions in illicit 'commissions' to offshore accounts.

The latest deal is through the NATO Support and Procurement Agency which will limit the opportunities for Portugal’s military and politicians to enrich themselves at the expense of taxpayers.

NATO academy for Portugal

Portugal will host the newly created NATO Communications and Information (NCI) Academy: a major training organisation within the NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCI Agency). Construction of a high-technology, fully secure 13,000 m 2 facility, set to be completed in October 2018, began on 23 May in Oeiras, near Lisbon.

The construction contract, worth €19.5 million was awarded on 27 March, 2017 by the Defence Ministry to Mota-Engil, although the work is fully funded by the NATO Security Investment Programme.

Once fully operational, in the third quarter of 2019, the NCI Academy will replace several other NATO training facilities, including the Communications and Information Systems School in Latina, Italy, and the Air Command and Control Training School in Glons, Belgium.

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