According to an article shared by Defesa Aérea&Naval news portal of Brazil on 30th December, after a year of uncertainty, the Brazilian Navy has allowed the hiring of four new frigates for its fleet. The signing of the contract with the “Águas Azuis” consortium, led by the German company “Thyssenkrupp” and “EMBRAER”, is finally being scheduled for the second half of February, as determined by Valor with military sources.
The “Tamandaré Class” project , which is expected to consume up to US $ 2 billion, has made two important advances in recent weeks. At the end of November, the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU) rejected the injunction and filed a complaint filed by the US Trade Union.
The delivery schedule of the vessels runs from 2024 to 2028. With high technological capacity, these ships have great combat power. The objective is to control the Brazilian jurisdictional waters and the exclusive economic zone, which totals over 4.5 million square kilometers and known as the “Blue Amazon”, including the pre-salt fields. The frigates will be in charge of protecting them against potential threats, ensuring protection of maritime traffic and conducting search and rescue operations, as well as contributing to peacekeeping missions and humanitarian aid.
The Águas Azuis consortium is formed by Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems, Embraer Defense and Atech, a subsidiary of the Embraer Group. Competition winners were announced in May. Ten other consortia had expressed interest. There is provision for transfer of technical knowledge and expertise, with broad access and right to use technologies, in the form of general licenses.
Tamandare Class Frigate :
According to Brazilian Navy specifications, the corvettes will measure 107,2 meters in length and will displace 3,455 tons.
In addition to the SeaCeptor, the corvettes are to be equipped with MBDA’s Exocet MM40 Block 3 anti-ship missile system, a Leonardo 76/62 main gun, a C-Guard decoy launcher and SEA’s torpedo launch system. They will also feature FN Herstal-delivered remote weapon stations.
