The tender for the construction of a new naval ship, called “multipurpose” or “multipurpose”, was discontinued, a pioneer naval platform able to design multiple capabilities, mainly robotics and unmanned systems (aerial, land and submarine drones).
“The tender limited by pre-qualification for the “multi-purpose” vessel began on June 20, 2022. Two candidates were proposed for the qualification phase, one of which was qualified but did not submit a proposal,” confirmed to the DN Official source of the Office of the Chief of Staff of the Navy (CEMA).
This was one of the “disruptive” and “innovative” projects that CEMA Admiral Gouveia and Melo was launched, using the resources available for these capabilities from the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR). Funding of EUR 100 million has been approved for this project.
But the navy does not give up🇧🇷 According to the spokesperson mentioned above, “the project has considered this possible scenario and therefore legal options are foreseen and will be explored to continue this important project with a view to its implementation”.
In a recent presentation of this ship at the Confraria Marítima / Liga Naval Portuguesa, the Director of Ships of the Armada, Vice Admiral Jorge Pires, had classified this project as “very ambitious, one of the most structuring and challenging in the Navy”, revealing at the time that the proposal was expected from the only candidate who qualified.
It is a scientific ship, which will be a kind of base on the high seas, equipped with scientific laboratories, accommodation for 90 people permanently and another 100 if necessary, for example in an emergency evacuation situation, ramps for vehicle entry and exit, helipad, landing strips for aerial drones, a bay for submarine drones and speedboatsseveral cranes for lifting research equipment – a “capacity projection platform”, as Jorge Pires explained.
The Navy states that this “ship will contribute to the knowledge, conservation and sustainable exploration of the oceanfor direct support to the population in response to crises and for the strengthening the country’s operational and scientific capacityin particular for mapping and protecting living and non-living resources, but also for the maritime surveillance and surveillance, marine search and rescue and response to maritime casualtieswho usually resort to unmanned aerial vehicles (VENT) to perform their tasks.
In its candidacy for the PRR, the Navy underlined that “this ship, designed under a new control concept, has no military requirements and is not armed🇧🇷 Its main functions are environmental monitoring, namely combating marine pollution, monitoring fisheries, conserving resources, developing knowledge and research in hydrographic and scientific fields”.
According to that text, “all of its drones are weaponless and the sensors used serve to monitor, monitor and control maritime spaces under national jurisdiction”.
The ship, it was pointed out, “will still serve the possible transport and evacuation of civilians when necessary. With the concept of dual use, and being a ship technologically innovative and disruptivewill make it possible to test technological solutions in the field of robotics, contributing to the development of national technology”.
In the aforementioned presentation, the Director of Ships assured that this project is a “incentive for the entire community connected to the sea, industry and academia”, with “very interesting challenges and huge opportunities”, noting that the Navy’s intention was “to involve national industry as much as possible”. .
Source: DN
