The Portuguese Navy will strengthen its means of surveillance in the next ten years, with the acquisition of six new ocean patrol vessels, which will join the four that already exist.
These ships are used primarily in non-combatant actions, mostly performing “missions within the scope of State security and authority at sea and missions of public interest. They have considerable autonomy, which allows them to remain at sea, on mission, for long periods. periods without the need for logistical support”, according to the description made by the Portuguese Navy.
This acquisition was already provided for in the Military Programming Law (LPM), approved in May 2019 in Parliament. In an official statement, the announcement of these ships purchase by the Government refers precisely to the need to comply with the provisions of the LPM:
“Accelerate the execution of the Military Programming Law, namely, with the construction of six new Ocean Patrol Ships, worth 352 million euros to be executed between 2020-2029”
In addition to these six ships that were made available to the naval device, LPM also has six other projects of great relevance:
- five strategic and tactical airlift aircraft
- cyber defense program
- Soldier Combat Systems program
- five evacuation helicopters
- a multi-purpose logistical ship
- refueling ship