Brazil halts sale of ex-carrier
The fate of the aircraft carrier NAe São Paulo, which was officially decommissioned from the Brazilian Navy in November 2018 and put up for sale before its expected shipbreaking, is uncertain after the Brazilian government suspended the process on 6 September.
The government said that the Brazilian Navy was resuming responsibility for the São Paulo, although no further details were given.
São Paulo originally served in the French Navy as the aircraft carrier Foch. Under the terms of the deal to sell the vessel to Brazil in 2000, France has the final say over where it can be broken up, probably at an EU-approved shipbreaking facility.
Another option is to transform São Paulo into a museum, at no cost to the Brazilian government. For this purpose the not-for-profit organisation Instituto São Paulo/Foch was established in 2018.
As part of our promise to deliver comprehensive coverage to our Defence Insight and Premium News subscribers, our curated defence news content provides the latest industry updates, contract awards and programme milestones.
More from Defence Notes
-
Israel defence ministry pushes ambitious spending plans for tanks, drones and KC-46 aircraft
The procurement and acceleration production plans – some of which still await approval – across the air and land domains will aim to strengthen the operational needs of the Israel Defense Forces.
-
US reforms its defence acquisition system to focus on commercial capabilities
This shift is planned to accelerate the procurement and fielding of capabilities. As part of this strategy, the US also intends modernise its regulations in an attempt to change its bureaucratic and risk-averse culture.
-
Australia’s Exercise Talisman Sabre concludes after a series of firsts
More than 40,000 military personnel from 19 participating nations took part in the 11th iteration of the biennial Exercise Talisman Sabre multi-domain event which was held across Australia and in Papua New Guinea.
-
US Africa Command targets logistic solutions
AFRICOM is seeking IT systems and supply chain management solutions to enhance interoperability and standardise logistical processes in its area of responsibility.
-
Rheinmetall sales up by almost a quarter on wave of German spending
Germany’s Rheinmetall released its 1H 2025 results on 7 August, continuing the strong growth of recent years. A particular highlight of the result’s presentation was the Skyranger air defence system for which the company is predicting sales of about US$8.2 billion from the German Government before the end of the year.
-
Defence companies continue to ride procurement wave
Vehicle and technology companies are reporting substantial growth compared to the first half of 2024. Italy’s Fincantieri saw revenues jump 24% for the first half of the year compared to 2024 and Thales up 6.8% for the same period. General Dynamics reported second quarter revenue growth of 8.9% for the second quarter compared to last year and MilDef reported organic order intake growth of 58%.