France and Brazil jointly produce submarines

(Patria) - President Emmanuel Macron and his counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday celebrated the launch of the third Brazilian submarine of French design, which will help secure the country's vast coastline, dubbed the "Blue Amazon", AFP reported.

The two leaders highlighted the importance of their countries' defense partnership amid major global turmoil, at a ceremony in an ultramodern naval base in Itaguai, near Rio de Janeiro. There, Brazil built the Tonelero, the third of four planned conventional diesel-electric attack submarines, with training, equipment, and technical assistance from France.

France and Brazil's defense ties "will allow two important countries, each on one continent, to prepare to face this adversity, without worrying about any kind of war, because we are defenders of peace," Lula said. Despite their differences, particularly over the war in Ukraine, Macron said that "the great peaceful powers of Brazil and France" share "the same vision of the world".

Macron is on a tour of Brazil, a major economic ally, which began Tuesday with the launch of a plan to raise over $1 billion in green investments to protect the Brazilian and Guyanese Amazon. The visit, the first by a French president to Latin America's economic giant in more than a decade, is also a move to reset ties that had significantly deteriorated during former president Jair Bolsonaro's tenure.

With its 8,500 kilometers of coastline, Brazil seeks to ensure the security of what it calls the "Blue Amazon", its vast exclusive economic zone through which more than 95 percent of foreign trade passes and where it extracts 95 percent of its oil.

The submarine construction was outlined in a 2008 agreement between Lula and former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, which also included the purchase of 50 Caracal helicopters. The fourth submarine, Angostura, will be launched in 2025.

Brazil also plans to build its first nuclear-powered submarine, the Alvaro Alberto, a project that has suffered significant delays, mainly due to budget constraints. French naval defense manufacturer Naval Group supports the design and construction of the submarine, except for the nuclear boiler which is being designed by the Brazilians.

Brasilia, however, is trying to persuade Paris to increase technology transfer to help it integrate the reactor into the submarine and to sell it equipment related to nuclear propulsion. France has been hesitant to transfer such technology due to nuclear proliferation concerns.

"If Brazil wants to have access to knowledge about nuclear technology, it is not to wage war. We want this knowledge to reassure all countries that want peace that Brazil will be on their side," Lula said.

Macron told Brazil, "France will be on your side" during the development of nuclear-powered submarines, without announcing specific assistance.

"I want us to open a chapter for new submarines... to face nuclear propulsion while perfectly respecting all non-proliferation commitments," he said.

Lula will host Macron at the Planalto Presidential Palace in the capital, Brasilia, today.