Brazil gets nuke submarine through French connection

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 06:31:20 GMT
Brazil plans to sign a military cooperation treaty with France that would help the South American nation build its first nuclear submarine.  Defense Minister Nelson Jobim announced on Monday that Brasilia expected the treaty to be signed in late December when French President Nicolas Sarkozy is scheduled to visit Brazil.  Jobim said under the military deal, France would provide technology for the construction of Brazil's first nuclear submarine and training for the Brazilian troops.  The announcement comes amid a week-long military exercise coded as Operation Atlantic and held in southeastern Brazil, where the country's armed forces are simulating a war over the control of the region's pre-salt layer oil fields.  On September 10, Brazil's state-owned oil and gas giant Petrobras confirmed the discovery of an oil field 230 km off the coast with its recoverable reserves estimated at three to four billion barrels. Brasilia has been seeking a nuclear submarine -- the first such vessel in Latin America -- to protect the deep-water reserves, which would promote Brazil to a major oil producer.  In February, Sarkozy said Paris would transfer technology to Brazil for construction of the diesel-powered Scorpene attack submarine which Brazilian officials say will serve as a model for a nuclear one.  Brazil, which has five conventionally powered submarines, has discussed building a nuclear sub for decades, beginning a formal program in 1979.  MRS/BGH
Original source at PressTV