Troia, Portugal, Sept. 22, 2026 (Lusa) - Portugal's Chief of Naval Staff (CEMA), Admiral Nobre de Sousa, wishes to include in the draft bill for the Military Programming Law the purchase of a third submarine and the replacement of helicopters operating on frigates.
«My priority is a third submarine and, immediately following that, the future replacement of the frigate helicopters,» said Admiral Jorge Nobre de Sousa in an interview with the Lusa news agency at the Navy's Operational Experimentation Centre in Tróia.
The Military Programming Act, which sets out public investment in resources and equipment for the armed forces over a 12-year period, is due to be reviewed by parliament this year. One of the Navy's concerns was the acquisition of new frigates, which will be financed by European loans from the Security Action for Europe Facility (SAFE).
The helicopters that operate on these vessels were excluded from the deal, as they had recently been modernised and remain operational until 2035 – the date of the first maintenance of the frigates to be acquired from Italy.
«Until then, we have time to analyse the market options and decide whether to stick with the model of a helicopter operated in person or remotely,» he added.
As for the third submarine, the CEMA pointed out «that submarine capability is the only one in the forces' capability portfolio that has a fundamental component, namely deterrence».
When asked about the protection of submarine cables that cross Portugal's sovereign territory and are vital for global communications, the admiral – a specialist in submarine weapons – emphasised that submarines can help deter potential threats and acknowledged that Portugal does not have the «full capability» to protect them.
«In this area, too, it is best that we harbour no illusions. The challenges are complex. Anyone who tells you they can keep the submarine cables in their areas perfectly defended and with zero chance of attack is lying,» he warned.
He called for «a more coordinated approach» between the various government departments responsible for this area, including the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Defence, and added that options such as installing sensors on these cables are currently being explored.
The Navy is undertaking a wide-ranging programme of acquisitions, with deliveries scheduled for the coming years, including six Ocean Patrol Vessels (OPVs), two logistics replenishment vessels and the drone carrier D. João II, which is due to be delivered in April and is currently under construction at the Damen shipyards in Romania.
When asked about the fact that Portugal would not profit from the potential sale of this model – conceived by the former Chief of the Navy, Admiral Henrique Gouveia e Melo – to other countries, Nobre de Sousa explained that the only shipyard that bid to build the drone carrier using the funding available under the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) had made the sharing of future industrial property rights a condition of the deal.
«I would say that the reassurance provided by this option was that they recognised the merit of the project and its potential value. These were the terms on which the deal could be struck,» he said.
The interview took place during REPMUS, an international exercise on robotics and unmanned vehicles, in Setúbal, attended by representatives from 36 navies, various companies and universities.
The admiral explained that, this year, the exercise had been restructured so that the Portuguese Navy could derive «greater benefit» from it. He gave the example that, in an edition held around five years ago, the Navy was developing a «5G network bubble» for military use, but also for use in disaster situations such as the recent storms, which cut off communications.
After taking part in REPMUS, a Spanish communications firm was involved in last year's exercise, having been contracted by NATO to set up a 5G network from a Spanish Navy vessel. The Portuguese Navy also managed to do this, but learnt from the experience.
In this interview with Lusa, the admiral stated that the trend of personnel leaving the service has slowed, but warned that the Navy continues to lose personnel with many years' experience, now having 6,370 service personnel, 30% fewer than authorised.
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