Lisbon, Oct. 2 2025 (Lusa) - The defence minister, Nuno Melo, has assured that Portugal is investing in low and medium altitude air defence systems, included in the investment schedule of 2% of GDP for Defence later this year.
"It is not a concern, we are investing, and it is precisely on schedule. Low altitude, medium altitude, we are not investing in Patriot, because we do not have the resources for that. But we are investing in low-altitude and medium-altitude air defence equipment," he assured journalists after presiding over the ceremony to present swords to new Portuguese Army officers at the Military Academy in Lisbon on Wednesday.
Nuno Melo explained that this investment is included in the schedule established by the Government as part of the target of investing 2% of gross domestic product in defence, which has been brought forward to 2025, without giving further details on the timing and scale of this investment and the country's current situation in this area.
The defence minister said that the Government "is investing heavily in equipment to do in the armed forces what has not been done for decades", recalling, in addition to the larger defence budget, the €6 billion in loans for defence in Portugal proposed by the European Commission under the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) programme.
"Much of the equipment is related to air defence, but the point is that we are not stopping there. We are investing in air defence, we are investing in satellites, in ships, in aircraft, we are investing in all three branches of the military," he added.
Nuno Melo also argued that the Government's first investment was in armed forces personnel, particularly in terms of salaries, followed now by investment "in line with the country's capabilities" in military equipment.
The European Commission has asked EU member states to identify their military shortcomings so that capabilities can be strengthened through "coalitions of member states" in a document setting out a roadmap for the European Union's (EU) defence readiness and identifying "nine areas of critical capabilities", including missiles and air defence.
Asked about the Portuguese government's call for protection on behalf of Portuguese citizens aboard the humanitarian flotilla heading for the Gaza Strip, Nuno Melo declined to comment, stating that this is not a matter for the armed forces and that he endorses what the prime minister has said.
The prime minister had said earlier on Wednesday that the Government is in contact with Italy and Spain regarding the monitoring of the humanitarian flotilla, acknowledging that there is a "risk of danger," but that the executive did "what was appropriate" in this context.
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