MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chile and Brazil's military power

Chile that recently purchased American built F-16 fighter bombers and Brazil the only country with an aircraft carrier are the main military concerns in Latinamerica according to the latest report “Military balance 2002/2003” by the International Institute of Strategic Studies, IISS.

Although the report makes no specific reference to the Chilean purchase, addressed extensively in the previous edition, it does mention that a possible rupture of the regional balance will much depend on how neighbouring countries such as Argentina, Peru and even Brazil absorb the upper hand of Chilean air power.

However the report also indicates that progressive "civilian control" over the military remains strong even when problems remain.

Chile has informed its concerned neighbours, Bolivia, Peru and Argentina that the 660 million US dollars acquisition of F 16s is to replace 19 A-37 decommissioned in 2000 and further decommissioning of ageing Mirage and A-37. The Pentagon has made it clear the F-16 will not be delivered with the state of the art air-air missiles AMRAAM.

For Terence Taylor IISS president, "It's important to know if Chile really needs those aircraft, but it seems more like a Chilean Armed Forces affair closely linked to the country's internal politics".

The report also points out that Argentina and Chile recently signed an agreement to establish a common methodology to calculate defence expenditure. Besides Chile has frozen an ambitious project to build frigates with German technology and instead will be buying two second hand units some time in the next two years. Chile will receive in 2005 the first of two conventional diesel powered submarines, Scorpone class jointly built by Spain and France.

Meantime Brazil has scrapped its old carrier "Mina Gerais" and replaced it by with a 32,000 tons former French carrier, now baptized "Sao Paulo". The new carrier will operate with fifteen Sky-hawks for which it has been exchanging experience with Argentine pilots.

However Brazil continues to expand its military naval might and advantage with a project to design and build a nuclear powered attack submarine, "although progress remains slow", indicates the IISS report.