Historical defense

Portugal has always had a peculiar defense setting: locked between a large neighbor and the sea, Lisbon has always made careful and wise choices in order to ensure its defense. Neighboring Spain, which united all counties from the Iberian peninsula (except Portugal) made access to the continental mainland tricky. The direct consequence was that Portugal became one of the greatest naval powers in history- as the sea provided a far better expansion environment. However, Lisbon putting its money on naval power doesn’t mean that it is above the land chessboard: Portugal is very much exposed to land threats. Within spitting distance, Portugal is surrounded by the large Spanish land force, the nearby British Royal Army in Gibraltar and the Maghrib nations to the south. During World war 2, Portugal realized to what extent its military forces were insufficient to protect its empire, mostly relying on allied forces to fight back Japanese and German colonial invasions. Lisbon therefore finessed its way into the Atlantic alliance in 1949 (which was theoretically reserved to countries which had fought alongside the United States during the war, which Portugal hadn’t) by trading its Azores islands. NATO needed the logistical resupply base in the middle of the Atlantic to counter the Warsaw pact threat, which gave Portugal its ticket into the defensive alliance. The move was brilliant, but the strategic settings of Portugal have changed quite a lot since.

Rising challenges

Portugal is not a major player in the scene of European defense, but is exposed to the same security challenges as its neighbors: the threat is no longer in the East, but now lies in the South. As the southernmost European country, Portugal is on the frontline of the triple-deck chessboard: uncontrolled migration movements, which are notoriously hungry for manpower, terrorism and conventional military confrontation. Political analyst Simon Shen writes: “In March last year, the Islamic State (IS) mentioned the name Portugal when the jihadist group was claiming credit for a terrorist attack in Brussels, saying that “today it is Brussels and its airport, and tomorrow it could be Portugal or Hungary.” Indeed, there are few countries in Europe which have not yet been targeted by terrorist attacks, and ISIS would see great strategic value in addressing those as well - covering all bases, in a way. Also, Spain’s recent tightening of illegal immigration control will inevitably spill over into Portugal, which lacks the manpower to address the problem. El Pais reporter Maria Martin writes: “The route that leads to the south of Spain constitutes the biggest entry point for clandestine immigration to Europe, with an all-time record of 64,000 arrivals last year, according to data from the Interior Ministry.” Finally, Portugal is expected, as any other NATO member to partake in allied operations. But for that, it needs a rejuvenated and in-shape army.

Land modernization program

Lisbon has therefore launched a large modernization reform within its armed forces, aiming at the bettering of equipment, the revitalization of the army and better working practices. Defense analyst Victor Barreira writes: “Full suites of equipment are to be fielded to the 1st and 2nd Parachute Infantry Battalion, Commandos Regiment; 1st and 2nd Mechanized Infantry Battalion (Wheeled); and 1st Mechanized Infantry Battalion (Tracked). Remaining frontline personnel will have lethality and survivability components only. Delivery of first equipment is scheduled for later this year.” Throughout the last decade, the Portuguese army has suffered the lack of resources which plagued the entire nation during the financial crisis that brought Southern nations to their knees. Money was then scarce, as were recruits: over the course of the meltdown, an estimated 300 000 Portuguese left the country due to economic hardship, most of them young. With the economic recovery, Portugal has been providing its forces with fresh equipment, in order to restore its overall efficiency. Defense blog Army Recognition reports: “NATO’s Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) has awarded a contract to Belgium-based company FN Herstal for the supply of rifles, grenade launchers and machine guns to the Portuguese army. This is for the Agency a major contract to produce FN SCAR assault rifles and FN MINIMI machine guns as new standard issue weapons for the Portuguese Army's Sistemas de Combate do Soldado (Dismounted Soldier System) program.” But new funds and equipment will not suffice to safeguard Portugal’s interests, and it’s time to address the notch above small arms. Luckily, a new European phase has launched, which may well enable Lisbon to repeat the NATO success and break its European isolation.

The new alliance perspectives

French and German heads of State, Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel, have finally achieved the old European dream: laying the first cornerstones of European Defense. With the new Franco-German leadership, built around both the political and industrial weight of the leaders, European nations will place their industrial military capacities within the European frame. France and Germany will lead defense projects, ensuring their viability and economic relevance, by creating synergies and rationalizing resources. Any European country which joins those two leaders in the project will therefore obtain four benefits from the partnership: quality equipment guaranteed by French and German industrial standards, economic benefits from the orders which France and Germany will place towards other European countries, access to the entire European market; finally, the new de facto defense alliance will grant them increased military protection, due to the tightening of diplomatic ties. Portugal has every interest to answer the call of its northern neighbors. The most recent production of French Nexter and german KMW, the European Main Battle Tank (EMBT) was tested in 2015 in Portugal, where all the future acquirers could admire the new beast. A show of goodwill from France and Germany who wish to show all of their European neighbors that they are part of the new military alliance. Military specialist Dilip Mekala writes: “FORCE was [...] invited to visit some of the production facilities of the Group in Italy, France and Belgium and later for the firing trials for some of its precision munitions in a test range at Portugal in mid-December 2015.” As understood by Defense reporter Michael Peck, the EMBT is more than a new product, it is the opportunity to tighten military ties between European nations: “Last week, nine EU states agreed to form a joint military intervention force, including France, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Estonia, Spain, Portugal and even Britain. While the rapid deployment force has raised fears that it will weaken NATO, it also raises the question of whether military integration—even on a small scale—will lead to joint defense procurement.” In addition to the EMBT, Nexter is fielding its Infantry Fighting vehicles (Titus and VBCI, the only to be fire-proven in Europe) to numerous European countries.

Portugal is neither militarily active nor economically outstanding - and hasn’t been so for two centuries. But with skillful command of diplomatic and military strategies, Lisbon has been able to defend its European corner remarkably well, throughout history. If Portugal follows the lead in the European defense initiative, which it has every reason to do, it may well, once again, achieve maximum security with optimized means.