Portugal, through the Mechanised Brigade (MT), will assume for the first time the command of a European Union Battlegroup (EUBG); a multinational rapid reaction force ready to respond to international crises, in what is considered a historic moment by the Army.
“It is firstly an international recognition, secondly a national recognition of our capacity, but even more importantly, for the Army, it is to recover the knowledge of the brigade echelon,” the Chief of Staff of the Army (CEME), at the Santa Margarida Military Camp (CMSM), in Constância, (Santarém), told media outlet, Lusa, today.
General Mendes Ferrão recalled that this is what NATO asks of Portugal, to have a complete brigade, ready to be deployed within the alliance framework.
Having noted that “for years” the Army has been “designing battalion and company echelon units,” the general pointed to the need to be ready for deployment at any time, as it has in the past.”
General Ferrão was speaking at the end of a visit to the Taurus exercise, and is now ready to take command of an EUBG, a force comprising of 1,500 soldiers from several countries.
“This is a force that is prepared within the framework of the European Union (EU), with a strong Portuguese Armed Forces commitment, with the Army strengthening the European military pillar of security and defence. This is an EU force for stabilisation missions and crisis response operations. This is, however, not a combat force.”
The force is a combined military operation comprising military personnel from the Army, Navy, and Air Force, with serving personnel from Italy, Romania, Spain, and France. The CMSM is serving as a training and certification centre.
All EUBG forces will be integrated and tested in May during Operation Orion.
“Being a joint and combined exercise, it brings us an increase in the ability to operate with our allies, to operate with other branches, which is very important in today’s times,” stressed General Ferrão, having assured that the EUBG does not affect other NATO commitments.
“This commitment [to European security] in no way affects the other commitments that the Army has with NATO and the UN for other operations, namely with the force we already have in Romania, a mechanised company and a special operations group, and also the force we have in Slovakia, which at the moment has a platoon of about 30 soldiers, this will increase to a 120 Army personnel in June.
This, he stressed, “shows well the commitment that Portugal has, both with the European Union and with NATO, but above all in what is the Portuguese interest and the Armed Forces to strengthen their military response capacity within these two organisations, and, in this case, strengthening the European pillar.”
The Taurus exercise, which involves 569 soldiers and 105 vehicles, is focused on command and control, on the command post of the EUBG that Portugal will take over in July, with the force commanded by Brigadier General Luís Calmeiro, current commander of the Mechanised Brigade.
On the 1st of July 2025, Portugal assumes a 30-day readiness level, and, from the 1st of January 2026, the force’s readiness level will be from 05 to 10 days in case of need. This highlights the importance of the CMSM “as a capability aggregator pole within the scope of force readiness, a centre for testing and developing technological solutions for both international and national defence.”
There have been challenges along the way. We have managed to reverse the current lack of interest in signing up for the military. While others, such as re-equipment, within the scope of the military programming law, are being dealt with through an increase in GDP spending on defence.
“The Army is very clear about its needs and the urgent reinforcement of critical capabilities – anti-aircraft artillery protection, artillery fire capacity, communication, information systems, and armoured vehicles-.
“We have learned and introduced many lessons that, from a technical and tactical point of view, have been learned during the Ukraine conflict. This is a very painful phenomenon for everyone, he affirmed, confirming Portugal’s unconditional support for Kiev, stating that everyone is closely following the situation.”
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
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