Portuguese Army seeks to modernise ground-based air defences

The Portuguese Army expects to receive its first platoon of four vehicle-mounted Very Short Range Air Defence (VSHORAD) systems between 2024 and 2025, Major Ricardo Jorge Parcelas Araújo e Silva, area co-ordinator at the army's Forces Planning Division, told Janes .

A second platoon of four VSHORAD systems is scheduled to be received after 2026.

A request for proposal (RFP) is scheduled to be issued by the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) by September, another army source told Janes . Interested competitors will have three months to deliver bids.

The Portuguese Army's ground-based air defence capability is based on the Stinger MANPADS. (Victor Barreira)

A sales agreement between the Portuguese Army and the NSPA in 2017 sought to buy, for EUR32 million (plus EUR9 million added in November 2020), a total of eight systems consisting of eight missile launchers, ammunition, eight 4×4 armoured tactical vehicles or eight 6×6 high-mobility trucks with armoured cabin, and two vehicle-mounted or trailer-mounted short-range 3D local warning radars. Either vehicle type would have mounts for a 7.62 mm and 12.7 mm machine gun, or 40 mm automatic grenade launcher.

The VSHORAD systems are to arm the Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battery of the Mechanized Brigade and the Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion of the Intervention Brigade, and will be integrated with the SICCA3 anti-aircraft artillery command-and-control system. Both were equipped with the legacy M48A2E1/A3 Chaparral.

The RFP also includes eight weapon terminals to integrate legacy Stinger manportable air defense systems (MANPADS) with the SICCA3 system.

The SICCA3 received by the Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion in September 2016 consists of a sheltered Teknel Fire Detection Center (FDC) and Tactical Operations Center (TOC) and Arquus Kerax 4x4 trucks.