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The Brazilian Army is the land arm of the Brazilian Military . BRAZILIAN MILITARY FIGURES Military branches: Brazilian Army, Brazilian Navy (includes Marines), Brazilian Air Force, Federal Police (paramilitary) Military manpower-military age: 18 years of age Military manpower-availability: males age 15-49: 46,620,486 (1998 est.) Military manpower-fit for military service: males: 31,337,037 (1998 est.) Military manpower-reaching military age annually: males: 1,806,162 (1998 est.) Military expenditures-dollar figure: $15.1 billion (1997) Military expenditures-percent of GDP: 1.9% (1997) MODERN ARMY Total Armed Forces Active: 337,800 (133,500 conscripts). Terms of service: 12 months (can be extended by 6 months). Reserves: trained first-line: 1,115,000; 400,000 subject to immediate recall. Second-line: 225,000. 220,000 (incl 126,500 conscripts); HQ: 7 Military Comd, 12 Military Regions.; 8 div (3 with Region HQ); 1 armd cav bde (mech, 1 armd, 1 arty bn); 3 armd inf bde (each 2 inf, 1 armd, 1 arty bn); 4 mech cav bde (each 3 inf, 1 arty bn). 12 motor inf bde (26 bn); 1 mtn bde; 2 "jungle" bde (7 bn); 1 frontier bde (6 bn); EQUIPMENT Light Tanks: some 566: some 150 M-3, some 80 X-1A, 40 X-1A2 (M-3 mod); 296 M-41B; Recce: 409 EE-9 Cascavel, 30 M-8; APC: 823: 219 EE-11 Urutu, 20 M-59, 584 M-113; Towed Arty: 377: 105mm: 285, incl M-101/-102, Model 56 pack; 155mm: 92 M-114; SP Arty 105mm: 72 M-7/-108; Coast Arty: some 240 incl 57mm, 75mm, 120mm, 150mm, 152mm, 305mm. MRL: 108mm: SS-06; 108mm: SS-40; 300mm: SS-60 incl SP 4 ASTROS II; Mortars: 81mm; 107mm: 209 M-30; 120mm: 77; ATGW: 300 Cobra; RCL: 57mm: 240 M-18A1; 75mm: 20 M-20; 105mm; 106mm: M-40A1; AD Guns: 20mm; 35mm: 50 GDF-001; 40mm: 60 L-60/-70 (some with BOFI); WEAPONS EXPORTS Begining in the the early 1980's Brazil began finding markets for its newly developed weapons platforms. Brazil manufactures a wide variety of aircraft and weapons systems that can be found in militaries around the world. Its aircraft manufacturers have benefitted from extensive partnerships with English and Italian firms such as BAE and Aeritalia to produce designs such as the Tucano trainer and the AMX fighter/trainer. Brazil's Engesa company also exported its EE line of scout cars and light assault vehicles in the 80s, including to Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Brazilian attempts to produce a fully indiginous tank led to the development of the Osório tank. The Osório was a very capable weapons platform for its time and initially had strong support from the Brazilian government. With the end of the Cold War however, armies no longer needed to maintain weapons levels of the past 30 years and so tanks such as the Leopard 1 could be purchased at significantly lowered prices. The Osório tank died with the Cold War although it should be noted that the Saudi government announced the purchase of 318 tanks (in a US$7.2 billion contract) it chose the American made M1A1 as its MBT instead. Brazil also has a large artillery rocket export program and has supplied its Astros line of missiles to nations such as Iran, Iraq, Libya, India, and Cyprus. HISTORY After the Brazilian declaration of independence from Portugal in 1822 , the Brazilian Army was essential to avoid a fragmentation of the new Brazilian Empire. It destroyed any separatist tendencies of the early years, supporting the authority of Emperor Dom Pedro I across his vast empire. By the Regency Era it was complemented by the National Guard , a Paramilitary Militia . On May 1 1865 , Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina signed the Triple Alliance to defend themselves against aggression from Paraguay, which was ruled by the dictator Francisco López , who invaded the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, the north of Argentina and was heading for Uruguay. Supported by England and with overwhelming numbers, the Alliance defeated Lopez. After World War I , under a contract where French officials came to Brazil, the Brazilian Army was restructured according to lessons learnt by the French in the war. In 1942, after German torpedoes sunk many Brazilian merchant ships, Brazil declared war on the Axis Powers . In 1944 the FEB ( Brazilian Expeditionary Force ) was sent to Italy to fight with the U.S. Fifth Army in Monte Castello. During eight months of the Campaign , the Brazilian Expeditionary Force managed to take 20,573 Axis Prisoner s (two generals, 892 officers and 19,679 other ranks) and had 443 of its men Killed In Action . It had support from the FAB (Brazilian Air Force) recently created to fight in that war. In 1964 Brazilian Army General Castello Branco took power in a state coup, beginning the Military Dictatorship In Brazil that lasted until 1985. EXTERNAL LINKS
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