Brazilian marines establish coastal defence missile capability

Avibras has designed the Astros III AV-LMU missile and rocket launcher to offer significant artillery saturation firepower. (Avibras)

The Brazilian Navy's Marine Corps is establishing an Anti-ship Missile Battery within the Marine Artillery Battalion (Batalhão de Artilharia de Fuzileiros Navais: BtlArtFuzNav), creating a coastal defence missile capability, General Commander of the Marine Corps Fleet Admiral Carlos Chagas Vianna Braga said on 13 March.

Two Avibras (AV) LMU (Lançadora Múltipla Universal) 6×6 launch vehicles were already converted to launch the Brazilian-made MANSUP (Míssil Antinavio Nacional de Superfície) surface-to-surface anti-ship missile. A third AV-LMU vehicle would be converted to fire the naval weapon for the Marine Corps' Fleet Marine Force, Adm Carlos Chagas said during a lecture at the Naval Club in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The modification of the AV-LMU to a missile-capable vehicle principally includes replacing the unguided rocket racks on the AV-PLM (Plataforma Lançadora Múltipla) launch platform with two dedicated missile launch tubes.

The Anti-ship Missile Battery will gradually be equipped with three AV-LMUs of the Avibras Astros II Mk 6 self-propelled armoured multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) of the Multiple Rockets Launching Battery.

The two launchers were recently transported to Fortaleza, Ceará, to take part in Operation ‘Jeanne d'Arc 2025', an amphibious warfare exercise together with the French Navy and French Army between 16 March and 2 April, according to the Brazilian Navy.

The Astros II Mk 6 battery was commissioned for the Multiple Rockets Launching Battery between March 2014 and June 2016. It consisted of six 6×6 AV-LMUs, three 6×6 AV-RMD (Remuniciadora) ammunition resupply vehicles, one AV-PCC (Posto de Comando e Controle) 4×4 command-and-control post vehicle, one AV-MET (Meteorológico) 4×4 weather station vehicle, and one AV-OFVE (Oficina Veicular e Eletrônica) 6×6 maintenance and repair vehicle.