The Portuguese Armed Forces () are the military of Portugal. They include the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the other unified bodies and the three service branches: Portuguese Navy, Portuguese Army and Portuguese Air Force.
The President of the Republic is the head of the Portuguese military, with the title of "Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces" (Comandante Supremo das Forças Armadas).. The management of the Armed Forces and the execution of the national defense policy is however done by the government (chaired by the Prime Minister) via its Minister of National Defense. The highest-ranking officer in the military is the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, which has operational control of the Armed Forces during peacetime and assumes their full control when a state of war exists.
The Armed Forces are charged with protecting Portugal as well as supporting international peacekeeping efforts when mandated by North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the United Nations or the European Union.
Portugal was ranked the 3rd most peaceful country in the World in the Global Peace Index 2017, presently not having significant national security issues. The Portuguese Armed Forces have been thus focused in non-military public service activities and in external military operations. Recent external operations include anti-piracy action in the Gulf of Aden, the conflicts in the Central African Republic and in Afghanistan, the peacekeeping missions in East-Timor, Lebanon, Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the air policing of Iceland and the Baltic States.
Military units and other bodies are stationed all throughout Portuguese territory, including Continental Portugal, Madeira and the Azores.
The Portuguese Armed Forces were opened to women during the early 1990s. Portugal had mandatory conscription for all able-bodied men until November 2004.
General principles
The national defense The national defense is the activity whose objectives are to guarantee the State sovereignty, the national independence and the territorial integrity of Portugal, as well as to assure the liberty and security of the populations and the protection of the fundamental values of the constitutional order against any external threat or aggression. The national defense also assures the fulfillment of the international military agreements of the State, accordingly with the national interest.
The Portuguese Armed Forces are responsible for the military defense, which is the military component of the national defense.
The Armed Forces The Portuguese Armed Forces are an essential pillar of the national defense and are the structure of the State that has as its main mission the military defense of the Republic. They obey to the competent bodies of sovereignty, accordingly with the Constitution and the law, being integrated in the State direct administration through the Ministry of National Defense. The bodies of State directly responsible for the national defense and the Armed Forces are the following: President of the Republic Assembly of the Republic Government Superior Council of National Defense
The Minister of National Defense is the politician responsible for the elaboration and execution of the military component of the national defense policy, for the administration of the Armed Forces and for the results of their employment.
System of forces
The system of forces defines the set of capacities that should exist for the fulfillment of the missions of the Armed Forces. It encompasses the set of systems of forces of all branches of the Armed Forces. The system of forces includes two components: Operational component - includes the set of assets and forces to be employed operationally. It is the dynamic part of the system of forces, including mainly deployable elements, such as frigates, infantry battalions and flying squadrons. The operational component includes also some non-deployable operational command bodies. Fix component - is the set of commands, units, establishments, bodies and services that are essential to the organization and general support of the Armed Forces and their branches. It is the static part of the system of forces, including only non-deployable elements, such as naval facilities, regiments and air bases.
Structure of the armed forces The Portuguese armed forces' structure includes: the General Staff of the Armed Forces (EMGFA) the three branches of the Armed Forces: Navy, Army and Air Force the military bodies of command: Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces (CEMGFA), the Chief of Staff of the Navy, the Chief of Staff of the Army and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force the military bodies of advisement
Guidelines The Armed Forces activity is mainly defined and oriented by the following strategic guidelines: The National Defense Law (Lei da Defesa Nacional, LDN) defines the general guidelines of the national defense, including the concept of national defense, the national defense policy, the responsibilities of the several bodies of State regarding national defense, the assignments and general structure of the Ministry of National Defense and of the Armed Forces, the participation of the citizens in the Homeland defense and the situation of State of War. The LDN is regularly updated, with the present version being the Law 21-A/2006. The Strategic Concept of National Defense (Conceito Estratégico de Defesa Nacional, CEDN) is the component of the national defense policy which defines the State's priorities in terms of defense, accordingly with the national interest. The present version of the CEDN was approved by the Council of Ministers through its Resolution 19/2013. The Organic Basic Law of the Organization of the Armed Forces (Lei Orgânica de Bases da Organização das Forças Armadas, LOBOFA) defines the organization of the Armed Forces. The present version of the LOBOFA is the Organic Law 1-A/2009. The Strategic Military Concept (Conceito Estratégico Militar, CEM) – due to the Strategic Concept of National Defense, it defines the conceptual guidelines of actuation of the Armed Forces and the general guidelines for its preparation, employment and sustainment. It is elaborated by the Council of Chiefs of Staff, approved by the Minister of National Defense and confirmed by the Superior Council of National Defense. The present CEM in force is the CEM 2014. The Military Programming Law (Lei de Programação Militar, LPM) establishes the programming of the public investment of the Armed Forces in terms of armament and equipment, for the modernization and operationalization of the system of forces, through the building of their capacities. The present version of the LPM is the Organic Law 7/2015.
Current deployments The national deployed forces (forças nacionais destacadas or FND) are units or teams deployed by the Portuguese Armed Forces in foreign missions, mostly in the scope of NATO, the United Nations or the European Union. Currently, the Portuguese Armed Forces maintain 1775 military personnel, 7 Military vessels and 9 aircraft in forces or elements deployed in the following international missions:
MINUSMA in Mali (2 personnel) MINUSCA in the Central African Republic (215 personnel and 45 vehicles) United Nations Verification Mission (2 personnel)
Operation Poseidon in Greece (15 personnel and 3 vehicles) Operação Indalo - Frontex 223 (17 personnel and 1 vessel) EU Navfor Med in the Mediterranean (4 personnel) Operation Atalanta in the Indian Ocean (10 personnel) EUTM-Mali in Mali (4 personnel) EUTM-Somalia in Mogadishu, Somalia (2 personnel) EUTM Central African Republic in the Central African Republic (31 personnel) Insurgency in Cabo Delgado in Mozambique (65 personnel) Takuba Task Force (77 personnel)
Baltic Air Policing (82 personnel and 4 General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon) Very High-Readiness Joint Task Force Maritime (VJTF) in Baltic Sea (168 personnel and 1 frigate) Enhanced Vigilance Activity in Romania (235 personnel and 46 vehicles) Tailored Forward Presence in Romania (221 personnel) NATO Assurance Measures in Lithuania (146 personnel) Enhanced Vigilance Activities in Slovakia (24 personnel and 5 Leopard 2 A6) Operation Active Endeavour in the Mediterranean Operation Sea Guardian in the Mediterranean Sea (52 personnel and 1 vessel) Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 (196 personnel) Multilateral Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq EUROMARFOR in Mediterranean Sea Operation Gallant Phoenix in Jordan
Exercises
Some of the exercises organized by the Portuguese Armed Forces annually are: Exercise Açor is the responsibility of the Azores Military Zone and is part of the joint operational exercises and training program of the Armed Forces, with the objective of evaluating the readiness of the National Forces System. Exercise Celulex is an exercise that aims to contribute to the maintenance of the technical skills of the Army's Radiological Defense Element. Exercise Contex Phibex is a naval and amphibious exercise that aims to improve the proficiency of the Portuguese Navy fleet and marines. Exercise Lusitano aimed to assess and certify the military operational capability, providing training, qualification and apron for the participating military. Exercise Orion is hosted each year by Portugal, with participation by the armed forces of Spain and the United States. Troops practice responding to crises such as the evacuation of non-combatants. Exercise Real Thaw is an annual military exercise organized and hosted by the Portuguese Air Force with the participation of forces from the Army and Navy and foreign military forces. Exercise REP(MUS) is an annual exercise organized by the Portuguese Navy and NATO with the participation foreign military forces, universities and tech companies. Exercise Strong Impact is an exercise focused on real field artillery fire. Exercise Swordfish objective is to improve the squadron's proficiency in conducting naval operations. Exercise Zarco aimed to test the security plans of the Commands and Military Units based in the Madeira Archipelago and to test the Armed Forces responses to cyberattacks, in the face of threats or aggression.
History
Background
The history of the Portuguese military itself begins in the 12th century with the creation of the Kingdom of Portugal. Since the early beginning, the Kingdom had naval and ground forces. The Portuguese Navy exists as a permanent force since 1317, however non-permanent naval forces existed already before, with their first known naval engagement occurring in 1180. The Portuguese ground forces were established as a standing army in 1570, however they had existed since the 12th century, as the non-permanent hoste. The Navy and the Army would remain independent from each other for hundreds of years.
By the early 20th century, some joint military and national defense bodies had been created but these had mostly mere political coordination responsibilities. The administration of the several forces of the military remained in charge of separate government departments, respectively the Navy Ministry for the Navy (Marinha), the War Ministry for the Metropolitan Army (Exército Metropolitano) and the Colonies Ministry for the Colonial Military Forces (Forças Militares Coloniais). Operationally, the service branches were also completely independent from each other, with totally separated chains of command.
During the 1930s, plans were laid to merge all of the previously mentioned ministries under a single defense ministry. However, the service branches lobbies for the maintenance of their autonomy – represented by their separate government departments – politically opposed and were able to block this reorganization for the next couple of decades.