# Why does Brazil have a navy complete with Submarines **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 24, 2008, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-brazil-have-a-navy-complete-with-submarines/478591 "2008-12-24T20:57:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jaglavak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85f322/32.png) [@Jaglavak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaglavak)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2008, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-brazil-have-a-navy-complete-with-submarines/478591/21 "2008-12-25T03:42:00Z")
Taking a longer view, both the sub and their shore side nuke plant operate on a pressurized water cycle. The waste from which will be stored in a big swimming pool. The waste includes plutonium, which is relatively easy to separate through chemical extraction. No huge centrifuges needed. So, say, 10 or 20 years from now if nuclear weapons technology proliferates, and Brazil suddenly faces a nuclear armed rival, they can come up with an answer relatively quickly. All without raising the ire of anyone right now. International politics is dirty and nasty. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2008, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-brazil-have-a-navy-complete-with-submarines/478591/22 "2008-12-25T16:51:24Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Except Costa Rica and Vatican City. Huh ! You poor fool,its pretty evident to anybody with more then half a brain cell that the Vatican is and has been planning for many years to invade the rest of the Italian peninsula and then THE WORLD . The SWISS GUARD has a visible presence of eight men (one elderly )and a dog,but out of the eyes of the media there are two thousand highly trained Special Forces,forty thousand airborne troops and also … Ooops sorry,I was completely wasting your time there. I was of course talking about the Salvation Army. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-brazil-have-a-navy-complete-with-submarines/478591/23 "2008-12-26T00:14:25Z")
To fend off an irredentist [and completely psychotic] Portugal, should a wave of ultranationalism and militarism ever sweep that country…? That could be a very funny scenario, actually. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-brazil-have-a-navy-complete-with-submarines/478591/24 "2008-12-26T16:55:40Z")
> [@The\_Scrivener](#): > > To fend off an irredentist [and completely psychotic] Portugal, should a wave of ultranationalism and militarism ever sweep that country…? That could be a very funny scenario, actually. Actually, not from here it wouldn’t: Portugal might well invoke the [Treaty of Windsor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Windsor_1386). But Brazil stands a good chance of being a world superpower in several decades’ time. And navies take decades to develop. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-brazil-have-a-navy-complete-with-submarines/478591/25 "2008-12-26T17:08:21Z")
You know, it’s stuff like diplomatic treaties from the fourteenth century that blow Americans’ minds… that really is remarkable, and thanks for the education! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-brazil-have-a-navy-complete-with-submarines/478591/26 "2008-12-26T19:33:26Z")
Brazil is always thought of as being on the cusp of superpower status, and it never quite seems to reach it. I remember _Gateway_ (1976) by Frederick Pohl and _World’s Fair 1992_ (1963) by Robert Silverberg both referred to Brazil as a world power roughly on par with the U.S. and Soviet Union. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-brazil-have-a-navy-complete-with-submarines/478591/27 "2008-12-26T20:20:11Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I remember _Gateway_ (1976) by Frederick Pohl and _World’s Fair 1992_ (1963) by Robert Silverberg both referred to Brazil as a world power roughly on par with the U.S. and Soviet Union. Not to mention L. Sprague de Camp and his [Viagens Interplanetarias](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viagens_Interplanetarias) stories. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-brazil-have-a-navy-complete-with-submarines/478591/28 "2008-12-26T20:38:29Z")
> [@](#): > > I get that even Brazil might get in a spat with Urugay, or Argentina - but subs? Isn’t that more a total war type weapon? Actually, subs are a good choice for a less powerful country’s navy. Capital ships take a lot of money and require a large fleet of escorts. Submarines operate on their own and their ability to hide underwater makes them good survivors in contested waters. That’s why you see countries like Germany in WWII or China during the Cold War building subs - they allow you to have an active naval presense without competing directly with the naval superpowers. ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-brazil-have-a-navy-complete-with-submarines/478591/29 "2008-12-27T02:32:12Z")
If need be, they can be utilized to protect convoys of exported goods (or imported for that matter). ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-brazil-have-a-navy-complete-with-submarines/478591/30 "2008-12-27T10:10:07Z")
😕 Considering how much of Brazil is on water, & how much water there is, I would find it a bit neglectful not to have a serious navy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-brazil-have-a-navy-complete-with-submarines/478591.md?page=1)