So LAAD has begun in Brazil today and a couple of articles about what's on offer are already coming out.
Here's a couple that caught my eye
Brazil reveals submarine design details
LAAD 2013: Brazil reveals submarine design details - News - Shephard
The PWR reactor design for the Brazilian Navy’s future nuclear-powered submarine (SN-Br) has been completed.
A model of the design, known as the 2131-R, and an actual-size combustion element were on display at the navy’s stand at the LAAD exhibition in Rio de Janeiro.
A spokesperson from the Brazilian Navy told Shephard that the reactor design had been completed with assistance from France but that the reactor itself would be built in Brazil at a later date.
The navy had two separate designs of the SN-Br on display at the stand. A model from the navy’s technology centre in Sao Paulo showed a submarine divided into seven blocks with the PWR reactor positioned amidships eight torpedoes situated at the front of the boat.
Navy literature showed a second design with just two torpedo tubes but including six vertical launch missile tubes in the front section of the boat. This version is to displace 4,000t and have a length of 100m and diameter of 9.8m.
The nuclear-powered submarine is being built at part of the navy’s PROSUB programme under a contract signed between Brazil and France in 2008 for $4.25 billion. As well as the SN-Br, the programme will also see acquisition of four conventionally powered diesel-electric submarines (known as S-Br) based on an enlarged 75m-long 2,000t design for the Scorpene submarine built by DCNS.
I've made bold the parts that I found most interesting, the 8 torpedos number isn't well explained and the picture supplied isn't the best either. At first I thought it could be 8 torp tubes, or a 8 torp magazine (but that'd be stupid), but the MORE interesting design was the second one written about; only 2 torpedo tubes and 6 VLS.
Bit unorthodox really isn't it? IIRC the plan for using these SSNs was to protect the Brazilian coast so surface attack via cruise missile seems a bit different as does the rather small amount of torp tubes, unless Brazil is planning to become more active in the global scale where hucking some cruise missiles would be valuable, and presumably they will buy MdCN for that capability due to them working with DCNS on the design.
Still, it'll be an interesting transition to see, good luck to them I say.
Then there's the second article
DCNS reveals Brazilian carrier design
LAAD 2013: DCNS reveals Brazilian carrier design - News - Shephard
DCNS is offering an adapted version of its PA2 design for a future Brazilian aircraft carrier.
A model of a 60,000t displacement 285m-long PA2 carrier is being shown by the company at the LAAD exhibition in Rio de Janeiro.
Eric Perrot, DCNS surface ships project director, told Shephard that the Brazilian Navy had plans to acquire one or two new aircraft carriers to replace their existing carrier, NAe Sao Paulo, after 2025.
The Brazilian Navy released a request for proposals (RfP) in 2012 for specifications for aircraft carriers and Perrot said that DCNS along with several other companies had responded with the PA2 design. He said that because in the past Brazil had purchased second-hand carriers, a specifications outline had not been required until now.
Perrot noted that following the collapse of the BAE Systems-DCNS collaboration on aircraft carrier design, the French company had continued the design work and produced the PA2 design with conventional propulsion and a catapult assisted launch and recovery system.
‘From the French side, we see the future is with the catapult system and the Brazilian Navy has a history of using catapult-launched aircraft,’ Perrot said.
The Brazilian Navy operates the F-4 Skyhawk carrier-based aircraft, which are being upgraded by Embraer, but long-term the aircraft will be replaced. However, it is not expected to select a replacement until the Brazilian Air Force has chosen its next generation fighter under the FX-2 project. The three choices for FX-2 are the F-18, Rafale, and the Gripen.
‘Because two of those three have carrier variants available it makes sense for the navy to wait until the air force has chosen its FX-2 aircraft and then base its own decision on this,’ Perrot said.
The Clemenceau-class aircraft carrier Sao Paulo was originally in French Navy service as the Foch and entered Brazilian service in 2000. The 32,800t ship completed an upgrade programme in 2011 and although it is not expected to be replaced until well into the next decade, initial work will have to begin now.
Perrot believes that similar to its submarine and surface ship programmes, the Brazilian Navy will want to build its new ships domestically, with support from experienced international companies to develop an industrial base to carry out this work.
The decision to proceed with the RfP is awaiting governmental approval.
Note the FREMM-ER model behind the carrier model for later as well as the Mistral LHD model, but it's what we expected, a tweaked design of the current design DCNS had on offer for the French Navy. It's surprisingly 8,000t heavier than the design on DCNS' website & some 13m longer.
But wisely it mentions that it'd be best to wait - eventually - for the F-X2 competition because "two of those three have carrier variants available", although *technically* the Gripen does have a carrier variant but it's currently just a design I think.
But it does confirm that the Brazilian Navy wants to forge ahead with the CATOBAR method and as such I expect they'll go with this design DCNS has put forward.
To be honest, Brazil could get an incredibly good and more complete deal with DCNS which could give their navy anything they wanted, SSKs, SSNs, FREMM, FREMM-ER (FREDA), carriers, supply ships, amphibious assault ships. Kinda makes any package DCNS puts together to the Brazilian Navy better than what BAE could put forward, or at least the designs seem more complete and tailored to what Brazil wants in the majority of the cases.
EDIT: Just realised, IIRC all the recent talk was Fincantieri offering FREMM and there wasn't anything about DCNS giving it a go.