The best way to properly prepare Brazil militarily for an actual Lobster War Against France In Late 1964?

@F.L. @uk 75 @Archibald @Michel Van how about a third country or party selling the equipment to Brazil ? I do remember from my history books that the USSR had an habit of doing that to avoid sanctions and/or suspicion.
Possible, yes. For example, Mig-17/Mig-19 fighters and Il-28 bombers were license-build in Czechoslovakia. While there weren't torpedo-carrying models, they probably could be quickly retro-fitted with carriage for RAT-52 high-altitude rocket-propelled torpedo.

To clarify what RAT-52 is:

naval_torp_rat52_p01.jpg


It's a small air-launched torpedo, powered by solid-fuel rocket engine. It is designed to be launched from high altitude overflight (4000-13000 meters) of target, with the help of small parachute on her tail and gyro-based autopilot to maintain her course during flight. After entering the water, the main rocket engine ignited, and boosted the torpedo to 60+ knots 500-meters run.

Against gun-based air defense of 1960s French carrier group, such weapon, deployed from Il-28T bombers, could be satisfactory efficient.
 
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@Dilandu found this https://p-d-m.livejournal.com/459913.html I honestly do not know how accurate my browser translator and from my understanding you are a native speaker of Russian (?).
Yep, I am. What exactly you are trying to translate here?
I am trying to understand if they would "fit" the timeframe. Because if they were produced later it would be a bit anachronistic.
@F.L. @uk 75 @Archibald @Michel Van how about a third country or party selling the equipment to Brazil ? I do remember from my history books that the USSR had an habit of doing that to avoid sanctions and/or suspicion.
Possible, yes. For example, Mig-17/Mig-19 fighters and Il-28 bombers were license-build in Czechoslovakia. While there weren't torpedo-carrying models, they probably could be quickly retro-fitted with carriage for RAT-52 high-altitude rocket-propelled torpedo.

To clarify what RAT-52 is:

naval_torp_rat52_p01.jpg


It's a small air-launched torpedo, powered by solid-fuel rocket engine. It is designed to be launched from high altitude overflight (4000-13000 meters) of target, with the help of small parachute on her tail and gyro-based autopilot to maintain her course during flight. After entering the water, the main rocket engine ignited, and boosted the torpedo to 60+ knots 500-meters run.

Against gun-based air defense of 1960s French carrier group, such weapon could be satisfactory efficient.

That's interesting.

Now I have another question : since Czechoslovakia was in the WARPAC, what was the point of a license from the USSR ?
 
Also, someone correct me if I am wrong, but there was also the "theory" of the first or first two military government of invanding Guiana. The only easy win scenario for Brazil is the following :

  1. @Archibald proposal of shooting down Brezhnev
  2. Algiers Putsch of 1961 succeding
  3. Consecutively, this France might be much more distracted in the colonies than our world
  4. 1968 May civil unrest escaletes and you have yet another revolution in France which could very well go Communist IMHO
  5. Brazil, either democratic or junta, takes advantages of the chaos (who knows, if France is bloody enough they could go and take the Carribean if the Americans or the Brits don't)
 
I am trying to understand if they would "fit" the timeframe. Because if they were produced later it would be a bit anachronistic.
Really doubt that. It doesn't seems to be very thought-out.

Now I have another question : since Czechoslovakia was in the WARPAC, what was the point of a license from the USSR ?
Well, mostly because Czech have a rather well-developed and capable heavy industry (including military one) and not using it was just impractical. Buying tanks from USSR would cost more, and also would require Soviet industry to divert not exactly insignificant part of its capabilities to supplying the Czechoslovakia - which could perfectly well produce such tanks by itself. While the unification in Warsaw Pact was much tighter than in NATO, it's members weren't exactly forbidden to develope their own hardware both for themselves and for export (as long as it was compatible with Soviet, of course).
 
However, I think that Brazil could have obtained CL.13 Sabre from Canada or F-86D/K/E from Europe (Yugoslavia, Italia...)
Perhaps through another country, as Iran had purchased CL-13 Mk.6s for Pakistan.
In the early 60s, the Sabre (all variants) was very common and relatively easy to obtain on the sly, perhaps even without US aproval.
Furthermore, at that time, the CL.13 Sabre Mk.6 was considered the best dogfighter in the world ! ;)
A good opponent for the Mystère IVA, SMB2 and Etendard IVM.

Afterwards, one could think of the Swedish Saab aircraft : 29 Tunnan, 32 Lansen and maybe even 35 Draken (even if in 1964, this seems less probable to me)
 
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Maybe better like this !!! At that time, the FAB had 5 B-17s.
Brazilian B-17 over French Tartu (D636) off Brazil during Lobster War (1963).jpg
 

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Maybe better like this !!! At that time, the FAB had 5 B-17s.
But what exactly could they do? They are too slow and vulnerable, to have any chances against French air defenses. And their ability to attack warships is near zero.

Again, the main problem is not even a platform, it's weapons to put on them.
 
A suggestion: what if Brazil would try to combine? I.e. it could ask US for, say, a squadron of Sabres, and Czechoslovakia (of course actually USSR, but the formalities are important) for Il-28 bombers, retro-fitted for RAT-52 aerial torpedo. Then it would satisfy both US (that Brazil have no intention of turning "red"), and Brazil (by obtaining air superiority fighters and maritime strike units they needed to counter French fleet).
 
I am trying to understand if they would "fit" the timeframe. Because if they were produced later it would be a bit anachronistic.
Really doubt that. It doesn't seems to be very thought-out.

Now I have another question : since Czechoslovakia was in the WARPAC, what was the point of a license from the USSR ?
Well, mostly because Czech have a rather well-developed and capable heavy industry (including military one) and not using it was just impractical. Buying tanks from USSR would cost more, and also would require Soviet industry to divert not exactly insignificant part of its capabilities to supplying the Czechoslovakia - which could perfectly well produce such tanks by itself. While the unification in Warsaw Pact was much tighter than in NATO, it's members weren't exactly forbidden to develope their own hardware both for themselves and for export (as long as it was compatible with Soviet, of course).
I don't think Japan was allowed to export the locally produced F-104s without US approval. That was not to be part of the contract.
I am thinking that my scenario I outlined before could be the best case scenario. Not only it gets the jobs done and you can have suspension of disbelief.

Not to mention that Brazil can have both of worlds : Quadros gets the stuff from the USSR or Warsaw Pact through Czechoslovakia (and maybe a middle man).

A suggestion: what if Brazil would try to combine? I.e. it could ask US for, say, a squadron of Sabres, and Czechoslovakia (of course actually USSR, but the formalities are important) for Il-28 bombers, retro-fitted for RAT-52 aerial torpedo. Then it would satisfy both US (that Brazil have no intention of turning "red"), and Brazil (by obtaining air superiority fighters and maritime strike units they needed to counter French fleet).

I swear I was thinking the same and you read my mind!
 
I red the Wikipedia entry and my mind was blown. So by April 1963 the two countries were considering war over this ? WTF.

But the best part that got me rolling on the floor in laughter was that

Admiral Paulo Moreira da Silva, Brazil's Navy expert in the field of oceanography who had been sent to assist the diplomatic committee during the general discussions,[14] argued that for Brazil to accept the French scientific thesis that a lobster would be considered a fish when it "leaps" on the seafloor, it would be required in the same way to accept the Brazilian premise that when a kangaroo "hops," it would be considered a bird.

o_O

Talking about kangaroos, didn't Australia and NZ almost went to war over emus ?

o_Oo_Oo_Oo_O
 
Perhaps during Quadros' presidency, he could have bought MiG-15s and Il-28Ts from the Czechs, and then after his resignation, another more pro-American president could have decided to buy CL.13s and other equipment from Canada. This avoided a U.S.-Brazilian diplomatic conflict because of a rapprochement with a USSR ally.

However, for the Czech equipment, it is a bit short because Quadros' presidency lasted only 6 months and 25 days. But there is also Goulart, who could have continued to buy Czech jets.

Finally, for me the best solution is Hunter & Canberra modified to use torpedos :)
 
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Maybe better like this !!! At that time, the FAB had 5 B-17s.
But what exactly could they do? They are too slow and vulnerable, to have any chances against French air defenses. And their ability to attack warships is near zero.

Again, the main problem is not even a platform, it's weapons to put on them.
What about this ?
USAAF JB-2 jet bomb being launched for flight test by B-17 bomber during testing of weapon, 1944.png
 
Furthermore I believe that the S-2 Tracker could carry torpedoes. I think that with a good cover provided by the Hunter or CL.13 they were not risking much. As far as I know, the French ships of the time did not have surface-to-air missiles (?)
This avoids having to buy bigger aircraft like Il-28 or Canberra.
 
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https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/pzl-ts-16.1766/ I am thinking also this one especially the attack variant could be the case !

TS-16 (TS-13) "Grot", 1963​

Design of a fighter-attack and training aircraft. Poland.
preview_ts-16-grot_src_1.jpg

Mock-up of the TS-16 "Grot" fighter-attack and training aircraft. (Source: Aviation International, August 1991).

When the intensity of design work on the TS-11 "Iskra" aircraft reached its peak, work began on the TS-13 "Grot" supersonic training aircraft . The aircraft was intended for student pilots in the last year of training, significantly advanced in piloting subsonic aircraft. In mid-1958, a separate team of the design office of doc. Tadeusz Sołtyk at the Aviation Construction Center at WSK Okęcie , he began studying such an aircraft. In 1959, a preliminary version of the design was created with a double-trapezoidal wing, similar to the wing of the F-101 "Voodoo" aircraft . The drive was to consist of two designed at the Institute of AviationSO-2 engines with afterburner, and the aircraft was characterized by high performance: flight speed, rate of climb and ceiling. In addition to training and training, certain elements of combat operations could be performed on the machine. The aircraft was also to be capable of operating in field conditions from airfields with grass surfaces. According to this concept, the first aerodynamic model of the aircraft was made.
Information about the world's first supersonic training aircraft Northrop T-38 "Talon" (and its N-156 fighter version, later designated Northrop F-5 "Freedom Fighter") , announced at that time , and the results of aerodynamic tests of the model influenced a clear modification of the project . The aircraft was ordered by the military aviation. At the same time, the military aviation expressed the wish that the aircraft did not have No. 13 in its designation. Since it was felt that the drawings could be converted from 13 to 16 quite easily, the aircraft was designated TS-16 .
It was planned to build two versions:
- TS-16A - a single-seat fighter-assault designed to perform tactical fighter-assault tasks, i.e. combating moving and stationary ground targets with the use of 2 on-board cannons, missiles and bombs,
- TS-16B - a two-seat training training facility, which was to be used for training and training crews of supersonic combat aircraft, especially in the field of piloting high-speed aircraft.
The assumptions of transforming version B into version A provided for the least number of changes. Due to the stronger armament in the front of the hull of the A, the radio equipment was moved to the second cabin, leaving the cabin cover unchanged - long with glazing, the same as in the B version .
The TS-16 aircraft was to have a wingspan of 7 m, a length of 13.9 m and a bearing surface of 19.2 m 2 .
The work proceeded quickly and the TS-16 study was completed in December 1959. Since the SO-2 engine was still in the design phase at that time and its real properties were not known, it was decided to develop a second form of the machine powered by the then available RD-9B engine to speed up the implementation of the project, which was used to power Mikoyan MiG-19 aircraft . The TS-16RD study was completed in July 1960, with two versions also envisaged:
- TS-16RD-A - single-seat fighter-assault,
- TS-16RD-B - two-seat training and training.
The designed aircraft was characterized by original modern solutions. The swept wings with a two-trapezoidal outline had a laminar symmetrical profile. The step on the leading edge acted similarly to the aerodynamic guiding comb - it strengthened the jets and prevented them from flowing down the wings. Instead of classic ailerons, elevons (eeleons) were used in the empennage, serving as ailerons and elevator. The semi-monocoque fuselage was designed according to the field rule, and its construction differed depending on the version of the aircraft. To shorten the landing roll, the use of a tape braking parachute was envisaged. TS-16was to be equipped with radio navigation and radar equipment, including with a radio rangefinder and a radar gunsight. In order to streamline the training process, the use of a damage simulator was envisaged. 23 mm cannons were adopted as the basic armament, while allowing for the use of additional equipment and armament on external suspension points.



By 1963, a complete preliminary design of the "Grot" aircraft was developed at the Institute of Aviation . Two models were made for the tunnel tests: one for a large tunnel and a smaller one with metal wings. This was followed by aerodynamic blowing, including in the supersonic tunnel. A single-engine TS-16RD mock-up was built for the evaluation committee. However, work on "Grot" was suspended. Several factors contributed to this. Influence of the Soviet Union preventing the development of combat aircraft in Poland, economic constraints, change in the leadership of the air force and change of views on the need to use supersonic training aircraft in the course of training, and above all, the change in the attitude of the ruling team of Władysław Gomułka to the aviation industry and his aspirations to liquidate aviation production, in particular in particular in Warsaw, converting it to the production of tools. TS-16RD "Grot" remained in the preliminary design stage and in the form of a life-size mock-up.
It is worth noting that "Grot" was the second supersonic training aircraft designed in the world. At the same time, a competitive PZL M-16STN (supersonic training aircraft) project similar in shape to the Northorp N-156 aircraft was developed in the WSK PZL Mielec design office.
Construction :
Single or two-seater cantilever wing with a metal structure.
Single-girder wings with a two-trapezoidal outline had a thin, laminar symmetrical profile. Milled cover. The airfoil was equipped only with flaps: regular, arching, three-section, along the entire length of the trailing edge.
Semi-monocoque hull, designed according to the field rule. Aluminum alloy construction. Variable thickness working cover. Electronic equipment was to be placed in the front of the fuselage, air brakes on the sides of the rear fuselage, and a braking parachute in the extended root of the vertical tail. Cabin covered, air-conditioned.
Vertical, classic. The horizontal plate-aileron tail (so-called elevons) had a double function of longitudinal and lateral control, working as an elevator or as ailerons.
Three-support landing gear with a front wheel, retractable in flight. The wheels of the main landing gear were to be hidden in the fuselage.
Fixed armament
: - TS-16A - 2 cannons NR-23 cal. 23 mm,
- TS-16B - 1 cannon NR-23 cal. 23 mm.
It is also possible to use unguided missiles or guided missiles, bombs and additional artillery and small arms, suspended on outriggers under the wings.
Equipment : R-800 VHF radio, ARK-5 automatic radio compass, MRP-48 flight signaling device, RW-2 radio altimeter, GIK-7 gyromagnetic compass and SRD-1 radar rangefinder, S-13 photo rifle. The training and training version B also had a damage simulator, controlled from the instructor's cabin.
Propulsion :
- TS-16 - 2 SO-2 engines (which is a development of the SO-1 engine with an afterburner) with a maximum thrust of 9.8/14.7 kN (1000/1500 kG) each,
- TS-16RD - 1 RD- engine 9B with afterburner, 25.48/31.85 kN (2600/3250 kG) thrust.
Fuel tanks in the hull.
Technical data of TS-16RD-A and TS-16RD-B (according to [2]):
Wingspan - 7.0 m, length - 14.4 m, length with SO-2 engines - 13.0 m, height (measured at cabin) - 2.3 m, bearing surface - 19.2 m 2 . TS-16RD-A
weights : own - 3190 kg, total - 4945 kg. Weights of TS-16RD-B : own - 3240 kg, total - 4946 kg. Permissible speed - 1710 km/h, max speed - 1460 km/h, cruising speed - 850 km/h, landing speed - 210 km/h, climb - 92 m/s, practical ceiling - 14,000 m, max range - 2200 km.

Technical data of TS-16RD (according to [4]):
Span - 7.0 m, length - 14.3 (according to [5] - 14.0) m, height - 4.2 m, bearing surface - 19.2 m 2 .
Curb weight - 3190 kg, payload - 1755 kg, total weight - 4945 kg.
Max speed - 1,460 km/h, cruising speed - 850 km/h, landing speed - 210 km/h, climb - 92 m/s, practical ceiling -
14,000 m, max range - 2,200 km.

Found thanks to @elider post and @hesham response!
 
https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/pzl-ts-16.1766/ I am thinking also this one especially the attack variant could be the case !
But this plane would never have been ready for export in 1964 !!! o_O
Ok nevermind forgot what I said ! But they started in 1959...to design it ? So no way it can be delivered before the coup?
On the other hand, Poland could have delivered Lim-5/6. That would have been not bad for attacks on ship with rockets ! PZL-Mielec_Lim-6bis_'427'_(13291162594).jpg

Look interesting :
 
What about this ?
...And what exactly do you want to do with obsolete 1940s JB-2 missile?

Furthermore I believe that the S-2 Tracker could carry torpedoes. I think that with a good cover provided by the Hunter or CL.13 they were not risking much. As far as I know, the French ships of the time did not have surface-to-air missiles (?)
This avoids having to buy bigger aircraft like Il-28 or Canberra. ;)
Sure. A small anti-submarine torpedoes, which aren't exactly of much use against surface ships. And they aren't suited for high-altitude drops, so your S-2 would be forced to fly slowly through the French AA fire. Result? They would be ripped to ribbons.
 
Ok nevermind forgot what I said ! But they started in 1959...to design it ? So no way it can be delivered before the coup?
...For what reason Brazil might be interested in investing into a Polish plane that didn't even exist yet?
What about this ?
...And what exactly do you want to do with obsolete 1940s JB-2 missile ?
Just for the idea, an improved variant. :)

From what I had understood, had the plane be approved in...1960? It could have been produced by 1962 and starting delivering the same year?
 
Just for the idea, an improved variant.
Brazil could not do the anti-ship seeker in 1960s. Well, maybe could, but not in the timeframe required.
From what I had understood, had the plane be approved in...1960? It could have been produced by 1962 and starting delivering the same year?
If you are talking about TS-16 Grot, then in 1963 they barely have preliminary design.
I am thinking the best is moving the date of the War to 1968 and follow the path we said previously.

Though I am seriously considering at this point doing another (alternate his)tory because the subject.

I also got another idea for another story with this.

Maybe an actual story this time. Unlike Roter Rein.
 
While reading the book "Cuban MiGs", I came across this list of countries to which Cuba could have bought fighters in 1959 :
- Belgium : Hawker Hunter.
- Canada : CL.13 Sabre.
- Italy : F-86K Sabre Dog & DH-100 Vampire.
- UK : Hawker Hunter, with surviving Sea Fury returned for defraying part of the cost of 15 Hunters.
- Pakistan : 14 Sea Fury.
- Sweden : Vampire J28B (FB.5)
- & Czechoslovakia : MiG-15bis in 1960.

I think it could have been similar if Brazil had decided in the early 60s to buy fighters to prepare for a confrontation with France.
 
Otherwise, if the AdA had decided to deploy fighters ( Mystère IVA, SMB2) in South America as a deterrent against Brazil, on which airfield could it have done it ? In Guyane ?
 
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As one can figure, all that wouldn’t come cheap. The tag price for a Sabre in 1952 was around US $ 220,000.00 and since the plane was in high demand at the time because of the Korean war, that price could get even higher .


Since the time of the “Lend and Lease” plan was long gone, now we had to pay in cash for the planes. Cash was and still is a big problem in Brazil, so the solution was to pay in raw material, something like food (grains and or meat), metal (iron, aluminum, etc), wood, cotton, something that could be considered as good as cash.


Negotiations were still in the beginning when the American Congress raised some concerns about selling “state-of-the-art” weaponry to such an unstable “democracy”


Our President/dictator Getulio Vargas ruled the country from 1937-1945. He was overthrown in a 1945 coup, only to return to power as the democratically elected president in 1951.


Can you blame the American congressmen not feeling comfortable about selling jet fighters to us?


Vargas had a short temper and he saw the refusal from the Americans as an offense. Immediately he turned to the next big supplier, the Brits.


The British military aviation industry was a very prolific one, with many options for every combat application.


The planes had a cutting-edge design, were powerful and reliable. More than supplying equipment for the needs of RAF and Royal Navy, that industry had one main target: exports.
 
Taking an interest in aircraft carriers around the world, I discovered the NAeL Minas Gerais, the first ship of this type in the Brazilian navy.
Ex-HMS Vengeance, it was sold to Brazil in 1956 and after four years of conversion in the Netherlands and was commissioned in early 1961. It had been modified as a modern aircraft carrier, with an angled deck.

At the time, the Brazilian navy and air force were in the midst of a rivalry over aircraft operations.
However, in the context of the conflict and with a stronger political will, Minas Gerais could have received a naval air group made up of jets.

What type of jet could it have used ? The Skyhawk seems to be the best solution. But maybe also Panther or Cougar (like Argentina).
In any case, this presents the problem in a different light, as the USSR is unable to supply carrier-born jets quickly.
 
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I was about to mention NAeL Minas Gerais but you got her first.
She commissioned into the Brazilian Navy on 6 December 1960, and departed from Rotterdam for Brazil on 13 January 1961.

Best option would be US A-4B Skyhawks, but highly unlikely as Douglas was fully occupied supplying them to the USN.

Banshees, Panthers, and Cougars from the US would be likely (and possibly some FJ-3/4 Furies).

British Sea Venoms & SeaHawks of course.

AD Skyraiders, F8F Bearcats, and F4U Corsairs would be pretty certainly sold upon request... maybe Hawker Sea Furies or Westland Wyverns if any weren't already scrapped.
 
What type of jet could it have used ? The Skyhawk seems to be the best solution. But maybe also Panther or Cougar (like Argentina).
In any case, this presents the problem in a different light, as the USSR is unable to supply carrier-born jets quickly.
IIRC, the Brazilian Navy gave up on having attack jets aboard the future NAeL Minas Gerais by early 1959, choosing to concentrate on an ASW wing. Had they decided to go for an attack wing, my guess is the Brazilian Navy would get the same thing as the Argentinians did - F9F-5s, with maybe one or two two-seat Cougars. Skyhawks were too modern for the USA to authorize their export to South America.
 
At the time, the Brazilian navy and air force were in the midst of a rivalry over aircraft operations.
However, in the context of the conflict and with a stronger political will, Minas Gerais could have received a naval air group made up of jets.
It would took a lot of time to train the attack wing...
 
I was about to mention NAeL Minas Gerais but you got her first.
Wow !!!
I think the United States is an unlikely source for the Brazilian navy because at the time it was pursuing a strategy of non-proliferation of weapons in South America. Britain, on the other hand, seems more likely.
AD Skyraiders, F8F Bearcats, and F4U Corsairs would be pretty certainly sold upon request... maybe Hawker Sea Furies or Westland Wyverns if any weren't already scrapped.
The aim is to confront the jets of the AdA and the French Navy.
 
What type of jet could it have used ? The Skyhawk seems to be the best solution. But maybe also Panther or Cougar (like Argentina).
In any case, this presents the problem in a different light, as the USSR is unable to supply carrier-born jets quickly.
IIRC, the Brazilian Navy gave up on having attack jets aboard the future NAeL Minas Gerais by early 1959, choosing to concentrate on an ASW wing.
:confused: Not exactly, they were obliged to do so in 1965.
 

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