List of equipment of the Brazilian Marine Corps

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Historical rifles showcased at the Marine Corps Museum in Rio de Janeiro

This is a list of current and historical equipment of the Brazilian Navy's Corps of Naval Fusiliers (CFN), also known as the Brazilian Marine Corps.

Pistols

The CFN's firearms inventory as of 2010 was estimated at 4,300 pistols, 2,400 submachine guns, 17,600 automatic rifles, 1,600 medium machine guns and 300 heavy machine guns.[1] Individual marines wear two camouflage patterns, the older lizard standard and, since 2021, a digital pattern for urban environments.[2][3] The lizard pattern consists of a light green background with brown and dark green strokes. It is used by all three branches of the Armed Forces and can be distinguished in the Navy by its lighter tones compared to Army camouflage. Parade uniforms have a bold red color.[4][5]

Name Origin Caliber Period Image
Taurus PT92AF Brazil 9×19mm In use in 2014[6]
Taurus PT 24/7G2 Brazil 9×19mm In use in 2014[6]

Submachine guns

Name Origin Caliber Period Image
Taurus MT-9A Brazil 9×19mm In use in 2014[6]
Heckler & Koch MP5SD Germany 9×19mm In use in 2014 by Amphibious Commandos[6]
Heckler & Koch MP5KA4 Germany 9×19mm In use in 2014 by Amphibious Commandos[6]
IMI Mini-Uzi Israel 9×19mm In use in 2014 by Amphibious Commandos[6]

Rifles

Name Origin Caliber Period Image
Mauser 1908 Germany 7.65×53mm In use in 1929[7]
SAFN-49 Belgium 7.62×63mm 1957 – 1978[8]
M1 Garand United States 7.62×63 mm In training use in the 1950s[9]
FN FAL Brazil 7.62×51mm In limited use in 2014[6]
Colt M16A2 United States 5.56×45mm 1997[1] – present (2014)[6]
Colt M4 United States 5.56×45mm In use in 2014 by Amphibious Commandos[6]

Shotguns

Name Origin Caliber Period Image
Mossberg 590 United States 12 ga In use in 2014[6]

Machine guns

Name Origin Caliber Period Image
Fuzil Automático Pesado Brazil 7.62×51mm In use in 2012[10]
FN MAG Belgium 7.62×51mm In use in 2014[6]
FN Minimi Belgium 5.56×45mm In use in 2014[6]
Browning M2HB United States 12.7×99mm In use in 2014[6]

Sniper rifles

Name Origin Caliber Period Image
Parker-Hale M85 United Kingdom 7.62×51mm Under replacement by the PGM Ultima Ratio in 2014[6]
PGM Ultima Ratio France 7.62×51mm In use in 2014[6]

Anti-materiel rifles

Name Origin Caliber Period Image
PGM Hecate II France 12.7×99mm In use in 2014[6]

Grenade launchers

Name Origin Caliber Period Image
SB LAG 40 Spain 40mm In use in 2010[11]
M203 United States 40mm In use in 2012[10]
Mk 19 United States 40mm In use in 2014[12]

Recoilless weapons

Name Origin Number Caliber Period Image
M20 Super Bazooka United States 89 mm In use in 1997[13]
M40A1 gun United States 8 (1997)[13] 106 mm In use in 1997
AT-4 Sweden 84 mm In use in 2012[10]

Anti-tank guided missiles

Name Origin Number Period Image
RBS 56 BILL Sweden 18 (2012)[14] Possibly in use in 2021;[a] phased out by 2025[17]
MAX 1.2 AC Brazil Delivered in 2025[18]

Light and medium mortars

Name Origin Number Caliber Period Image
M60 Brandt France 103 (2012)[14]

67 (2019)[16]

 60 mm In use in 2019[16]
M29A1 United States 26 (2012)[14]

32 (2019)[16]
18 (2024)[19]

 81 mm In use in 2024[19]

Armor

Armored fighting vehicles are present in the CFN since July 20 1973, when the Motorized Transport Battalion received five units of the EE-11 Urutu. Armored vehicles would be used in this battalion, renamed Amphibious Vehicles Battalion in 1985,[20][21] and in the Tank Company, created in 1980 to employ the EE-9 Cascavel.[22] The latter was disbanded in 2003 and its assets joined with a company of the Amphibious Vehicles Battalion to form the Marine Armor Battalion.[23] Most of the CFN's armor is organized within this battalion.[24] The Amphibious Vehicles Battalion operates the Assault Amphibious Vehicle, locally known as the Carro sobre Lagarta Anfíbio (CLAnf).[25] By the International Institute for Strategic Studies's (IISS) estimate, as of 2024 the CFN operated 18 light tanks, 60 armored personnel carriers, 47 amphibious armored vehicles and two armored engineering vehicles.[19]

Light tanks

Name Origin Number Period Image
SK-105 Kürassier Austria 17 A2S and 1 4KH7FA (recovery vehicle) (2001)[22]

10 (2019)[16]

 2001[22] – present (2024)[19]

Armored cars

Name Origin Number Period Image
EE-9 Cascavel Brazil 6 1980[21] – 1998[26]

Personnel carriers

Name Origin Number Period Image
EE-11 Urutu Brazil 5[20] 1973 – earlier than 1986[20]
M113 United States 30 (24 M113A1 transports, 2 M125 A1 mortar carriers, 2 M571 A1 command posts, 1 XM806E1 recovery vehicle and 1 M113 A1G repair team carrier) (1974)

66% in operation (2010)[23]

 1974[23] – present (2024)[19]
Carro sobre Lagarta Anfíbio (Assault Amphibious Vehicle 7A1) United States 11 (1997)[13]

26 (2012)[14]
49 (13 AAV-7A1, 20 AAVP-7A1 RAM/RS, 2 AAVC-7A1 RAM/RS, 12 LVTP-7, 1 AAVR-7, 1 AAVR-7A1 RAM/RS) (2024)[19]

 1986[27] – present (2024)[19]
Mowag Piranha IIIC Switzerland 30 (2024)[19] 2007[28] – present (2024)[19]
Oshkosh L-ATV United States 12 (2024)[29] 2023 – present (2024)[29]

Artillery

Artillery has a tradition with Brazil's marines since the 19th century.[30] Under different names, the CFN was an artillery force until its conversion into infantry in 1847.[31] A new artillery unit was founded in 1962 and since 1993 named Marine Artillery Battalion.[30] The IISS estimated a total of 65 artillery pieces in service in 2024, from multiple rocket launchers to howitzers and medium mortars.[19] This number includes the M101 howitzer,[19] which is absent from multiple official Brazilian listings, including the 2012 National Defense White Paper.[14][32][16] In 2025 the CFN confirmed another item had been phased out at some point, the M114.[17]

Missile and rocket launchers

Name Origin Number Period Image
Astros FN 2020 Brazil 6 (2024)[19] 2014[6] – present (2024)[19]

Howitzers

Name Origin Number Caliber Period Image
M114 United States 6 (2012)[14]

5 (2019)[16]

 155 mm 1977[32] – ? (phased out by 2025)[17]
M101 United States 15 (1997)[13]

6 (2010)[33]
18 (2024)[19]

 105 mm Possibly in use in 2024[19]
L118 United Kingdom 18 (2019)[16] 105 mm 1999[34] – present (2024)[19]

Heavy mortars

Name Origin Number Caliber Period Image
Soltam K6A3 Israel 6 (2012)[14]

7 (2019)[16]

 120 mm 1995[32] – present (2019)[16][b]

Air defense

The CFN fields a single anti-aircraft artillery battery,[35] created in 1995[36] and organized under the Air Combat Battalion.[37] Its armament consists of anti-aircraft guns and man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS), both of which are exclusively for low-altitude targets.[38]

Anti-aircraft guns

Name Origin Number Period Image
Bofors Bofi-R C70 Sweden 6 (2012)[14] Possibly in use in 2021[c]

MANPADS

Name Origin Number Period Image
MBDA Mistral France 18 (2012)[14]

10 (2019)[16]

 1994[39] – present (2021)[38]

Mobile surveillance radars

Name Origin Number Period Image
Saab Giraffe 50AT with a Hägglund BV-206D tractor Sweden 1996 – present (2021)[38]
Saber M60 Brazil 2014 – present (2021)[38]

Unarmored vehicles

According to statistics provided by the Navy, as of 2019 the Marine Corps fielded 975 unarmored and wheeled operational vehicles, of which 560 were in the light and medium categories and 415 in the heavy category.[16]

Amphibious vehicles

Name Origin Number Period Image
GMC DUKW[40] United States 34 1970[41] – 1980s[40]
Biselli CamAnf[40] Brazil 5

Trucks

Name Origin Number Period Image
Mercedes-Benz Unimog[42] Brazil 148 U2150 (2003)

90 U5000 requested;(2020) 45 delivered (2025)[17]

 1999 – present (2022)
Ford Cargo Brazil 15 (2013)[43]
Mercedes-Benz Axor In use in 2019[44]
Mercedes-Benz 1725 In use in 2019[44]
Mercedes-Benz Atego In use in 2022[44]
Iveco Tector 240 E 2013 In use in 2023[44]

Light vehicles

Name Origin Number Period Image
Land Rover Defender In use in 2019;[44] under replacement by the Agrale Marruá[45]
Chevrolet S10 Under replacement by the Agrale Marruá in 2013[45]
Agrale Marruá Brazil 2008[46] – present (2013)[45]

See also

Notes

References

Related Articles

Wikiwand AI