50 YEARS OF IMBEL STRATEGIC DEFENSE COMPANY

Abstract

Dear readers,

It is with great respect and joy that I address each of you. The theme investigated in the course of this work aims to analyze the Brazilian War Material Industry - IMBEL, Strategic Defense Company (EED), which is a Federal Public Company, linked to the Ministry of Defense, through the Army Command, which on July 14, 2025, completes 50 (fifty) years of existence dedicated to the manufacture of products and the provision of services in the Areas of Security, Defense and National Sovereignty. However, to get here, the Company experienced successes and failures and thus it is necessary to briefly look at the trajectory of IMBEL, which is part of the Defense Industrial Base (BID) of Brazil. The date coincides with the enactment of Law No. 6,227, of July 14, 1975, which is the Law that created IMBEL. There are those who argue that the national arms industry began with the creation of the Casa do Trem, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, in 1762, with the purpose of storing, preserving and carrying out repairs on the weapons and equipment of the existing troops. However, in reality, this date coincides with the creation of the Arsenal de Guerra do Rio de Janeiro (AGR), whose facilities are currently located in the Caju neighborhood, in Rio de Janeiro. However, we believe that the national arms industry actually began with the creation of the Fábrica Real de Pólvora da Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, by His Royal Highness, the Prince Regent, D. João (1767-1826), through the Decree of May 13, 1808, with the name of Fábrica Real de Pólvora da Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, located in the Jardim Botânico, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, whose military products were necessary for the domains of the territory of Brazil and the Overseas Territories of Portugal. Based on these facts and historical legal regulations, this book aims to briefly analyze the evolution and trajectory of IMBEL, whose creation, there are indications, was a result of the rupture in 1974, by the Brazilian Government, of the Brazil-United States Military Cooperation Agreement, signed in 1952. IMBEL, due to its expertise, is a State-owned Company that operates in the so-called Triple Helix, which is a production and innovation model, based on three interrelated elements, namely: the University, Industry and the State, to promote technological development through innovation, in order to elevate Brazil to the select group of developed countries. It should be said that from a Geopolitical and International Law perspective, Brazil is among the 10 (ten) largest economies in the world, being one of the Emerging Poles at an international level, as an important actor of the so-called Global South, which is in a period of peace with its neighboring countries, needing, for this purpose, a Defense Industrial Base (BID) where IMBEL is inserted, a Strategic Defense Company (EED) of capital importance for the Country, the object of study of this Book.
Here, I share the wish for a good read for all who are in possession of this Book, as a way of contributing to the sustainable development of the Brazilian Defense Industrial Base (BID), with the knowledge and technology, in which IMBEL is inserted, which on July 14, 2025, completes its jubilee of 50 (fifty) years of existence.
Brasília (DF), June 2025.

Prof. MSc. René Dellagnezze