Hello
I will present here the Alternative History of the Portuguese Aeronautical Industry.
I will start form the begining (and post some "old" posts) and hopefully conclued this story (up until 2010).
Portugal 1920-1965Political and social BackgroungIn the early 20th century Portugal faced many challenges to its future as a nation.
- In 1910, the monarchy was overthrown and replaced by a republican regime;
- A profound economic crisis was affecting the country;
- Social unrest between several factions threatens to ripe the country apart;
- The future of the Portuguese presence in their African and Asian colonies was menace by the interests of other countries.
As a mean of legitimating the new republican regime and assuring the Portuguese presence in its colonies, Portuguese forces joined the Allied war effort in WWI.
Although fighting valiantly, under-armed and demoralized by the lack of proper logistical support, Portuguese forces suffered severe casualties.
By the end of the war, all the problems that Portugal had before it, not only did not diminish but tended to worsen.
Radical and pragmatic solutions had to be found and put into practice.
Starting in 1920 and up to 1925, several constitutional and political changes were implemented that aimed at addressing all the problems detected and assuring a brighter and more stable future for the Portuguese republic.
What was needed was:
- social and political stability
- economic and technological development
- protect and preserve the interest and presence of the Portuguese in the colonies
In order to achieve these goals, some radical and urgent changes needed to be implemented.
Basically the new changes were:
- A wide ranging political agreement between all different factions of the Portuguese political spectrum, with concessions been made to the different groups (including the monarch and conservative groups);
- The concession of more political and social rights to all habitants of the Portuguese empire (including those of the colonies);
- economic changes, including the opening of all territories of the empire to investments of partnerships between Portuguese and foreign companies, the creation of state owned agencies to promote the creation of local companies in the colonies (fostering the employment of local habitants and promoting the emergence of local entrepreneurs) among others.
These changes started in 1920 with the approval of a new constitution and the subsequent economic changes.
By the mid 1930’s these changes allowed for a stable political and social climate in all the empire; the economic development also contribute to this new state of appeasement.
The military backgroundEarly in this period it was felt that political and economic changes would not be enough to preserve the stability and preservation of the empire; military strength and technological independence needed to be achieved.
Up until then Portugal had to rely in foreign military technologies to equip their armed forces; this had two major disadvantages: reliance in the willingness of other countries to provide state-of-the art weapons and, in the longer run, drainage of economical means without any economical return.
In order to prevent the reliance in other’s countries military industry, two major changes were implemented: the creation of a research and development military technology institute and the establishment of joint venture public-private weapons manufacturers companies.
In 1924 were created about 10 companies with both public and private (Portuguese) capitals: these were destined to the manufacture of weapons, ranging from warships, tanks, small weapons, ammunitions, airplanes and electrical and electronic equipment.
These weapons manufacturers were tasked with providing all the needs of equipment of the Portuguese armed forces.
In the first phase all the weapons produced by these companies were licensed build of foreign designs; the aim was to achieve enough expertise in the producing and testing of more and more complex weapons systems.
In a later phase it was planned to start the production of truly national designed weapons systems.
In order to achieve this second goal in 1930 was established the national institute of military technology.
This institute was a full government owned institution created with the aim of research and develop all the military technologies need to aid the weapons manufacturers produce state-of-the art weapons.
The national rearmament plan of 1933In the early 1930’s, the international climate was one of increasing tension.
Recognizing the need to expanded and improve the state of the National armed forces, Portuguese leaders, implemented a wide ranging military reform in 1933.
The main parts of this plan were:
- The obligation of all habitants of Portugal to undergo military training starting at the age of 21;
- Up until the age of 55 all the male habitants of Portugal had to undergo a two-week yearly period of military service;
- All the non-regular military personal were formed into reserve forces;
- The creation of local regular defensive forces in all the colonies, manned by citizens of Portugal and of the colonies;
- The expansion of local reserve forces in all the colonies, constituted by about 25% of the male population from the age of 21 up to 55 years;
- The creation of fast-moving expeditionary forces based in Portugal (with the aim of, in case of need, to be sent to the colonies to reinforce their local military units).
Almost all the equipment needs of all these new units were supplemented by the national manufacturers; some very specialized equipment was still bought abroad.
The air forces of the Portuguese empireIn the national rearmament plan of 1933, a special attention was taken to expand and improved the aerial defenses of all the territories.
This was done in a two part program; the first part was the creation of an early warning and air defense force, first in Portugal and gradually expanded to incorporate all the territories of the colonies.
This plan called for the creation of a network of aircraft spotting units connected via radio to central command and control units; these central units direct all the interceptor aircraft squadrons, responsible for the air defense.
In this structure all the anti-aircraft units were also incorporated (AAA.
The second part was the creation of a special structure to coordinate all operations of offensive aircraft.
As such, the air force was divided in 4 separated commands: training, air defense, offensive aviation and transport.
By late 1937 all the above changes were implemented.
Equipment of the Air ForceAs stated above, a huge effort was made both to expand and to modernize the military forces.
Regarding the aerial element of the armed forces, the initial effort was to improve the equipment of both the training and air defense commands.
In order to select the best possible equipment, a diplomatic endeavor was made, approaching friendly countries in order to investigate the possibility of acquiring and later construct, under license, several military equipment, especially aircraft.
In 1934, after a severe selecting process a new training aircraft was selected: the de Havilland Tiger Moth.
Late in that year an initial contract was signed between the Government of Portugal and British government; this agreement made possible the acquisition of an initial batch of 20 aircraft and the production of a further batch of 60 aircraft in Portugal. The production of these later aircraft was entrusted to the newly established Companhia Nacional de Construções Aeronauticas (CNCA – National Aeronautical constructions Company).
The CNCA had an assembly line located near Lisbon and not very far from Montijo Air base. This company was one of the Government-private joint ventures set up by the reforms reported above.
With the experience from the production, assembly and test flight of the Tiger Moth, the CNCA was able to undertake a more ambitious task: the production of a modern fighter aircraft.
The aim of the fighter aircraft program was twofold: obviously the equipment of the air defense squadrons but also the acquisition of the ability to design and produce a state-of-the-art fighter.
In order to achieve the second goal, the CNCA and the Portuguese government decided to set up a program that involved the following steps. Firstly to evaluate foreign designs (both those already in service or those still in testing); secondly to acquire a small initial batch of those aircraft and a license to locally produce them, thirdly, after gaining experience both in the production and the operation of the basic aircraft by the air force, to introduce gradual improvements and finally to use all those data to produce a much improved version or even a totally new aircraft, based on the basic aircraft.
The aircraft selected to undergo this program of local production and improvement was the Hawker Fury.
In 1936 an agreement was made that covered the acquisition of an initial batch of 30 aircraft and the production of 70 more.
The Lessons of the Spanish Civil WarBetween 1936 and 1939, a brutal civil war torn apart Spain, Portugal’s neighbor.
The political and military forces in Portugal closely followed both the buildup to the war and the military operations.
Several lessons were learned from that conflict. One of those lessons, regarding the air forces, was the impact of aircraft on the overall conflict.
One of the immediate effects was the change in the equipment plans of the Air Defense Command: the aircraft selected, being a biplane was felt not up to the objective of serving as a basis for the production of a modern fighter.
Another aircraft was needed.
A more modern monoplane of metallic construction, featuring a powerful engine and weapons, was what the Fighter Command now demanded.
Even before the Spanish Civil War, a joint Government, Air Force and CNCA Commission was set up with the task of selecting the next aircraft of the Air defense Command.
In 1938, after a very strenuous selecting and negotiation process, finally the Supermarine Spitfire was selected.
A small initial batch of Spitfires MK.1 was bought in late 1938 and put in a special commissioned test unit; this unit was manned by personnel of both the Air Force and of the CNCA.
The goal of the Test unit, Esquadra 799 (799th Squadron), located in the Montijo Air base, was to evaluate operational use of the aircraft and proposed near and longer term modifications and improvements to the basic aircraft.
By mid-1939, the initial work of the test unit was concluded and a special report was presented to the Government; in this report, it was decided to carry on with the local license production of the Spitfire MK.1 and establish 4 Esquadras tasked with the air defense of Portugal.
The aim of the Portuguese government was the local production of the Spitfire; however the British government did not want to allow the production of the Rolls Royce Merlin in Portugal.
A compromise had to be made; in 1939, the British government made the following proposal: to allow the production of Spitfires but with a new engine (to be developed and manufactured in Portugal); this engine was based on the Bristol Taurus and developed with the aid of some British technicians.
The task of developing and produce the new engine was entrusted to the newly established company called LusoMotores – Motores Aeronáuticos (Luso Engines- Aeronautical engines). This was another of the Government -private joint ventures, set up to develop the national armament industry.
The new Taurus, renamed Trovão (thunder), achieved its operational status in late 1939, early 1940; the tests of fitting the engine with the modified spitfire airframe was carried out in the early months of 1940.
By mid-1940 the new aircraft finished its tests and a small batch of pre-production aircraft was built at the CNCA.
In August of 1940, the first production aircraft received its official name: the CNCA C-2 Falcão (Falcon) and was accepted by the Air Force- Air Defense Command.
Below we see a color profile of the first Falcão prototype