Brazil's New Submarine: A Franco-Brazilian Milestone

French President Emmanuel Macron and counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva celebrated the launch of Brazil's third French-designed submarine, which will help secure the country's immense coastline, dubbed the "Blue Amazon."

The two men highlighted the importance of their countries' defense partnership during a time of major global unrest, at a ceremony at Brazil's ultra-modern naval base in Itaguaí near Rio de Janeiro.

It is here that Brazil built the Tonelero, the third of four planned conventional diesel attack submarines, with training, equipment, and technical assistance from France.

Under cloudy skies, the submarine was christened by First Lady Rosangela da Silva, nicknamed "Janja."

France and Brazil's defense ties "will allow two important countries, each on a continent, to prepare so that we can face this adversity, without worrying about any type of war, because we are defenders of peace," said Lula.

Despite differences, notably on the Ukraine war, Macron said "the great peaceful powers of Brazil and France" had "the same vision of the world."

Macron is on a whirlwind tour of Brazil, a major economic ally, which kicked off with the launch of a plan to raise over a billion dollars in green investments to protect the Brazilian and Guyanese Amazon.

The visit, the first by a French president to Latin America's economic giant in over a decade, is also a move to reset ties which had deteriorated significantly under former president Jair Bolsonaro.

The construction of the submarines was outlined in a 2008 deal between Lula and former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, which also included the purchase of 50 Caracal helicopters.

The fourth submarine, the Angostura, will be launched in 2025.

Brazil is also planning to build its first nuclear-powered submarine, the Alvaro Alberto, a project that has suffered significant delays, mainly due to budget constraints.