Oeiras, Portugal, March 25, 2026 (Lusa) – Portugal and Slovakia signed a military-technical cooperation agreement on Tuesday, with Slovakia’s deputy prime minister and defence minister expressing interest in Portuguese drones and KC-390 aircraft.
The ceremony took place at the São Julião da Barra Fort in Oeiras, where Defence Minister Nuno Melo and Slovakia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Robert Kalinak signed the document.
“In the European Union (EU), we are well aware of the need to strengthen the European pillar of NATO's defence. This must happen, firstly, in our countries and through agreements between European countries that can lead to greater and better development of defence industries,” Melo said.
Standing beside the Portuguese minister, Kaliňák said he was “very happy” and, when asked about which Portuguese military capabilities were of interest to his country, he mentioned drone production.
He said he visited Beyond Vision on Tuesday and would visit the Tekever facilities on Wednesday, two leading Portuguese companies in the production of these unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
“Portugal developed this technology even before the start of the war in Ukraine. We are very interested in this type of cooperation”, Kaliňák said.
Slovakia's deputy prime minister said he also visited OGMA– Indústria Aeronáutica de Portugal, an aeronautical sector company that maintains aircraft engines for the Slovak armed forces.
Slovakia recently acquired F-16 Block 70/72 aircraft and Kaliňák anticipated greater cooperation between OGMA and the Slovak company also dedicated to maintenance in this area.
Finally, he said he was negotiating the purchase of the KC-390 multipurpose military transport aircraft with Brazil's Embraer.
Portugal acquires these aircraft from Embraer, which are then equipped with national technology to adapt them to NATO and EU standards, with the Portuguese state earning around €10 million in profit per sale.
During this visit to Portugal, Slovakia's deputy prime minister will also visit Air Base No. 11 (BA11) in Beja, home to the 506 Squadron – “Rinocerontes” (Rhinos) - where national and foreign pilots are trained to operate the KC-390.
Kaliňák also noted that at the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022, Portugal sent troops to a multinational NATO brigade in the Lešť military training area in Slovakia, and thanked them for this contribution.
There are currently 123 Portuguese soldiers in that country, equipped with Leopard tanks and Pandur wheeled vehicles.
Portugal's defence minister said there are military areas in which Portugal is “highly competitive” and others where Slovakia “has a very strong tradition,” but where Portuguese industry is “missing or deficient,” such as ammunition production.
“This is an area where we can learn from the Slovaks and where we are always receptive to attracting foreign investment,” he said.
Melo has announced that Portugal would have an ammunition factory, in which the government intends to have a stake of between 35% and 51%. The investment should be around €45 million and create “more than 100 jobs”.
The minister added that Portugal led in fields such as drones and was good at what it does.
“When we are forced to strengthen the European defence pillar of NATO and produce more in Europe, we are, at the same time, defining areas, establishing partnerships and thinking about the future, to depend much more on ourselves than in the past, when we depended too much on others. Therefore, in the Portuguese case, we are modernising the armed forces, not simply buying equipment as happened so often in the past,” he said, pointing out that this type of investment aims to generate jobs and boost the national economy.
ARL/LYT // ADB.
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