Government authorizes Air Force to purchase long-range mobile radar

The Council of Ministers has authorized the Air Force to assume a multi-year commitment and to carry out the expenditure for the acquisition of a long-range mobile radar system, up to a maximum global amount of 22,200,000.00 euros, exempt from value added tax. The authorization is contained in the Council of Ministers Resolution no. 216/2026, published in the Diário da República, 1st series, no. 218, of November 10, 2026, and signed on October 29 by the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro. The resolution takes effect from the date of its approval.

The decree frames the purchase within the Air Force’s primary mission to participate, in an integrated manner, in the military defense of the Republic, and in the obligation to ensure surveillance, detection, identification, intervention, and air command and control capabilities in the airspace under national jurisdiction. Within this framework, the branch contributes to the Integrated Air and Missile Defense System of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

The legal basis invoked is subparagraph e) of paragraph 1 of article 17 and paragraph 1 of article 22 of Decree-Law no. 197/99, of June 8, subparagraph a) of paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law no. 8/2012, of February 21, paragraph 1 of article 11 of Decree-Law no. 127/2012, of June 21, articles 44 to 47 of the Code of Administrative Procedure, and subparagraph g) of article 199 of the Constitution.

Funds split over three years

The maximum expenditure is staggered and has annual limits that cannot be exceeded in each economic year, always excluding VAT:

• 2026 — €20,000,000.00 (by far the heaviest portion)
• 2027 — €1,200,000.00
• 2028 — €1,000,000.00

In 2026, the expenses are met by funds already entered in the Air Force budget. In 2027 and 2028, they will be supported by funds to be entered in the same budget, under funding source 311 — Tax revenues not allocated to co-financed projects.

No Budget reinforcement nor additional ceiling

The resolution expressly determines that there will be no budget reinforcement through the use of provisional appropriations or other centralized appropriations in the Ministry of Finance, nor through chapter 60, managed by the Treasury and Finance Entity, during budget execution. It further establishes that the assumption of these multi-year commitments does not constitute a basis for the allocation of an additional ceiling for 2027 and 2028.

Execution is delegated, with the possibility of sub-delegation, to the member of the Government responsible for the area of national defense, who will be responsible for performing all subsequent acts within the scope of the resolution.

Networked sensors and outdated equipment

The preamble justifies the purchase due to the “rapid degradation” of the global security landscape, marked by the proliferation and intensive use of various aerial threats, which demands a “resilient and flexible” defense capability. NATO’s Integrated Air and Missile Defence (IAMD) policy advocates that surveillance capability integrate active and passive, static and mobile sensors, operating in a network, to ensure persistent coverage and system survivability.

According to the Government, national infrastructures are “mostly composed of legacy technology systems,” which supports the need to acquire a long-range mobile radar to reinforce IAMD capability and ensure “strengthened protection” for Deployed National Forces.

The path was cleared in October: Order No. 12618/2026, from the Minister of National Defense, Nuno Melo, published in the Diário da República, 2nd series, no. 201, of October 16, 2026, revoked Order No. 15258/2025, of December 23, which authorized the Air Force to assume the same expenditure and delegated the powers for subsequent acts to the Chief of Staff of the Air Force. The new resolution replaces that framework with a decision by the Council of Ministers.

What is at stake

The operation represents a commitment of 20 million euros already in the current year, with no room for extraordinary budget reinforcements, and concentrates the response to the obsolescence of national sensors in a single mobile system. For taxpayers, a ceiling of 22.2 million is set along with a prohibition on resorting to centralized allocations; for the defense sector, a long-range acquisition procedure is opened, which will be conducted by the national defense authority.

Source: Diário da República, 1st series, no. 218, of November 10, 2026, Presidency of the Council of Ministers, p. 1 (official reference: Council of Ministers Resolution no. 216/2026).