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New military export model repositions Brazil in the global market by combining diplomacy, industry, and state guarantees in international defense contracts, expanding commercial reach and creating an unprecedented structure for negotiations between governments and Brazilian companies.
The Ministry of Defense has started operating with a formal ritual for defense product exports under the government-to-government model, known by the acronym G2G, opening a new front for international business for the Brazilian industry.
The change was consolidated by Ordinance GM-MD nº 1.456, of March 12, 2026, published on March 18, which regulates how the ministry can act, through linked state-owned companies, in commercial export operations and technical intermediation services related to products manufactured in Brazil.
In practice, the norm creates the administrative path for a foreign public body to contact the Brazilian government and express interest in importing a national defense product.
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This contact can be made by official letter, letter, email, or another equivalent formal means, provided it is signed by a competent authority and addressed to the Secretary of Defense Products.
From then on, the ministry can indicate a linked state-owned company to participate in the operation or receive from the interested country itself the indication of which state-owned company it intends to use in the arrangement.
How the G2G model works in practice
The central point of the ordinance is the separation between the institutional channel of negotiation and who actually manufactures or supplies the product.
According to the official text, the operation occurs through a state-owned company linked to the Ministry of Defense, but the definition of technical intermediation provides for the monitoring, on behalf of the foreign buyer, of contracts signed between this public entity and a Brazilian company from the Defense Industrial Base.
In other words, the state-owned company can act as an institutional bridge for intergovernmental relations, while the supplier remains a private national company.
This format brings Brazil closer to a consolidated practice among major exporters in the military sector, where the state environment serves as a political, diplomatic, and operational guarantor of the negotiation, even when the product comes from the production line of private companies.
The model is adopted in sensitive markets, where contractual predictability, direct dialogue between governments, and trust in delivery and support weigh as much as price and technology.
The Brazilian experience with the Gripen program itself shows how this type of relationship tends to be structured.
The 2014 contract for the development and production of 36 fighters was signed between Saab and the Brazilian government, through the Air Force Command.
The next stage included an agreement between the governments of Brazil and Sweden, formalized in 2015.
This case is often cited because it combines private industry, state commitments, and technology transfer in a negotiation of high strategic sensitivity.
Rules, limits, and guarantees of the new system
Although it strengthens the government’s presence in defense exports, the ordinance also imposes constraints.
The text establishes that the indication of a state-owned company by the Secretary of Defense Products is not binding for the foreign public entity and does not condition the execution of the business.
Furthermore, this indication does not represent an order or mandatory recommendation to the state-owned company, whose administrative, operational, and financial autonomy must be preserved.
Participation can only occur with the consent of the state-owned company itself.
There is also an explicit fiscal safeguard.
According to the regulation, the indication of the state-owned company cannot be used to justify a request for reimbursement, refund, funding, or any other payment by the treasury due to any expenses or losses incurred.
With this, the ministry seeks to enhance the legal security of the model without turning the Union into an automatic absorber of commercial losses resulting from these operations.
Another relevant section assigns to the Secretary of Defense Products the competence to sign memoranda of understanding with linked state-owned companies, establishing general principles of cooperation for these operations.
The Department of Commercial Promotion of the ministry can support the indication process, coordinate with state-owned companies and potential suppliers, and even assist in dialogues with national and international partners.
This design shows that the strategy is not limited to a generic authorization but structures a permanent mechanism to support external sales.
Fidae marks advancement in export strategy
The regulation came into effect a few days before the Ministry of Defense moved on to the next stage.
On April 7, 2026, during Fidae in Chile, the ministry signed memoranda of understanding with Alada, Emgepron, and Imbel, three state-owned companies linked to the ministry and the Armed Forces.
According to the official statement, the instruments aim to enhance legal security and promote export operations of Brazilian defense products in a government-to-government model.
On the occasion, the Secretary of Defense Products, Heraldo Luiz Rodrigues, stated that the agreements ensure legal security so that linked state-owned companies can facilitate sales from private companies to partner governments.
He also mentioned that these operations are essential to strengthen the export of defense products manufactured in Brazil and to provide institutional credibility to the negotiations.
Exports Grow and Expand Global Presence
This movement occurs at a time of expansion in external sales of the sector.
According to the Ministry of Defense, the Brazilian industry sells defense products to 148 countries and currently comprises about 93 exporting companies.
In 2026, just in the first quarter, the country totaled US$ 1.02 billion in authorized exports, surpassing the US$ 457 million of the same period in 2025.
The ministry also reported that the annual authorized volumes reached US$ 1.45 billion in 2023, US$ 1.78 billion in 2024, and US$ 3.4 billion in 2025.
Official data also indicates that the five largest importers of Brazilian defense products are Germany, Bulgaria, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, and Portugal.
In this context, the G2G is treated by the government as a tool to scale contracts of greater complexity, reduce uncertainties for foreign buyers, and elevate Brazil’s diplomatic weight in long-term negotiations.
With the ordinance in effect and the memorandums already signed, the model now has a normative basis, a defined institutional channel, and state-owned companies capable of participating in the structure designed by the ministry.
The expected practical effect is to enhance Brazil’s capacity to compete for international orders under conditions closer to those used by exporting defense powers, with the government acting as a political facilitator and institutional guarantor of business closed by its industrial base.
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