Campo de Provas Brigadeiro Velloso – CPBV ( en, Brigadeiro Velloso Testing Range) is a large complex of the
Brazilian Armed Forces located in
Serra do Cachimbo ( en, Smoking Pipe Mountains), in the southern part of
Pará
Pará is a state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas and Roraima. To the northwest are the borders of Guyana ...
,
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. It is named after
Haroldo Coimbra Velloso (1920–1969), a soldier and politician who was responsible for the complex's creation.
It includes
Cachimbo Airport
Cachimbo Airport is the military airport serving Campo de Provas Brigadeiro Velloso, a large Testing and Training complex of the Brazilian Armed Forces located in Serra do Cachimbo ( en, Smoking pipe Mountains), in the southern part of the state ...
.
History
Campo de Provas Brigadeiro Velloso has an area of 21,588 km
2 and perimeter of 653 km within the limits of four municipalities:
Altamira
Altamira may refer to:
People
*Altamira (surname)
Places
* Cave of Altamira, a cave in Cantabria, Spain famous for its paintings and carving
*Altamira, Pará, a city in the Brazilian state of Pará
* Altamira, Huila, a town and municipality in ...
,
Itaituba
Itaituba is a city and municipality located in the state of Pará, Brazil, and one of the most important socioeconomic centers in the western region of the State.
Location
Itaituba is the fifteenth largest city (by population) in the State of ...
,
Jacareacanga
Jacareacanga is a municipality in the state of Pará in the Northern region of Brazil. It is at the very centre of South America.
Conservation
The municipality contains the Crepori National Forest, created in 2006.
It contains 14% of the Tapa ...
, and
Novo Progresso
The complex has its origins on an airfield opened on January 20, 1954 when the
Brazilian Government
The politics of Brazil take place in a framework of a federal presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. The political and administrative o ...
saw the need for a support facility for aircraft flying between the
Northern Region (such as to the
Amazon Rainforest) and the
Southeast Region of Brazil (and to
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...
and
São Paulo
São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...
). Before the construction of the airfield travel was only possible by following a much longer coastal route.
In the 1970s work was done in order to upgrade the facility to be a center of weapons testing for
Brazilian Armed Forces with the purpose of the development of nuclear weapons. Rumored to have been carried out with technological aid from the Iraqi government,
it was initially ordered by military dictator Ernesto Geisel and ran from 1975 to 1990. At its conclusion, the work was characterized by the
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
as such, "Brazilian physicists have concluded that the military was one or two years away from having the materials - 20 to 35 pounds of weapons-grade enriched uranium - to make a Hiroshima-type bomb."
In 1990 it was decommissioned in a ceremony for media and scientific officials by the then
President of Brazil
The president of Brazil ( pt, Presidente do Brasil), officially the president of the Federative Republic of Brazil ( pt, Presidente da República Federativa do Brasil) or simply the ''President of the Republic'', is the head of state and head o ...
Fernando Collor de Mello
Fernando Affonso Collor de Mello (; born 12 August 1949) is a Brazilian politician who served as the 32nd president of Brazil from 1990 to 1992, when he resigned in a failed attempt to stop his impeachment trial by the Brazilian Senate. Collor ...
who symbolically threw a shovel full of concrete into an over 1,000-ft shaft of steel reinforced concrete which would have been the site of a nuclear detonation had the Brazilians been successful. A week later
Fernando Collor de Mello
Fernando Affonso Collor de Mello (; born 12 August 1949) is a Brazilian politician who served as the 32nd president of Brazil from 1990 to 1992, when he resigned in a failed attempt to stop his impeachment trial by the Brazilian Senate. Collor ...
had this to say to the
United Nations General Assembly
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...
, "Brazil today rejects the idea of any test that implies nuclear explosions, even for peaceful ends
''.
The facility now houses accommodations for 240 military personnel and a hospital for not only service members, but the local civilian populace too. In addition, the
maintains a research facility nearby
Accidents and incidents
*7 December 1960: a
Real Transportes Aéreos
Real Transportes Aéreos (acronym to Redes Estaduais Aéreas Limitadas, literal translation: State Air Networks Limited) was a Brazilian airline founded in 1945. It was merged into Varig in 1961, when Varig bought the Consórcio Real-Aerovias-Nac ...
Curtiss C-46A-60-CK Commando registration PP-AKF en route from
Cuiabá
Cuiabá () is the capital city of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. It is located near the geographical centre of South America. Also, it forms the metropolitan area of Mato Grosso, along with the neighbouring town of Várzea Grande. The city ...
to
Manaus-Ponta Pelada crashed in
Cachimbo mountains. The No.2 engine failed during the flight, and as altitude was lost the crew began to jettison cargo. But the aircraft continued its descent leading to a crash and subsequent fire, as well as the death of 15 passengers and crew.
*29 September 2006: a damaged
Embraer Legacy 600
The Embraer Legacy 600 is a business jet derivative of the Embraer ERJ 145 family of commercial jet aircraft.
Design and development
The Legacy 600 (market designation adopted after 2005) is based on the ERJ-135 model. It was launched in 2000 ...
performed a successful emergency landing on
Cachimbo Airport
Cachimbo Airport is the military airport serving Campo de Provas Brigadeiro Velloso, a large Testing and Training complex of the Brazilian Armed Forces located in Serra do Cachimbo ( en, Smoking pipe Mountains), in the southern part of the state ...
, after a mid-air collision with a
Gol Transportes Aéreos
Gol may refer to:
Places
*
* Gol, Gilan, a village in Gilan Province, Iran
* Gol, South Khorasan, a village in South Khorasan Province, Iran
* Gol, Bukan, a village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran
* Gol, Chaldoran, a village in West Azerbaijan ...
Boeing 737-800
The Boeing 737 Next Generation, commonly abbreviated as 737NG, or 737 Next Gen, is a narrow-body aircraft powered by two jet engines and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Launched in 1993 as the third generation derivative of the Boein ...
,
flight 1907. The Boeing subsequently crashed in the jungle killing all 154 people on board.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Campo De Provas Brigadeiro Velloso
Brazilian Air Force
Buildings and structures in Pará
Nuclear test sites
Brazilian nuclear test sites
Military installations of Brazil
Underground nuclear weapons testing
1954 establishments in Brazil