The Itaguaí Construções Navais S.A. known as ICN, is a Brazilian state-owned defence company specialized in naval-based platforms and naval nuclear engineering, founded on 21 August 2009. The company employs nearly 2,000 people.

History

The company was created in 2009 to lead the development of projects for the naval modernization plan of the

Brazilian Armed Forces The Brazilian Armed Forces (, ) are the unified Military, military forces of the Brazil, Federative Republic of Brazil. Consisting of three Military branch, service branches, it comprises the Brazilian Army (including the Brazilian Army Aviati ...

, mainly of the Submarine Development Program (PROSUB), after Brazil and France signed cooperation agreements for the construction of the new conventional submarines for the Brazilian Navy, including technical assistance for the development of the hull of the first Brazilian nuclear submarine, ''Álvaro Alberto'', to be launched in 2029-30.

Idealization of the company

The company was created in 2009, when the Presidents of Brazil and France,

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (; born Luiz Inácio da Silva; 27 October 1945), known Mononym, mononymously as Lula, is a Brazilian politician, trade unionist and former metalworker who has served as the 39th president of Brazil since 2023. A mem ...

and

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa ( ; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. In 2021, he was found guilty of having tried to bribe a judge in 2014 to obtain information ...

, signed the cooperation agreements. ICN would be responsible for receiving the technology of the French diesel-electric submarines from DCNS (now

Naval Group Naval Group is a major French industrial Corporate group, group specializing in navy, naval defense industry, defense design, development and shipbuilding, construction. Its headquarters are located in Paris. Heir to the French naval dockyards ...

), and for the construction of four submarines of the class in Brazilian territory, in the future Madeira Island Submarine Base, in an agreement of

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

10 billion.

Start of operations

The operations started in 2009, when the first group of 31 engineers, 25 officers and 6 civil employees, received theoretical training and the technology in France. In the same year, Brazil and France began the construction of the first of the four Brazilian ''Scorpène''-class submarines, the ''Riachuelo'', at the Naval Group headquarters in

Cherbourg Cherbourg is a former Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French departments of France, department of Manche. It was merged into the com ...

. The first parts were transferred to Brazil in 2012, for integration with the parts built by the ICN in

Itaguaí Itaguaí () is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro and contains several important iron ore loading ports of the world including Ilha Guaiba. Its population was 134,819 in 2020 and its area is 273 km2. The city wa ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

. The development and construction were entirely in the hands of Brazilians in 2013, with the construction of the second submarine, the ''Humaitá'', starting in the same year.

New base and the nuclear submarine

The construction of the submarines ''Tonelero'' and ''Angostura'' started in 2017 and 2018 respectively. In 2020, ICN and the Brazilian Navy inaugurated the Madeira Island Submarine Base, with the objective of continue the construction of the ''Scorpénes'', as well the construction of the Brazilian nuclear submarine fleet, starting with the ''Álvaro Alberto''. The facility is also the base for other Navy boats, such as the Type 209 submarines, for modernization and inspections.

Activities

The company is the only in the Southern Hemisphere and

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

able to design, build and maintain diesel-electric and nuclear submarines.

Submarines and underwater weapons

*Conventional submarines: ''Riachuelo''-class submarine *Nuclear attack submarines: ''Álvaro Alberto''-class

Proposed projects

*Antarctic support ship: competing project for the new research icebreaker of the

Brazilian Antarctic Program The Brazilian Antarctic Program (; PROANTAR) is a program of the Brazilian Navy which has presence in the continent of Antarctica. It coordinates research and the operational support for research in the region. It currently maintains a year-round ...

Organization

The company is controlled by the Brazilian government through the state-owned company Naval Projects Management Company (EMGEPRON) with 59% stake, the

from France holds 41% stake.

Governance

*Chairman and CEO: Renaud Poyet *Executive Vice President, Industrial: Mário Botelho *Executive Vice President, Governance: Daniel Sá *Executive Vice President, Operations: Pierre Dubranna Sources:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shipbuilding Companies Of Brazil Defence companies of Brazil Manufacturing companies of Brazil Shipbuilding companies of Brazil Government-owned companies of Brazil 2009 establishments in Brazil Brazilian brands Companies based in Rio de Janeiro (state)