In an interview with the Lusa regarding his two-year term in office, the admiral anticipated the priorities that the Navy will present to the next Government in 2024, the year in which the force system will be discussed again.
The purchase of two more submarines "in six years" is in the plans of Gouveia and Melo, who argues that the Portuguese geographical area "requires it".
"Submarines, in addition, allow us to observe the environment without disturbing the environment, because no one knows they are there, and this is a very useful function for the State, which intends to control its sea in a discreet way and discover activities that you can't find out any other way because you don't have a surface capacity that can really occupy such a large space", explained Gouveia e Melo.
These two new submarines, which CEMA wants to be smaller, would join the Trident and the Arpão, the only two submarines the Navy currently has, which poses difficulties when one of them requires repairs.
As for the frigates, Gouveia e Melo pointed out that the current Military Programming Law already provides funds for their renewal and said that they intend to modernise "two more within three years".
The contract will soon be signed for the acquisition of two refuelling ships, which will simultaneously be "logistics transport ships", which "saves investment but gives more capacity" to the sector, he added.
Gouveia e Melo also highlighted the acquisition of the six Ocean Patrol Vessels (NPO), whose contract signing was scheduled for the 29th.
"We are in a crucial area for logistical movements between the Americas and Europe and this is crucial for NATO's logistical movement. If we Portuguese, who have the Azores, do not actively participate in the protection of these maritime lines of communication, be they data, transporting cargo or people, we are somehow diminishing our strategic value within the coalition itself", he argued.