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The expectation that technological returns from defense expenditure through acquisition, international cooperation and domestic research would further national development underappreciates the different technological dynamic of the armed services. This paper outlines the technological dynamic the stems from fighting in the air, at sea and on land, exemplifying consequences for the case of acquisition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After examining the Malvinas War and its strategic, tactical, and operational lessons, we present some of the Army's reflections concerning this issue. The paper shows the influence of corporative interests and the culture of the military institution on the changes that the organization thought necessary to implement after the conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers a structural answer to the question: what are Brazil's armed forces for? This leads to the appreciation of Brazil's strategic and domestic contexts of the use of armed force. It considers the constitutional imperatives and the terms of international agreements that curtail Brazilian alternatives. It argues that Brazil has only three concrete tasks for its armed forces: the defense of its territory, the participation in international missions, and the guarantee of law and order, being constrained further to the use of conventional weapons. It answers the question it began with as follows: Brazil's armed forces exist to sustain the capacity of carrying out these tasks over time and at any time. It concludes that how and how well a Brazilian defense policy sustains this capacity are the paramount criteria for its conception, management and evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]