Aerospace Operations Command

The Aerospace Operations Command (Comando de Operações Aeroespaciais, COMAE) is a joint command of the Brazilian Armed Forces in charge of planning, coordinating and conducting the employment of aerospace assets. Although part of the Brazilian Air Force's structure, it includes personnel from the Brazilian Army and Navy. COMAE is the central body in the Brazilian Aerospace Defense System (Sistema de Defesa Aeroespacial Brasileiro, SISDABRA) and as such, it is directly responsible for the aerospace defense of Brazilian territory and may control Air Force, Army and Navy units.

SISDABRA detects aerial threats through Integrated Air Defense and Air Traffic Control Centers (Centros Integrados de Defesa Aérea e Controle de Tráfego Aéreo, CINDACTA), an infrastructure it shares with the Department of Airspace Control's civilian activities. The central body also controls communications and command and control systems and can then direct active aerospace defenses (interceptor aircraft and air defense forces).

Unlike its predecessor, the Brazilian Aerospace Defense Command (Comando de Defesa Aeroespacial Brasileiro, COMDABRA), COMAE coordinates missions beyond aerospace defense, such as airlift, search and rescue, maritime patrol and joint Ministry of Defense operations. Its role within the Air Force is comparable to the Army's Land Operations Command and the Navy's Naval Operations Command.

Organization
Created in 2017, COMAE replace COMDABRA, whose organization was planned since 1980, as a central body for SISDABRA, and implemented from 1989 onward. The Brazilian Air Force defines SISDABRA as a set of organizations with assets or activities which may be employed to ensure sovereignty in Brazilian airspace. It encompasses surveillance (long-range radars), telecommunications, command and control and active and passive aerospace defense systems from all three branches of the Armed Forces and even from public administration. These elements may be permanent or occasional links in the system. The central body exercises "operational control" over the links, which is a more limited authority than "operational command". For instance, the central body has no logistical responsibility over the forces it employs, but dictates technical norms to ensure their interoperability.

COMDABRA was subordinated to the General Air Operations Command (Comando-Geral de Operações Aéreas, COMGAR) and composed of Air Force, Navy and Army personnel; the Ministry of Defense's 2011 Joint Operations Doctrine therefore defined COMDABRA and the Cybernetic Defense Command (Comando de Defesa Cibernética, COMDCIBER) as the only permanently active joint commands. Other joint commands may be activated in moments of crisis. The permanent status of aerospace defense owes itself to the very short reaction time needed to resist aerial threats.

The Air Force's 2017 reorganization disbanded COMGAR and replaced COMDABRA with COMAE, which is subordinated to the Air Force's commander. COMAE remained as a joint command and SISDABRA's central body, and is therefore directly responsible for the aerospace defense of Brazilian territory. But its field of activities was enlarged to cover all Air Force missions and not just aerospace defense. Its mission is officially defined as the "planning, coordination and conduction of the employment of National Aerospace Power". As the Air Force's employment command, it is comparable to the Army's Land Operations Command and the Navy's Naval Operations Command.

COMAE is headed by a tenente-brigadeiro (four-star Air Force general) and composed of a Cabinet, Command Support Sections and a Joint General Staff. The latter, commanded by a major-brigadeiro (three-star Air Force general), is composed of a Joint Aerospace Operations Center (Centro Conjunto de Operações Aeroespaciais, CCOA), a Space Operations Center (Centro de Operações Espaciais, COPE), a Joint Operational Intelligence Center (Centro Conjunto Operacional de Inteligência, CCOI) and an Institutional Planning, Budget and Management Center (Centro de Planejamento, Orçamento e Gestão Institucionais, CPOGI). As of 2023, 24 Army officers and sergeants served in this structure, including a brigade general in command of the CCOI.

Infrastructure
The Air Force's four CINDACTAs are among SISDABRA's key permanent links. Their radar coverage and command and control assets inform the CCOA of the situation in their respective airspaces, allowing COMAE to permanently track all aerial movements within Brazilian airspace.

This infrastructure is double-purpose, as it is shared with the Brazilian Airspace Control System (Sistema de Controle do Espaço Aéreo Brasileiro, SISCEAB), whose main body is the Department of Airspace Control. The same personnel and budget serve military and civilian purposes. This Brazilian peculiarity was inherited from the pre-1999 Ministry of the Air Force, which centralized military and civilian air traffic control activities which developed separately in other countries.

Integrating warship radars to SISDABRA was still a hypothesis when the topic was examined by a Naval War School (Escola de Guerra Naval) monograph in 2010. On the other hand, the SABER anti-aircraft artillery radars were developed from the very beginning with a possible integration to SISDABRA in mind.

SISDABRA, SISCEAB, SisGAAz (Blue Amazon Management System, Sistema de Gerenciamento da Amazônia Azul) and SISFRON (Integrated Border Management System, Sistema Integrado de Monitoramento de Fronteiras) are the Armed Forces' major surveillance and control systems. A hypothetical integration between SISDABRA, SisGAAz (which is organized by the Navy) and SISFRON (organized by the Army) is discussed since the 2012 National Defense White Paper.

After COMAE's creation, it was charged with managing Brazilian military communication satellites and future low orbit satellite constellations. Two Space Operations Centers (COPEs) are part of its structure: the main center (COPE-P) in Brasília and the secondary center (COPE-S) in Rio de Janeiro, both of which form the land component of the Satellite Military Communications System (Sistema de Comunicações Militares por Satélite, SISCOMIS) and operate the Geostationary Satellite for Defense and Strategic Communications.

Aircraft
The Air Force's air defense and airborne early warning and control units are permanent links in SISDABRA. Interceptor aircraft in air defense units are active aerospace defense assets. Even before COMDABRA's founding, this role was covered by Mirage III fighters, the first supersonic aircraft in the region. Shortly afterwards, they were complemented by F-5 fighters. After the Mirage III's deactivation, the Air Force leased the Mirage 2000 until its FX-2 Project defined the F-5's successor, which was the Gripen NG.

Once COMAE replaced COMDABRA, it took over activities previously conducted by COMGAR and the four numbered "Air Forces". Therefore, its missions include airlift, search and rescue, maritime patrols and joint Ministry of Defense Operations. For example, it is COMAE which offers aircraft when requested for search and rescue missions. In 2023 COMAE formed the Component Air Force within the federal government's response to the Yanomami humanitarian crisis.

Naval Aviation may be an occasional link in SISDABRA. The Navy's 2004 Basic Doctrine envisioned the possibility of an "Aerospace Defense Naval Force" to destroy aircraft carriers and enemy aircraft in their bases. What it had in mind was the São Paulo aircraft carrier and its air wing. Aerial operations in this carrier were brief, but even after its decomissioning, the 1st Interceptor and Strike Fighter Squadron, created for carrier operations, remained active. As of 2020, participating in the Brazilian air defense system was still one of the squadron's ambitions and it was increasing its air-to-air combat training.

Anti-aircraft artillery
Anti-aircraft defense is another aspect of active aerospace defense. The Air Force infantry's 1st Anti-Aircraft Defense Brigade and the Army's Anti-Aircraft Defense Command are permanent links within SISDABRA. The Navy's anti-aircraft defense may participate as an occasional link, either through ships used in local anti-aircraft defense or through the Brazilian Marine Corps' Aerotactical Control and Anti-Aircraft Defense Battalion. In any case, the Army, Air Force and marines exclusively employ short-range air defense systems, and medium range/medium altitude defenses are a gap in their capabilities. The Ministry of Defense has an ongoing project to acquire anti-aircraft missiles of this kind for all three branches of the Armed Forces.

The relationship between aerospace defenses in multiple branches can be demonstrated by COMAE's 2019 Anti-aircraft Shield Exercise. Air Force and Navy aircraft simulated and aerial attack, which was detected by the usual surveillance systems aswell as ship radars from the Atlântico helicopter carrier and Liberal frigate. Army and Air Force anti-aircraft defenses simulated their reaction as part of SISDABRA.