Brazil is considering acquiring the Israeli PULS rocket system from Elbit Systems. If ordered, Brazil would become the first country in all of South America with a long-range precision strike capability.
Negotiations over the PULS procurement also touch on the participation of Brazilian industry in the army modernisation programme, according to Zona Militar — specifically AEL Sistemas and Avibras, with a potential expansion of Brazil’s existing Astros II MLRS also under consideration.
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The PULS offer from Elbit Systems is part of a broader proposal that also covers the procurement of 155mm ATMOS self-propelled howitzers, which were never ordered despite earlier political discussions in the country.
Defense Express notes that while the Astros II is sometimes cited as capable of firing to 150 km using the SS-150 rocket, that munition is not actually in service with Brazil’s armed forces. Its development by Avibras began in the 1980s, was frozen in the 1990s, and despite a resumption in the 2010s, was revised again in spring 2026.
Avibras currently states it is developing a next-generation ballistic rocket designated AV-SS-100 with a range of up to 100 km — though the only publicly available material on this newer development is an AI-generated image.
It is also worth noting that Brazil has been developing a cruise missile, the AV-TM 300, intended for launch from Astros II. Despite successful flight tests, series production ran into serious difficulties following the company’s financial collapse, which ended in a restructuring into the new entity Avibras Aeroco.
Brazil’s Ministry of Defense interest in the PULS system from Elbit Systems — and ideally in integrating its rockets into the Astros II with subsequent localisation — is therefore entirely understandable. PULS with the EXTRA rocket can engage targets at 150 km, while the future Predator Hawk extends that to 300 km.
If the programme goes ahead, Brazil’s army would gain a decisive firepower advantage, as no other country in Latin America operates comparable rocket systems. It could also trigger a regional arms race, with neighbouring countries potentially looking toward the American HIMARS, the Korean K239 Chunmoo, or even the future French Thundart.
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