Drone Rules for Base de Submarinos Almirante Castro e Silva
Classified as an ultra-restricted Strategic Naval Fleet Command, High-Intensity Military Port, and Critical Maritime Security Zone. Civilian drone flights are completely banned over the entire island base, the naval piers, and its surrounding Guanabara Bay maritime buffer zones.
Situated strategically on the Ilha de Mocanguê inside Guanabara Bay, this tightly restricted naval base provides direct logistical, maintenance, and operational support to the Navy’s active fleet of conventional attack submarines, as well as specialized deep-sea diving and submarine rescue units.
Operating an unauthorized civilian drone near this critical naval facility is a severe federal offense due to intense safety and military constraints:
Severe Air Traffic and Bridge Proximity: Geographically, Mocanguê Island sits immediately adjacent to the Rio-Niterói Bridge (BR-101), one of the most critical and heavily traveled highway structures in Brazil. Furthermore, the airspace directly overlaps with the low-altitude helicopter corridors and commercial aircraft approach paths for Santos Dumont Airport (SDU), which is located just a few kilometers to the south across the bay. A drone operating here presents an immediate, catastrophic threat to both heavy maritime air transit and highway safety.
Tactical Force Protection and Counter-Surveillance: Because BACS serves as the active port for tactical naval forces, any unauthorized aerial observation, mapping, or photography is treated instantly as a threat to critical defense infrastructure and military espionage. The base tracks all nearby activity to prevent the collection of intelligence regarding submarine acoustic maintenance or deployment schedules.
Active Electromagnetic and Anti-Drone Defenses: To protect its command networks and sensitive communications arrays, the facility utilizes active electronic warfare defenses. Unauthorized drones attempting to cross the shoreline will face immediate automated signal interception and jamming countermeasures, resulting in a total loss of control and an unrecoverable drop into the deep shipping channels.
The entire land perimeter, shipyards, and naval channels are heavily guarded by the Brazilian Marine Corps (Fuzileiros Navais) and monitored by naval patrol craft. Any civilian drone attempting to breach the island's airspace without direct, high-level clearance from the Naval Command and a specialized tactical waiver filed via DECEA's SARPAS NG will be instantly neutralized. Operators face immediate arrest by military authorities, equipment confiscation, and severe federal prosecution.