Tecnologia militar e desenvolvimento econômico: Uma análise histórica

This article aims to foster the national defense debate by arguing against the expectative in favor of the linkage between military technology, on one side, and combatant capacity and economic development, on another one. This article argues: i) a definition of technology that entails on a historical analysis of its evolution and a set of social requirements for its development; ii) the aspects of the conduct of war that limit and hamper overall innovation within armed forces; and iii) the causes that explain the historical trends of technological exchanges between military and civilian areas. This article concludes that the armed forces are not the ideal driving-force of innovation within a society. It sustains the argument that Brazilian armed forces modernization should not be according to economic development requirements and that Brazilian non-military industrial and technological promotion should not be dependent of military requirements and demands.