Gestão da Inovação Tecnológica no Exército Brasileiro: estudo de caso do projeto COBRA

Brazilian Army has been seeking to update itself technologically in what concerns innovations of Military Employment Materials (MEM) that have occurred in recent decades. Due to missions in which the Brazilian Army participated as a member of the Peacekeeping forces of the United Nations and the realization of joint activities with military personnel from other countries, a considerable lag of Brazilian Army Military Employment Materials was observed. The Brazilian Combatant Project (COBRA) was created by Brazilian Army with the objective of expediting the process of adopting new technologies, the development of new uniforms, armaments and individual equipment to the Brazilian combatant. In this context, this study aims to understand and analyze the management of technological innovation in the Brazilian Army COBRA project. This purpose was achieved through a research of qualitative approach, performed via a case study, of interpretive epistemology and inductive logic. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with those responsible for all physical, financial management, acquisitions and distribution of Cobra project deliveries. Results showed an alignment between the innovation management practices adopted in the project and the literature. The analysis highlighted that the non-observance of an innovation plan associated with Research and Development policies is the main weakness of practices in innovation management in the Brazilian Army.