4th Artillery Regiment (Portugal)

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4th Artillery Regiment
Regimento de Artilharia N.º 4
Active1917–present
Country Portugal
BranchArmy
TypeField artillery
Part ofRapid Reaction Brigade
BarracksLeiria
MottosStrong and Loyal (Fortes e Leais)
Anniversaries29 June
EngagementsWorld War I
Portuguese Colonial War
Decorations Officer of Order of the Tower and Sword
WebsiteOfficial Website
Commanders
Present CommanderCol. Vítor Hugo Dias de Almeida
First Commander (1927)Luís Veríssimo de Azevedo
Insignia
AbbreviationRA4

The 4th Artillery Regiment (Portuguese: Regimento de Artilharia N.º 4, RA4) OTE is a base unit of the Portuguese Army, stationed in Leiria. Presently, the RA4 is dependent on the Rapid Reaction Brigade, whose charges towards Operating System Component Forces.[1][2]

History

1917 - The current RA4 was created in Castelo Branco as the Field Howitzers Regiment or ROC (Regimento de Obuses de Campanha) through the integration of the old field howitzer battalions from 5th Artillery Regiment from Viana do Castelo and from the 6th Artillery Regiment from Porto.
1926 - The ROC was transferred to Leiria, being renamed 4th Artillery Regiment or RA4.
1927 - The unit was renamed 4th Light Artillery Regiment or RAL4 (Regimento de Artilharia Ligeira n.º 4).
1955 - The regiment received the task of organizing the divisional artillery headquarters and two of the three field artillery groups (battalions) of the 3rd Division of the Portuguese Expeditionary Corps, the Portuguese main land forces contribution to NATO.
1961 - With the beginning of the Portuguese Colonial War, the regiment organizes and sends, to Angola, three artillery companies (caçadores type), to act as infantry but composed of military gunners: the 101st, the 119th and the 178th artillery companies.
1963 - The RAL4, while retaining the same name, becomes a training center for military secretariat, especially for personal to be deployed to the Portuguese overseas territories in Africa.
1975 - The unit is renamed Artillery Regiment of Leiria or RAL (Regimento de Artilharia de Leiria). Since 1977, the RAL receives the task of organizing the Field Artillery Group (GAC) of the new 1st Independent Mixed Brigade. For that task it is equipped with 155 mm M109 self-propelled and with M101 towed 105 mm howitzers.
1993 - The unit is again renamed "4th Artillery Regiment" being responsible for the organization and maintenance of the Field Artillery Group of the Independent Airborne Brigade, equipped with M101 and later with M119 Light Gun howitzers.
2005 - As part of the reorganization of the Portuguese Army, the Rapid Reaction Brigade (ex-Airborne Brigade) ceased to have organic field artillery, and its Field Artillery Group is transferred to the Intervention Brigade (BrigInt). Following this reorganization, given the deactivation of the old BrigInt's artillery unit, the RA4's Field Artillery Group's became the sole towed field artillery operational unit of the Portuguese Army.
2009 - The 5th Artillery Regiment raised a new Field Artillery Group, which is attributed to the BrigInt. The RA4's Field Artillery Group is re-integrated in the Rapid Reaction Brigade.

Equipment

Model Image Origin Type Notes
Infantry Weapons
Glock 17 Gen 5  Austria Semi-automatic pistol Service pistol.[3]
FN SCAR L STD  Belgium Assault rifle Standard service rifle.[3]
FN Minimi Mk3  Belgium Light machine gun Standard light machine gun.[3]
Browning M2  United States Heavy machine gun Used on tripods and mounted on vehicles.
Carl Gustav M2  Sweden Recoilless rifle Modernised in 2020 by the UAGME.
FN40GL  Belgium Under barrel grenade launcher Purchased in 2019, used with the FN SCAR L or individually.[3]
Artilley
Tampella B  Finland 120mm towed mortar 9 are operated by the Heavy Fire Battery of the Field Artillery Group.[4]
L119 LG  United Kingdom Towed howitzer 21 acquired between 1998 and 1999, succeeding to the M101A1 / M101A1L.

18 in service, it can be transported by the EH-101 helicopter.

Ordnance QF 25-pounder United Kingdom Ceremonial cannon / former field gun 3 units used for a ceremonial.
Command and Control
Raytheon AFATDS

Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System

 –  United States Automated command and control system Automated command-and-control software for coordinating, planning, and executing fire support.[5]
Elbit Systems Coral-CR  Israel Binocular with laser rangefinder Used by artillery and mortar advanced observation units for ISTAR (Intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance) missions.[6]
Tactical Vehicles
HMMWV M1025A2  United States 4×4 armoured vehicle Known in the army as the Auto Blindado Reconhecimento 1.25 ton, and this variant is the mf/00.[7]
Mitsubishi L200  Japan 4×4 utility vehicle Army designation: TG4 Mitsubishi 4x4 L200 MF/08.[8]
Land Rover Defender  United Kingdom 4×4 command vehicle Army designation: Land Rover Defender 90 TD SW E 4×4 MF/08.[8]
Toyota Land Cruiser HZJ73  Japan

 Portugal (licence)

 4×4 utility vehicle Assembly in the Portuguese Toyota factory, Salvador Caetano.[9][10]

Army designation: Toyota Land Cruiser D 4×4 MF/01.

Iveco 40.10 WM  Italy

 Portugal (local modification)

 4×4 light tactical truck Army designation: mA/89-90.
Iveco 90.17 WM  Italy 4×4 tactical truck Army designation: mA/91.[8]
Mercedes-Benz Unimog 1100  Germany 4×4 tactical truck Variants with or without winch. Used to tow L119 LG howitzers.[11]
Unimog 1750L  Germany 4×4 tactical truck Variants with or without winch.[8]
RMMV TGS 26.440 BB CH  Germany 4×4 tactical truck Purchase in 2023 as part of a batch of 61 trucks, 13 of which have a modular armoured cab for general transport.[12]
MAN 10.224  Germany 4×4 tactical truck Army Designation: Auto TG 4 ton. TP20.[8]
DAF YA 4440D  Netherlands

 Portugal (partial assembly)

 4×4 tactical truck Army designation: Auto TG 5 ton DAF YA 4440D.[13]

Awards and decorations

References

  1. "Regimento de Artilharia N.º 4". Archived from the original on 21 June 2017.
  2. "ARTILHARIA PORTUGUESA RUMA À LITUÂNIA | Operacional" (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 29 September 2021.
  3. "Portuguese Army advances its soldier modernisation effort". Default. 24 March 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2026.
  4. "𝐃𝐢𝐚 𝐝𝐨 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚 𝐧.º 𝟒: 𝐌𝐞𝐦ó𝐫𝐢𝐚, 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢çã𝐨 𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐝ã𝐨".
  5. "Portuguese Army seeks to boost its field artillery by 2030". Default. Archived from the original on 10 February 2025. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
  6. "Revista Armas Combinadas 2020" (PDF).
  7. "Recrutamento Militar - Marinha | Exército | Força Aérea". recrutamentomilitar.bud.gov.pt (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2 February 2026.
  8. "Regimento de Artilharia 5 - Meios". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  9. "PoADU - Portuguese Aerospace & Defence Update". PoADU - Portuguese Aerospace & Defence Update. 17 November 2009. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  10. "Veículos Táticos Militares". Rodasa Tecnologias, Lda. (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  11. "Unimog com obuseiro L119 de 105mm". Pinterest. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
  12. "O Exército Português reforça a sua capacidade de Comando e Controlo Terrestre com novas Viaturas Táticas Médias MAN | MAN". MAN Portugal (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 8 June 2026.
  13. "DAF YA-4440DT and UNIMOG - Portuguese Army".

Sources

Regimento de Artilharia n.º 4 - translated http://www.exercito.pt/SITES/RA4/Paginas/default.aspx Archived 28 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine - translated https://web.archive.org/web/20150924020310/http://www.g-sat.net/showthread.php?444233-Historia-Regimento-de-Artilharia-n%C2%BA-4-(Leiria) - translated