Portugal’s government is investing around €200 million to acquire twelve A-29N Super Tucano aircraft from Brazilian company Embraer. The process will result in “strong participation from the Portuguese industry” at a technological level, says a statement issued today. The Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano (English: Super Toucan), also named ALX or A-29, is a Brazilian turboprop light attack aircraft designed and built by Embraer as a development of the Embraer EMB 312 Tucano. The A-29 Super Tucano carries a wide variety of weapons – including precision-guided munitions – and was designed to be a low-cost system operated in low-threat environments. In addition to its manufacturing in Brazil, Embraer has set up a production line in Portugal through OGMA (the state’s aircraft maintenance company) and the United States, in conjunction with Sierra Nevada Corporation, to manufacture A-29s for export customers.
