The Portuguese government recently approved the agreement for the purchase of Brazilian Embraer Super Tucano light attack aircraft, allocating approximately €200 million for this purpose. A firm contract is expected to be signed today, December 16, marking the first order for this aircraft from a European country that is also a NATO member.
Until now, the Super Tucano has only been supplied to countries in South America, Africa, and Asia, serving a total of 20 operator nations, including Brazil. This milestone for the aircraft and Embraer could potentially pave the way for further sales to NATO countries in Europe.
However, this process took nearly six years, as discussions regarding the Super Tucano began back in 2018 when Portugal retired the Alpha Jet A training aircraft, which had been acquired from Germany in 1993.
Initially, this aircraft was intended for training purposes only, but the current focus is on a version that will also include an attack capability - the A-29N. This variant was officially introduced in 2023 and fully complies with NATO standards, including communication and data transmission systems.
Meanwhile, the announced funding of around €200 million likely refers to the approximately €180.5 million mentioned by the country's defense minister, Nuno Melo. This concerns the price for used aircraft. Furthermore, it was revealed back in March 2023 that Portugal intended to purchase 12 used Super Tucanos from Brazil.
The current price for new aircraft, particularly those tailored for NATO, is somewhat different. For instance, a contract for 12 Super Tucanos for Nigeria in 2017 was valued at $593 million, which amounts to $49.4 million per aircraft. Since then, weapon prices have only increased.
On the other hand, this situation may prompt some NATO countries to take a closer look at this aircraft, which is definitely cheaper than many other offerings available in the market. Notably, one of the potential future buyers of the Super Tucano is mentioned to be the Netherlands (it should be noted that Brazil declined to sell to Ukraine despite requests).
Additionally, Embraer has been actively supplying another aircraft to European nations, having received orders for the transport C-390 Millennium from Austria, the Netherlands, and the Czech Republic in recent years. Moreover, Slovakia intends to pay for it with its Zuzana 2 self-propelled howitzers.