The Portuguese government announced the investment of 200 million euros for the acquisition of 12 A-29N Super Tucano aircraft from Embraer on December 12.
A resolution of the council of ministers approved the investment in the fleet of advanced training and close air support aircraft in the variant that meets NATO specifications.
The amount also includes a flight simulator, spare parts, and services. The Portuguese aerospace industry will participate in the manufacture of the aircraft, but it is not yet clear what the level of involvement will be.
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Embraer has important facilities in Portugal, such as the company OGMA, and had already announced investments so that support for the A-29 and also the C-390 for European customers will be carried out in the country.
First customer for the Super Tucano in Europe
The purchase of the A-29N by Portugal has been expected since July, when the Council of Ministers began technical and financial discussions with Embraer.
With the future agreement to be signed, Portugal will become the first customer for the Super Tucano in Europe, a goal that has been slow to achieve, since the aircraft has been in service with other countries since 2003.
The A-29N variant was designed precisely to overcome these obstacles and incorporates equipment and systems that allow it to interact with other NATO aircraft.
Embraer is reportedly negotiating the sale of the Super Tucano to the Netherlands, but the status of the talks is unknown.
Up until the publication of this article, Embraer had not released a statement on the matter.
