I've just returned from a visit to Embraer's headquarters and aircraft manufacturing facilities in Brazil where the company was, among other things, pitching the features of its Super Tucano light attack/trainer aircraft. Yup, the same bird that's currently in the USAF's light attack contest that's set to wrap up in June. That effort calls for a maneuverable, armored, twin ejection seat turboprop capable of operating from austere, dirt runways. Here's a clip of the Super Tucano doing just that during a USAF fly off for the competitors in the light attack contest that was recently held in Truth or Consequences, N.M.
The Air Force wants to buy a handful of this class of plane so that its pilots can train allies with nascent Air Force's such as Afghanistan how to use them in fighting insurgencies. The Super T is a cool bird, with twin .50 caliber machine guns mounted in the wings and the ability to carry a variety of bombs, rockets and sensor pods all on a plane that's cheap and easy to operate.
