August 20,
2008: Chile has ordered twelve Brazilian
Super Tucano warplanes. Earlier this year, Ecuador had ordered 24. The Super
Tucano is a five ton, single engine,
single seat aircraft. It is basically a prop driven trainer that is equipped
for combat missions. The aircraft can carry up to 1.5 tons of weapons,
including 12.7mm machine-guns, bombs and missiles. The aircraft cruises at
about 500 kilometers an hour and can stay in the air for about 6.5 hours per sortie.
Colombia is
already using Super Tucanos for counter-insurgency work The aircraft is also used for border patrol.
The Super Tucano costs $9 million each, and come in one or two seat versions.
The bubble canopy provides excellent visibility. This, coupled with its slow
speed (versus jets), makes it an excellent ground attack aircraft.
