Portugal inducts initial Super Tucano aircraft one year after contract signature

Portugal is the launch customer for the A-29N Super Tucano variant designed to meet NATO requirements. The first five of 12 aircraft were delivered to the Portuguese Air Force on 17 December 2025. (Portuguese Air Force)

The Portuguese Air Force (Força Aérea Portuguesa: FAP) has bolstered its training and combat capabilities with the formal commissioning on 17 December of the initial five of 12 A-29N Super Tucano multimission lightweight aircraft from Brazil's Embraer Defense & Security.

The A-29N fleet will, in the coming days, fly to Air Base No 11 in Beja for the formal handover to Squadron 101 ‘Roncos', the FAP said.

During the aircraft handover, the Portuguese Ministry of National Defence (MND) and Embraer signed a letter of intent regarding the installation of an assembly line in Beja, Portugal, for the A-29N aircraft to meet future needs of the country and potential demand from other European nations, through government-to-government negotiations.

Portugal purchased the Super Tucanos and associated flight simulator and logistics support on 16 December 2024, in a deal worth around EUR206 million (USD242 million) as part of the Transformation of National Aerospace Power 2024–2030 plan known as ‘Força Aérea 5.3'.

Deliveries are scheduled to be complete by 2027, Embraer previously told Janes .

For more information on the NATO-standard A-29N, please see Embraer launches NATO-standard Super Tucano .