Poland Evaluates A-29 Super Tucano Light Attack Aircraft as Potential Shahed Drone Hunter.

A Polish military delegation led by Major General Ireneusz Nowak visited Embraer Defense & Security facilities in Brazil in mid-January 2026 to evaluate the A-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft. The visit reflects Warsaw’s search for complementary airpower options as the Polish Air Force adapts to threats driven by one-way attack drones and persistent surveillance demands.

Poland has taken a closer look at Brazil’s A-29 Super Tucano as it reassesses how best to counter unmanned aerial threats and stretch its airpower resources. According to Poland’s Defence24, a delegation led by Major General Ireneusz Nowak conducted familiarisation flights and received technical briefings at Embraer Defense & Security facilities in Brazil, examining aircraft configurations, operating costs, and lessons learned from current foreign users, including the Portuguese Air Force.
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The Super Tucano could function as a “hunter” layer inside a wider integrated air defence architecture, particularly against one-way attack drones that exploit gaps between high-end interceptors and short-range ground defences (Picture source: Embraer)

This renewed attention also aligns with Embraer’s own industrial messaging. On 11 November 2025, the company publicly announced that the A-29 Super Tucano is expanding its mission portfolio to counter unmanned aerial systems effectively and affordably, presenting the counter-drone role as a defined operational concept rather than an improvised field adaptation. The approach relies mainly on existing aircraft systems, complemented by new sensors and specific datalinks designed to receive initial target coordinates and provide cueing. For European air forces confronting mass drone employment, the key implication is that a mature platform can be adapted into an airborne counter-UAS layer without requiring the acquisition cycle of an entirely new aircraft type.

The A-29 Super Tucano occupies a distinct niche as a combined light attack and advanced trainer aircraft developed by Embraer as a follow-on to the earlier EMB-312 Tucano concept. In the EMB-314 configuration, it is powered by a single Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-68C turboprop delivering around 1,600 shaft horsepower with Full Authority Digital Engine Control, enabling efficient loiter and reliable performance from dispersed operating locations. The airframe is designed to withstand +7G and -3.5G loads, while its corrosion-protected structure and side-hinged canopy include a windshield rated to resist a bird strike at 270 knots, a relevant feature for low-level missions and frequent sorties. Embraer also highlights long service-life margins, citing up to 18,000 hours for typical training profiles or 12,000 flying hours in operational environments depending on loads and utilisation, positioning the aircraft as a durable fleet asset rather than a niche solution.

In performance terms, the Super Tucano offers a balanced mix of speed and endurance. Publicly available data places maximum speed in the 520 to 593 km/h range, depending on configuration, with a service ceiling around 10,670 m and endurance reaching approximately 6 hours and 30 minutes. Fuel capacity is often cited at roughly 695 litres, while maximum take-off weight is around 5,200 kg. These parameters align with the emerging counter-drone mission set: intercepting targets that often fly at modest speeds and altitudes, where persistence and repeated engagement opportunities can matter more than raw kinematics. In practical terms, a turboprop can be tasked for long coverage windows without consuming scarce fighter hours or driving disproportionate operating costs.

The aircraft’s avionics suite is central to the counter-UAS argument because success depends on detection, cueing, identification, and engagement cycles rather than classical air combat alone. The A-29’s all-glass cockpit is designed around a fourth-generation Human-Machine Interface intended to reduce workload through integrated tracking and attack functions. The avionics set includes Hands-On Throttle and Stick controls, a laser Inertial Navigation System integrated with GPS, a Head-Up Display with an Up-Front Control Panel, and two colour multi-function displays. For targeting and night operations, the platform integrates an Electro-Optical and Infra-Red sensor architecture and can be equipped with night-vision goggles, while Embraer also references an On-Board Oxygen Generating System and Martin-Baker MK-10LCX ejection seats. Tactical V/UHF radios with provisions for data links, combined with video recording systems, support coordination, evidence-based engagement, and post-mission analysis.

Armament options are equally relevant because the counter-drone role requires flexible and cost-effective engagement methods. The A-29 is fitted with two wing-mounted 12.7 mm machine guns, and it features five hardpoints capable of carrying a maximum external load of about 1,500 kg. This enables configurations ranging from rocket pods and general-purpose bombs to guided air-to-ground munitions, as well as lightweight air-to-air weapons for limited intercept tasks. Brazilian Air Force aircraft have been associated with the MAA-1 Piranha short-range infrared-guided missile, illustrating the type of integration possible when the mission requires missile engagements at short distances rather than gun solutions.

A key element of Embraer’s proposition is the aircraft’s training and mission simulation architecture, which supports rapid conversion and efficient pilot progression. The Super Tucano’s embedded training system can provide virtual radar simulation and manage synthetic features such as Radar Warning Receiver, Air Combat Maneuver Instrumentation, and Beyond Visual Range missile simulation through data-link-enabled environments. For Poland, this matters because counter-UAS missions can be manpower-intensive, requiring high sortie rates, frequent intercepts, and crews trained to integrate with ground-based sensors and command networks. A platform that merges training and operational employment can expand capacity without consuming the readiness margins of high-end fighter fleets.

Tactically, the Super Tucano could function as a “hunter” layer inside a wider integrated air defence architecture, particularly against one-way attack drones that exploit gaps between high-end interceptors and short-range ground defences. Embraer’s counter-UAS operational concept offers a clear sequence: receive initial target coordinates and cueing through dedicated datalinks, use the EO/IR sensor for tracking and laser designation, then engage with laser-guided rockets or the wing-mounted .50 calibre machine guns. This chain matches the operational reality of countering Shahed-type systems, where identification and engagement often occur in compressed timelines and where the cost of interception becomes decisive when threats arrive in volume. Endurance enables persistent coverage over critical sites, while integration with ground radars and command posts supports a layered kill chain that preserves high-end interceptors and surface-to-air missiles for more demanding targets.

Poland’s reconsideration of the Super Tucano reflects a wider trend in defence planning, where light attack platforms are reassessed as complementary assets in layered deterrence rather than relics of expeditionary counter-insurgency. Warsaw’s force structure already emphasises advanced fighters such as the F-35 and upgraded F-16s, but the drone threat challenges assumptions about what must be intercepted by what. A mixed approach using helicopters, light fixed-wing aircraft, and integrated ground systems can add operational depth and resilience, particularly under saturation conditions designed to strain traditional air defence inventories. In this model, the A-29 does not replace high-end airpower but contributes to a sustainable defensive architecture where availability, persistence, and cost-efficiency shape force design alongside maximum performance.

Geopolitically, Poland’s evaluation sends a broader signal about NATO adaptation on the eastern flank: deterrence increasingly depends on resilience against inexpensive strike systems as much as on high-end conventional power. If Warsaw invests in platforms optimised for counter-drone operations, it reduces vulnerabilities to hybrid pressure and long-range harassment attacks while supporting a more sustainable air defence posture. It also highlights a shifting defence-industrial landscape, where European militaries may increasingly consider Brazilian aerospace solutions alongside US and European suppliers, widening industrial linkages in response to urgent operational needs. In a security environment where mass and attrition matter again, the ability to field layered and affordable counter-UAS tools may shape not only Poland’s air posture but also NATO’s longer-term approach to air defence sustainability and force endurance.

Written By Erwan Halna du Fretay - Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Erwan Halna du Fretay is a graduate of a Master’s degree in International Relations and has experience in the study of conflicts and global arms transfers. His research interests lie in security and strategic studies, particularly the dynamics of the defense industry, the evolution of military technologies, and the strategic transformation of armed forces.