10.06.2025
On the night of June 9, the Russian occupation forces launched 479 kamikaze drones and decoy drones over Ukraine, which became an absolute record since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, and on the night of June 10 – 315. And despite all the efforts of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the interception rate of enemy UAVs is decreasing, which necessitates the expansion of the range of interception means, including with the help of air fire groups. For example, based on Super Tucano turboprop attack aircraft.
More details about this can be found in the material of the joint project OBOZ.UA and the group “Information Resistance” .
Raids are becoming more serious
The threat from drone strikes is growing, and the night of June 9 became another example of how the ROV, by changing routes and tactics of using drones, can afford to break into remote rear areas of Ukraine with a high degree of probability. In the same Rivne region.
At the same time, since the beginning of 2025, we have been observing a progressive negative trend in the issue of interception of enemy drones. For example, if in January and February the number of interceptions of Russian drones was 97%, then in March it was already 91%, in April – 85%, in May – 84%, and in the first week of June – 80%.
This year, the Russian occupiers are experimenting with the tactics of their Shahed-136 raids more than ever before. And the decline in the interception rate is caused not only by the increase in the number of drones, but also by the enemy’s use of tactics that limit the possibilities of interception. For example, during a “kamikaze” raid at altitudes of 3 kilometers, the capabilities of mobile fire groups are significantly limited, and at altitudes of 4.5-5 km, anti-aircraft installations become useless.
Because of this, the issue of using a universal interceptor that would work under any conditions and in any circumstances – regardless of the enemy’s tactics – is very relevant. And as strange as it may sound, light, turboprop aircraft is such an option.
Today, the choice of such aircraft for Ukraine is considerable, but I want to draw attention to the Super Tucano again. Especially considering the fact that since 2022, there has been no alternative to this attack aircraft in terms of a number of characteristics. And this year, Ukraine has a chance to purchase these aircraft in quantities slightly larger than a simple squadron. But more on all this later.
What is so good about this plane for us?
In fact, the opportunity to purchase the Embraer EBN-314 Super Tucano in Ukraine appeared back in 2019, and then I was completely in favor of this idea. Even then, we needed a light attack aircraft capable of conducting police missions in the presence of MANPADS groups in the area of operation.
Patrolling, border surveillance, support for police operations – all this was relevant for Ukraine in 2019, but many “experts” opposed the idea of acquiring this aircraft, calling it a “corn-hopper” and a relic of World War II. Stating that we need F-16s and nothing less to develop the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, it is the Super Tucano that is currently seen as the best option for a universal means of intercepting such primitive but extremely dangerous targets as the Shahed-136. Not the F-16, not the MiG-29, but this turboprop attack aircraft, which we were unable to purchase for the Ukrainian Armed Forces six years ago.
To begin with, I would like to note that the EMB 314 Super Tucano/A-29 has one of the best balances in the world among light attack aircraft in terms of the ratio between flight characteristics and combat load.
This little one has a cruising speed of 530 km/h, with a maximum speed of 590 km/h. And here is a small digression.
Usually, when reviewing the basic characteristics, they look at the publicly available ones – cruising and maximum, but what about the speeds “on the ground”? After all, if we are talking about intercepting a Shahed-136 or a reconnaissance drone of the Orlan-10 type, then we will be talking about pursuit-escort.
For Shahed-136 it is 170-180 km/h. We also take into account the stalling rate, which is within 80 km/h, which will allow the Super Tucano to work on reconnaissance drones no worse than on “kamikazes”.
In addition, the practical flight ceiling of the Super Tucano is 10,600 meters, the flight range is 1,330 km, and the combat load is 1,600 kg. And this is the most interesting thing.
Super Tucano can be armed with a pair of Belgian 12.7 mm FN Herstal M3 machine guns with 200 rounds of ammunition. But in addition to them, it has five suspension points for placing various weapons. Here I will make a small digression and note that I mentioned the country of origin of the FN Herstal M3 – Belgium – for a reason, so remember this moment. And about the suspension points…
The Super Tucano can be additionally equipped with 20 mm automatic cannons, two AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles or 4×70 mm NAR, AGM-65 Maverick, Roketsan Cirit air-to-ground missiles, Mk 81, Mk 82, M-117 general-purpose bombs, incendiary, cluster and precision bombs, etc.
In addition, the aircraft is equipped with a Lizard – Elbit or Griffin – IAI laser guidance kit.
Depending on the configuration, the cost of the aircraft varies from $9 million to $18 million.
Also a very nice bonus – an hour of flight costs between $500 and $1,000.
And now about the suspension points and 12.7-mm FN Herstal M3 machine guns. In addition to the two basic “feneks”, the attack aircraft can be equipped with two more 12.7-mm FN Herstal M3 machine guns and an additional fuel tank. That is, four 12.7-mm FN Herstal M3 machine guns for the Shahed-136 are a non-stop meat grinder, effective and inevitable for any tactics of using kamikaze drones, at any altitude.
And so, it would seem, the aircraft is ideal for forming air interception groups, but in the past this opportunity was lost due to the narrow-minded part of the Ukrainian expert community, which created an extremely negative and unprofessional wave against the Super Tucano. And what has changed now?
A chance that cannot be missed
The fact is that the positions of Ukraine and Brazil, strange as it may sound, have now become closer than ever before. Perhaps the impetus for this was the May incident with the plane of Brazilian President Lula da Silva, who was stuck at the Moscow airport for 4 hours, waiting for a meeting with Vladimir Putin, but no.
And this humiliation of the president of a country with the potential to elevate it to the rank of hegemon in the future was clearly extremely short-sighted on the part of the Russian president.
For his part, the Brazilian president may also be planning a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the near future. Of course, there is no point in making requests for combat Super Tucanos yet, it is too early to slow down Brazil on weapons, but yes, on the civilian version. They say, dear Lula da Silva, we need your wonderful Super Tucano “corn harvesters” to irrigate the fields from pests.
Embraer currently has… I won’t say how many, but a very, very good number of unclaimed Super Tucanos that can be sold in a civilian version – that is, without weapons for, for example, agricultural needs. And that’s the beauty of it, because weapons for the Super Tucano can be purchased in other countries. For example, to put the same Belgian FN Herstal M3 machine gun.
What we will do with this plane for irrigating fields is a question that does not concern Brazil itself. And therefore we may get a chance to acquire a universal means of intercepting Russian drones, the terror from which will only increase in the future. The main thing is not to miss this chance, as in 2019.
I’ve been wondering if the Ukrainians would ever consider combating drone swarms in the air, as they are getting more numerous and are flying higher than ever before. This plane sure would fit the bill. But, I’m sure that any light sport plane could be retrofitted with machine guns, much like those from WWI or WWII. The drones don’t fly that high or particularly fast, so such planes could easily intercept them. An ideal plane would be the P-47 Thunderbolt with its eight fifty caliber machines guns. It would be like a broom, sweeping the skies clear of the scourge.
Having said that, prop planes would be better for use in ground attack roles, because MANPADS would be virtually useless against them. Their heat signature is too small.
Embraer is a Brazilian company and Lula is a loathesome piece of shit; a leftist OrbanaZi and a textbook Tankie.
Ukraine better secure these aircraft and spare parts asap, because putler for sure will require Lula to stop supplying them.
Indeed, but I wouldn’t be so upset about that scenario. I think the Ukrainians could use lesser capable planes to combat drones.