The Embraer EMB 312 Tucano is a low-wing, tandem-seat, single-turboprop, basic trainer with counter-insurgency capability developed in Brazil. The Brazilian Air Force sponsored the EMB-312 project at the end of 1978. Design and development work began in 1979 on a low-cost, relatively simple new basic trainer with innovative features which eventually became the international standard for basic training aircraft.
The prototype first flew in 1980, and initial production units were delivered in 1983.
Embraer S.A. is a Brazilian multinational aerospace manufacturer that produces commercial, military, executive and agricultural aircraft, and provides aeronautical services. It was founded in 1969 in São José dos Campos, São Paulo, where its headquarters are located. The company is the third largest producer of civil aircraft, after Boeing and Airbus.
Seeking to develop a domestic aircraft industry, the Brazilian government under Getúlio Vargas’ Estado Novo made several investments in the aerospace industry during the 1940s and 1950s. However, it was not until 1969, following the rise to power of a military junta in the 1964 Brazilian coup d’état, that Empresa Brasileira de Aeronáutica (Embraer) was created as a government-owned corporation. Its first president, Ozires Silva, was a government appointee, and the company initially only produced a turboprop passenger aircraft, the Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante.
The Brazilian government contributed to Embraer’s early growth by providing production contracts. The company sold solely to the domestic market until 1975.
While military aircraft made up the majority of Embraer’s products during the 1970s and early 1980s, including the Embraer AT-26 Xavante and the Embraer EMB 312 Tucano, it debuted a regional airliner, the Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante, making its first flight in 1968 and the Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia, in 1985. Aimed at the export market, this plane was the first in a series of highly successful small and regional airliners.
