Ukraine Super Tucano Plan Runs Into Brazil’s Arms Veto
Brazil · Defense
Key Facts
- —What happened Former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko says he agreed with Embraer on 24 A-29 Super Tucano light-attack aircraft to hunt Russian drones.
- —How it would work He plans talks with an unnamed NATO country that holds contracts with Brazil, rather than a direct purchase from Brazil.
- —The catch Brazilian law bars re-export of defence products without government authorisation, and Brasília has refused military supplies for Ukraine since 2022.
- —What Brazil says Government officials told Folha de S.Paulo no request has reached the foreign ministry, and that one would be vetoed.
- —Who is asking Poroshenko leads the opposition European Solidarity party in Ukraine’s parliament; he is not a member of the government.
- —What Embraer says Embraer has not announced any contract with Ukraine and did not answer Folha’s questions.
A Ukrainian opposition leader has revived a Ukraine Super Tucano plan, saying he agreed with Embraer on 24 drone-hunting aircraft. Brasília says no request has reached it, and any would be refused.
A Ukrainian opposition leader says a Ukraine Super Tucano deal is back on the table. Former president Petro Poroshenko says he agreed with Embraer on 24 of the Brazilian light-attack planes.
He wants them to shoot down the Iranian-designed Shahed attack drones that Russia launches at Ukrainian cities and power plants. The obstacle is in Brasília, which has refused to arm Ukraine since the Russian invasion of 2022.
Poroshenko’s answer is to buy through a third country. Brazilian officials told the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo that the route would meet the same refusal.
An opposition leader’s offer
Poroshenko governed Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. Today he is a member of parliament and leads European Solidarity, a party in opposition to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
According to the news agency Interfax-Ukraine, he raised the plan at a meeting between his parliamentary group and Defence Minister Yevhen Khmara. The agency published the report on Saturday 19 September 2026.
“During negotiations in Poland at the MSPO 2026 exhibition, we reached an agreement with the Brazilian manufacturer Embraer,” he said. MSPO is a defence fair held in Kielce from 8 to 11 September 2026.
He said they had “selected a fleet of 24 Super Tucano aircraft”. Embraer has not confirmed those terms.
He described planes with an armoured cockpit, missiles and guns, able to intercept and destroy Shahed drones. He said he hoped Ukraine would receive all 24 by the end of the year.
Folha reported no denial from the government in Kyiv, whose defence minister has now heard the proposal. Embraer has announced no contract and did not answer questions from Folha.
The NATO workaround
Poroshenko said talks would follow with a NATO country holding relevant contracts with Brazil, Interfax-Ukraine reported. He did not name the country.
Brazilian defence analysts point to Portugal, the only European NATO member flying the Super Tucano, according to Folha. LRCA Defense Consulting, a non-profit Brazilian defence-analysis site, calls it the most probable intermediary, though no government has confirmed any role.
Portugal approved the purchase of 12 A-29N aircraft in December 2024. The A-29N is a version of the Super Tucano built to NATO standards, with a modern data link and single-pilot operation.
Portugal is also home to OGMA, an aircraft maintenance company controlled by Embraer. Lisbon has made no public comment on the Ukrainian plan.
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Why the detour does not solve Brazil’s veto
Brazilian law forbids the re-export of defence products without explicit authorisation from the government. Any aircraft sold to Portugal or another ally would still need a green light from Brasília to reach Ukraine.
Government officials told Folha that no request had reached the Itamaraty, as Brazil’s foreign ministry is known. If one arrived, they said, the answer would again be a veto.
Folha’s defence correspondent Igor Gielow reported the story on Monday 21 September 2026. His report describes the Ukrainian move as an attempt to get around that standing ban.
A refusal that predates Lula
Ukraine’s interest in the Super Tucano is not new. Brazilian media reported in December 2022 that Kyiv wanted the planes, and the government of Jair Bolsonaro refused the request.
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who took office in January 2023, kept that line. According to Folha, his government also turned down a Ukrainian request for the aircraft in 2023.
The best-known refusal came on Friday 20 January 2023. Lula met Defence Minister José Múcio Monteiro and military chiefs and vetoed sending tank ammunition that Germany wanted to pass to Ukraine.
Under Bolsonaro, Brazil also refused Brazilian-built Guarani armoured vehicles and ammunition for German Gepard anti-aircraft guns, Folha reports. Lula later turned down another Guarani request, reportedly for ambulances.
Brazil buys Russian fertiliser, and until mid-2026 Russia was its main foreign diesel supplier, Folha notes. Brazil has not joined Western sanctions against Moscow.
A plane repurposed for the drone war
The Super Tucano is a turboprop built by Embraer in São Paulo state. Air forces use it for light attack, border surveillance and advanced pilot training.
In November 2025 Embraer began marketing it as a drone hunter. The company said it would add sensors, data links, laser-guided rockets and wing-mounted .50-caliber machine guns for that role.
“The A-29 is the ideal tool to counter UAS effectively and at low cost,” said Bosco da Costa Junior. He heads Embraer’s defence division, and UAS means unmanned aerial systems.
Poroshenko framed his proposals as a way to counter jet-powered Shahed drones, according to Interfax-Ukraine. LRCA says the fastest jet version, at up to about 600 km/h, outpaces the A-29’s top speed of roughly 590 km/h.
According to Embraer, 22 air forces have selected the aircraft, which had logged more than 600,000 flight hours by November 2025. A version is also assembled in Jacksonville, Florida, with the American firm Sierra Nevada Corporation.
What happens next
For now, no Ukraine Super Tucano contract exists, nor any Brazilian export licence or delivery schedule. LRCA describes the talks as preliminary political and industrial discussions.
The issue lands as Lula prepares to address the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday 22 September 2026. Brazil has kept trade and diplomatic ties with both Moscow and Kyiv throughout the war.
For Embraer, the stakes are commercial as well as political. Portugal ordered the NATO-standard A-29N in 2024, and the company now pitches drone defence as a selling point.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Did Lula veto a sale of Super Tucanos to Ukraine?
Brazil has refused to supply military equipment to Ukraine since 2022. According to Folha de S.Paulo, the government of Jair Bolsonaro refused a Ukrainian request for the Super Tucano in 2022 and Lula’s government turned down a request in 2023. Officials told Folha this month that no new request had reached the foreign ministry and that one would be vetoed.
Who is behind the new plan?
The Ukraine Super Tucano proposal comes from Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine’s president from 2014 to 2019 and now an opposition member of parliament. He says he reached an agreement with Embraer at a defence fair in Poland in September 2026. Embraer has not announced any contract, and Folha reported no denial from the government in Kyiv.
Can a third country pass the aircraft to Ukraine?
Not legally without Brazil’s consent. Brazilian law forbids re-exporting defence products without explicit government authorisation. Poroshenko has not named the NATO country he has in mind, and analysts’ suggestion of Portugal has not been confirmed by any government.
Why would Ukraine want a propeller plane?
Embraer markets the A-29 Super Tucano as a low-cost drone hunter armed with laser-guided rockets and machine guns. Poroshenko pitched it against jet-powered Shaheds, though the Brazilian analysis site LRCA says the fastest version outpaces the plane.
Sources: Folha de S.Paulo report republished by O Tempo, Interfax-Ukraine on Poroshenko’s proposal, LRCA Defense Consulting on the Portugal hypothesis and drone speeds, Revista Sociedade Militar on the status of the talks, Embraer on the A-29 counter-drone role, Pleno.News on the 2023 ammunition veto, Background on the A-29 and Portugal’s order
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