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August 27, 2007: Security company Blackwater U.S.A. is buying Super Tucano light combat aircraft from the Brazilian manufacturer Embraer. These five ton, single engine, single seat aircraft are built for pilot training, but also perform quite well for counter-insurgency work. Brazil. The Super Tucano is basically a prop driven trainer that is equipped for combat missions. The aircraft can carry up to 1.5 tons of weapons, including 12.7mm machine-guns, bombs and missiles. The aircraft cruises at about 500 kilometers an hour and can stay in the air for about 6.5 hours per sortie. One of the options is a FLIR (infrared radar that produces a photo realistic video image in any weather) and a fire control system for bombing. Colombia is using the Super Tucanos for counter-insurgency work (there are over 20,000 armed rebels and drug gang gunmen in the country). The aircraft is also used for border patrol. The U.S. Air Force is watching that quite closely. The Super Tucano costs $9 million each, and come in one or two seat versions. The bubble canopy provides excellent visibility. This, coupled with its slow speed (versus jets), makes it an excellent ground attack aircraft.
The planes will be used as air support in the fight against insurgents in Iraq, right? Why else would Erik Prince’s private army want such materiel? But doesn’t our “regular” military do that? So what would Blackwater need such planes for if we have the USAF?
The advantages for the Bush administration are obvious. Contractors can operate in ways for which the military would be liable to prosecution. While dozens of US soldiers have been court-martialed for exceeding acceptable limits in their use of force, NO contractors have been charged for any such criminal activity - including the aforementioned contractors who used Iraqi civilians for target practice. While over 1,000 contractors have been killed in Iraq, their deaths do not have to be reported as casualties.