✈️Military and defence· 2022-2026

Six Super Tucanos for US$100 million: the biggest air purchase

Uruguay bought six new Embraer aircraft at the end of the Lacalle Pou government; two years earlier it was negotiating twelve used ones for US$40 million.

Under wayUnder public debate

Figure published by the sources

más de US$ 100 millones por seis A-29 Super Tucano y un simulador, según Presidencia

Bodies involved

Ministerio de Defensa Nacional · Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya

What it is

In 2021 and 2022 Uruguay was negotiating with Brazil the transfer of twelve A-29 Super Tucanos from Brazilian Air Force reserves, with airframes and engines at zero hours plus maintenance and training support, for about US$40 million — US$3.5 million per unit — according to Infodefensa. In July 2024 Luis Lacalle Pou's government, with Armando Castaingdebat as Defence Minister, instead confirmed the purchase of new A-29s for about US$100 million. The first two of six aircraft were presented on 24 February 2026 at Air Squadron No. 2 in Durazno, with President Yamandú Orsi, Air Force commander-in-chief Fernando Colina and former president Lacalle Pou present.

What is questioned

The Presidency reported that the investment "exceeds 100 million dollars" and covers six aircraft plus a simulator, and that the plan adds interceptor craft and three high-mobility radars, as well as modernising two transportable radars; Minister Sandra Lazo called it "a fundamental and necessary modernisation". An analysis by Gabriel Porfilio in Infodefensa on 19 July 2024 questioned the decision: it called it "more a political than a technical decision", argued it set aside the Air Force's technical recommendation for jet aircraft with onboard radar, and warned that the timing — before the elections — made cancelling such an expensive contract very risky for a new government, thereby securing its continuity. The headline of that analysis speaks of "a death certificate for Uruguayan fighter aviation". Infobae noted, in favour, that the A-29's flight hour runs at around US$2,000 against roughly US$10,000 for an F-16, and that it replaces the IA-58 Pucará — retired in 2017 — and the A-37 Dragonfly.

Why it matters to you

This is Uruguay's largest military aviation investment in decades and commits budget for years. The comparison between the two options the State weighed — twelve used aircraft for US$40 million or six new ones for over US$100 million — is not like for like, since the condition of the aircraft and the contents of each package differ (Infobae notes the contract covers aircraft, simulator, training, spare parts and logistical support), but it shows how much the price of the same capability can vary depending on how the purchase is structured.

Where it stands

Under way

The first two aircraft were delivered and presented on 24 February 2026, according to the Presidency; the rest of the batch, the simulator and the logistics package were still pending delivery. As this file closes (August 2026) there are no developments after Infobae's article of 22 July 2026, and no parliamentary or judicial rulings on the purchase.

The open-data cross-reference

Open this set in the explorer

What the state awarded to the bodies and companies named in this file, according to the official Compras Estatales data. It is a cross-reference for scale, not proof of irregularity: it includes contracts nobody questioned.

How this cross-reference was builtcontracts whose object mentions “aeronave” · everything recorded under 13 buying units of the named bodies (not only this case) · between 2022 and 2026

$ 1.320.757.155 Awarded (cross-ref)

451Contracts

78Suppliers

Who was paid

Suppliers ranked by amount awarded in the cross-reference. A contract with several suppliers counts in full against each one: this is a ceiling, not a split.

Which body paid

What it bought

Spending by category, from price times quantity of each awarded item, in the contract currency.

Contracts per year

The detail

30 contracts

The largest contracts in the cross-reference, high to low. Tap one for its record and the link to the official purchase.

Amounts in pesos, normalised. Records with impossible quantities are excluded from the total. This is an international contract with a foreign manufacturer, negotiated government-to-company, so it probably does not appear as a tender in Compras Estatales. Related spending should show up in the feed: hangar works, aviation fuel and Uruguayan Air Force spare parts.