MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Embraer sells Super Tucano to US defense service company

Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer confirmed on Friday it had sold a propeller-driven fighter plane to a unit of Blackwater Worldwide, the world's largest private defense services company, and said it would not be used for operations in Iraq.

The sale of the Super Tucano, first reported last Sunday, was cleared by both the Brazilian and US governments, Fernando Ikedo, vice-president of market intelligence for defense and government markets, told a press briefing in Paris. "We sold a Super Tucano to (Blackwater subsidiary) EP Aviation but for use as training in the US only," he said. He added "there is no link to Iraq". Blackwater formed in 1997 by former US Navy special forces guards US government personnel in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. It is under investigation by the FBI over the killing of several Iraqi civilians in a crowded Baghdad square in September 2007.