Five Syrian military pilots returned from Iran last week to the Kuweires Airport College in Aleppo province after completing a full year of training in Iran as pilots and pilot trainers, on the Brazilian-made plane Embraer-Tucano-EMB-TUCANO, sources told Zaman al-Wasl.
The training was a part of an agreement described as highly confidential between the regime and Iran in order to restore the Kuweires airfield by qualifying the new army pilots after most of the Air Force’s aircrafts have been destroyed or bombed out of service.
In May 2019, operations at Kuweires airbase resumed after years of siege by opposition factions.
Kuweires has been the main airport of the Aviation Institute since 1972. It is followed by Keshish (al-Jarrah) to the east and Meneg airbase north of Aleppo.
The Syrian regime is seeking to rehabilitate the Air College with Iran’s help, arguably, to supply the air force with the new pilots, by purchasing Tucano planes, which Iran can give to the regime, and it may be possible to buy more from Brazil, as it is a preliminary training plane, knowing that Egypt has been producing this kind of plane with a Brazilian license for decades.
The price of the aircraft is ranging between 9 to 14 million USD. Modern versions of them are equipped with very sophisticated electronics, where they take off and land on short runways, and there are two-seat versions, and one seat version.
The maximum speed of the aircraft is 590 km / h, the maximum flight range is 4,820 kilometers, the maximum flight height is 11 kilometers, and the empty weight is 3.2 tons.
This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
