Latvian Air Force relies on modest fleet of training and transport aircraft and also helicopters, and does not have fighters at its disposal, which in modern war are important air defense component, especially for country sharing border with russia.
So for country, strengthening its air defense is relevant question, including in context of combating drone onslaughts, especially if forecast regarding possible russian attack on one of Baltic countries in coming years proves true — previously Latvian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Kaspars Pudāns warned about such window of opportunity until 2028.
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Although Latvia already has in assets own solutions for combating unmanned aerial vehicles like Blaze anti-aircraft drones, and is developing mobile counter-drone unit system following Ukraine's example, this will hardly suffice if daily drone attacks from russia need to be repelled, which may number hundreds of Shaheds/Gerans including jet versions.
Naturally one can hope for NATO allies' help who have fighters in their air forces, however it remains unclear how Alliance may react in case of real threat. Especially since, for example, last year Spain effectively brushed off request from another Baltic country, Lithuania, to shoot down russian fighters violating country's airspace — at that time eight Spanish Eurofighter Typhoon fighters were stationed in Lithuania on rotational basis.
So first of all countries should rely on and develop own capabilities, therefore as Sargs publication writes, in July Latvian Air Force Commander Colonel Viesturs Masulis discussed aircraft purchase possibility with Brazilian company representatives — Riga considers A-29 Super Tucano variant primarily for combating enemy unmanned aerial vehicles.
Masulis acknowledged that although domestic companies have good potential, when speaking about combat aviation, he advises at least for now to prefer proven and internationally recognized developments.
Brazilian Super Tucano may be genuinely interesting solution for combating drones, especially since last year Embraer presented this aircraft in specialized UAV hunter version. It has sufficient speed for destroying jet drones, and is also equipped specifically with 70mm rockets like APKWS, which is also good weapon against long-range UAVs.
Another question — how quickly such aircraft can be obtained. For understanding timelines, one can cite Uruguay example, which received first Super Tucanos in year and a half, but quite possibly current timelines may be longer.
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