A Brazilian Air Force Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano light attack/counter-insurgency aircraft. The details of Brazil's fleet upgrade are as yet undisclosed. (Janes/Gareth Jennings)

Embraer Defense and Security is to carry out the mid-life upgrade (MLU) of 68 of the EMB 314 (locally designated A-29) Super Tucano training and light attack aircraft of the Brazilian Air Force, the service's commander Lieutenant Brigadier Marcelo Kanitz Damasceno said on 17 April during a presentation to the Brazilian Committee on Foreign Relations and National Defense.

The MLU is intended to extend the lifespan of the aircraft by up to 25 years, Lt Brig Damasceno said, and follows a June 2023 agreement between Embraer and the Brazilian Air Force to study a technological refresh of the Super Tucanos, although details were not disclosed.

Brazil purchased 25 A-29A and 51 A-29B aircraft in 2001, adding eight A-29As and 15 A-29Bs in 2005. The fleet was received between 2003 and 2012.

For more information, please seeEmbraer sees market for 490 Super Tucanos .

A still from a video released on 21 April shows the Iraqi Army Aviation Command stand at IQDEX in Baghdad. (Iraqi Ministry of Defence)

Iraqi Army Aviation Command (IAAC) has confirmed it has ordered, if not already received, Chinese-made CH-5 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

The command's stand at the International Defense Exhibition in Iraq (IQDEX) held in Baghdad from 20 to 23 April was decorated with posters that showed all the aircraft it has in service, which included the CH-5 next to the CH-4 UAV operated by its 100 Squadron.

Earlier reports that Iraq had acquired CH-5s were based on a photograph that circulated on social media in September 2023 showing a man holding a certificate in front of a projected image that identified the event as the “closing ceremony for CH-5 training” above Iraqi and Chinese flags.

A second photograph purportedly of the certificate showed it was for the successful completion of the CH-5 theoretical, practical, and flight training courses. While the graduate's name was obscured, it had stamps from the Iraqi military attaché office in China as well as the Chinese companies Poly Technologies and CH UAV Science and Technology Company.

A GA-ASI Mojave UAV performs a gun-run with a Dillon DAP-6 podded minigun. (GA-ASI)

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc (GA-ASI) has tested a podded gun on its Mojave short take-off and landing (STOL) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the company said in a 23 April release.

GA-ASI mounted two Dillon DAP-6 podded miniguns to the Mojave and tested the combination at the Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona on 13 April. The Mojave performed seven gun-runs during two flights, expending around 10,000 rounds of ammunition against “a variety of targets”, according to GA-ASI. A video accompanying the release showed the UAV destroying a pickup truck.

“For this live-fire demonstration, our goal was to validate the [Mojave's] battlefield relevance,” GA-ASI told Janes on 23 April. “As such, the effort was done completely using GA-ASI's [internal research and development funding], but we believe that successfully demonstrating this capability is of considerable interest to potential customers.”

Integrating the gun pods took “about 70 business days” to complete, added the company.