The AT-6 Wolverine is the A-29 Super Tucano's perennial bridesmaid — Textron's armed version of the T-6 Texan II trainer, faster and with ejection seats, sharing thousands of trainers' logistics. Yet it lost every big competition to the A-29 and to the OA-1K, and only Thailand ever bought it.
The OA-1K Skyraider II is the armed crop-duster that beat the A-29 Super Tucano for the US Armed Overwatch contract — an Air Tractor AT-802 turned into an L3Harris gunship with 10 hardpoints, Hellfires and a WESCAM sensor ball. It won the US buy the A-29 dominates the world without.
The Embraer A-29 Super Tucano is the world's default light-attack aircraft — a $1,000-per-hour turboprop with 60,000 combat hours from Colombia's FARC strikes to Afghanistan and Nigeria, 290+ ordered by 20+ air forces, and a counter-drone role added in 2025.
The affordable fighter conquering the export market — KAI's FA-50 is a light, supersonic combat jet (born from the T-50 trainer) that delivers much of an F-16's mission at a fraction of the cost. Poland, the Philippines and Malaysia are buying it; Block 20 jets add AESA radar and aerial refuelling.
The turboprop that flies like a jet — Switzerland's Pilatus PC-21 trains fast-jet pilots at a fraction of a jet's cost by mimicking jet-like performance and cockpits, "downloading" expensive jet training onto a cheap propeller plane. The most successful Western advanced trainer of its generation.
China's purpose-built scout-attack helicopter — a light, Z-9-derived tandem-seat rotorcraft with mast-mounted radar that acts as the eyes and fangs partner to the heavier Z-10 in PLA Army Aviation.