AT-26 Xavante
By the mid-1950s a number of Western European air forces were in need of a jet aircraft to equip their advanced flight schools and to serve as a transitional aircraft to the new supersonic fighters. An international tender was established under NATO, to select a new advanced trainer. Among the several proposals, there was an Italian jet, the M.B. 326, developed by Aermacchi Spa which, although not selected in the tendership, was the choice of the Aeronautica Militare Italiana - AMI (Italian Air Force).
In 1970 a contract was signed between the "Aeronáutica Macchi Spa" and the "Empresa Brasileira de Aeronáutica - EMBRAER". EMBRAER, which had been created by Executive Order no. 770 in 18 August 1969, was to assimilate the technology involved in the aircraft and to build an initial batch of 112 aircraft, which were designated as the EMB.326GB by the EMBRAER. The FAB designated it as the AT-26 (attack/training type no. 26) and it was to be known as the "Xavante", the name of a Brazilian Indian tribe.
The Xavante Indians of the Mato Grosso plateau of central Brazil live in traditional lands in a mosaic of ecosystems including dense gallery forests covering the banks of wild rivers, impassible jungle, palm forests, grasslands, parklands, and wetlands. Jaguar and puma roam the savannah searching for an abundance of prey. For millennia, the Xavante have lived a semi-nomadic life in a remote part of the country where their strong cultural heritage, connection with the ancestors and hunting and gathering practices have enabled them to maintain their traditional way of life.
