in February 1991, six Tucanos were used for close air support against a group of 40 rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which had seized a Brazilian military detachment. AT–27s were extensively used in the Amazon for border patrols and interception of illicit flights, jointly operating with SIVAM (Amazon Surveillance System). Colombia Fourteen AT-27s were ordered in 1992, and delivery of the first six units took place in December of the same year, followed by seven more units arriving later that same month. Assigned to the Combat 212 Squadron, the aircraft were initially conceived as trainers, although the type was soon additionally assigned to perform close air support and air superiority missions as part of counter-insurgency operations during the long-standing and brutal fight with the FARC. The type performed dozens of operations including Vuelo de Angel, Thanatos, Fenix and Júpiter. Over 50,000 flight hours have been completed since the type's introduction without a single loss. In 1998, with Peruvian Air Force assistance, night vision goggles were integrated into the aircraft to perform night missions. The war scenario led the Air Force to push the type beyond its designed horizon to overcome its operational limits and role-playing as a real battlefield maturing test platform, providing valuable lessons which unfolded into new requirements that were implemented in the Super Tucano design. In 2011, Embraer began a three-year program to locally uprate 14 EMB-312s. A part of the Strategic Development Plan (Plan Estratégico Institucional, or PEI) 2011–2030 designed to extend the type's lifespan by 15 years, the structural retrofit program involves fitting the airframe with new wings and landing gear. Fresh avionics will be installed with the up-to-date Rockwell Collins Inertial Navigation System and ACARS), while Cobham will supply modern multi-function displays, flight management systems and the engine-indicating and crew-alerting system. The first prototype will be designed and produced by Embraer in Brazil, while remaining work will be completed at the Corporation of the Colombian Aeronautic Industry SA (Corporación de la Industria Aeronáutica Colombiana S.A.) Egypt In December 1983, a US$181 million contract was signed for 10 complete aircraft plus a further 110 aircraft in kit form. The joint Egyptian/Iraqi purchase involved an extensive technology transfer program which included the manufacturing of some aircraft parts and final assembly at Heliopolis Air Works in Helwan, becoming Embraer's first experience in assembling aircraft abroad. Eighty of the 110 units built in Egypt