Embraer delivered the sixth C-390 multi-mission aircraft to the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) on 16 June 2023, the company announced the same day.
The aircraft will be operated by the FAB’s First Troop Transport Group (1º GTT), based at Anápolis Air Force Base in central-eastern Brazil.
This C-390 was the first to be delivered in the type’s full operational capability (FOC) configuration, the certification of which confirms that it meets all the requirements defined by the FAB and can carry out all missions for which it was designed. The other C-390s already delivered to the FAB will be updated to this configuration, while all aircraft to be exported could also receive these capabilities. All aircraft ordered by the FAB are equipped to carry out aerial refuelling missions, with the designation KC-390 Millennium, Embraer stated.
“It is special to deliver the first aircraft in the FOC configuration to FAB,” Bosco da Costa Junior, President and CEO of Embraer’s Defense & Security, was quoted as saying in a company press release. “Although FAB has already deployed the aircraft in various different missions, inside Brazil and abroad, it will now be able to fully and definitively take advantage of the full capacity of the C-390, showing the world everything that this aircraft can deliver.”
Embraer claims that the C-390 offers an “unbeatable” combination of high productivity and flexibility of operation with low operating costs.
“The C-390 can carry more payload (26 tons) compared to other medium-sized military cargo aircraft and flies faster (470 knots) and farther, being capable of performing a wide range of missions such as transporting and dropping cargo and troops, medical evacuation, search and rescue, firefighting, and humanitarian missions, operating on temporary or unpaved runways,” the company stated.
The refuelling version of the aircraft can also receive fuel from another KC-390 using pods installed under the wings, with Embraer stating, “It is the only aircraft in the world in the segment [its class] to carry out such an operation.”
Since entering service with FAB in 2019, the Brazilian C-390 fleet has already accumulated more than 8,900 flight hours. Recent figures show an operational availability of around 80%, with a mission completion rate above 99%, according to Embraer.
Embraer currently has export orders for the C-390 from Portugal and Hungary, which have ordered five and two aircraft respectively, while the Netherlands selected the type in 2022 and plans to order five.
Peter Felstead
