Austria becomes the fourth European customer of the C-390 tactical transport aircraft designed and developed by the Brazilian Embraer as part of the C-130 replacements.
Austria signs for four Embraer C-390s
At the end of a call for tenders launched in 2021, the Austrian Ministry of Defense chose the C-390 tactical transport aircraft designed and developed by the Brazilian manufacturer. The aircraft, ordered in four units, will gradually replace the completely exhausted Lockheed Martin C-130Hs of the Austrian Air Force with an average age of 56 years after a first life within the Royal Air Force. Delivery of the first Embraer C-390 is expected in 2026 or 2027.
4 European clients now
With Austria, Embraer’s tactical transport aircraft now has four European customers. There too, as part of the replacement of the C-130 fleets with the exception of Hungary equipped with Antonov An-26. The first to sign was Portugal (five firm examples plus one option), followed by Hungary (two examples with deliveries planned for 2024) and the Netherlands, whose order for five Embraer C-390s has yet to be completely finalized.
20 tons of payload that seduces
Powered by engines of proven technology, the IAE V2500, the C-390 can take 20 tonnes of payload (with a peak of 23 tonnes) and since its introduction into the Brazilian Air Force has continued to accumulate flight hours in operations as part of very varied missions: transport of materials and medicines during the pandemic, transport of medicines to Beirut in 2020 after the explosion in the port, dropping of paratroopers as part of the exercise “Culminating” in the United States, transport of medicines to Haiti, ….
