On October 19, 2022, the official presentation of the first Embraer KC-390 Millenium medium military transport aircraft for the Portuguese Air Force, built by the Brazilian company Embraer, took place at the Portuguese Beja Air Base (BA11). The ceremony was attended by Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa and Portuguese Minister of National Defense Elena Carreiras. The aircraft (temporary Brazilian registration number PT-ZDK, serial number 390000011, planned Portuguese tail number "26901"), built first under the 2019 contract for the supply of five units of the Portuguese Air Force KS-390, was pumped out at Embraer in Gavian Peixote (Sao Paulo, Brazil) on July 5, 2022 and he made his first flight there on September 1. From October 15 to October 16, he flew from Gavian Peixote to Portugal, where he must now undergo revision to the standards of the Portuguese Air Force and NATO at the Portuguese aircraft repair company OGMA (65% owned by Embraer) in Alverca near Lisbon, and upon completion of national certification, he must be transferred to the Portuguese Air Force in February 2023. This aircraft was the first KC-390 aircraft delivered for export.
Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa and Portuguese Minister of National Defense Elena Carreiras at the presentation of the first Embraer KC-390 medium military transport aircraft built for the Portuguese Air Force (temporary Brazilian registration number PT-ZDK, serial number 390000011, planned Portuguese tail number "26901"). The aircraft will be handed over to the Portuguese Air Force upon completion of improvements in February 2023. Beja, 19.10.2022 (c) Nuno Veiga / LusaRecall that in July 2019, the Portuguese government awarded Embraer a contract for the supply of five new Embraer KC-390 medium military transport aircraft, becoming its first foreign customer.
The contract value is 827 million euros, including the supply of a ground simulator, spare parts, training and long-term technical support. The agreement implied an option for another aircraft, but its implementation looks unlikely. The aircraft should be delivered from 2023 to 2027 at a rate of one aircraft per year, their transfer is planned in February of each year. [...]
In the Portuguese Air Force, the KS-390 aircraft will replace six (in fact, now only three flying) Lockheed C-130H Hercules military transport aircraft built in the 1970s, operated by the 501st Bisontes Squadron at the 6th Air Base (BA6) in Montijo.
The KS-390 Millenium transport and refueling aircraft has been developed by Embraer since 2006 and is a ramp machine made in the class of the C-130 Hercules aircraft and claiming to replace the latter. Equipped with two International Aero Engines V2500-E5 turbofan engines, the KS-390 aircraft with a maximum take-off weight of 81 tons is capable of carrying up to 26 tons of cargo in a cargo cabin with a length of 17.75 m, as well as performing the tasks of a tanker aircraft (maximum fuel weight up to 37.4 tons). Assistance in the KS-390 project was provided by the Voeipd Corporation.
The main aircraft built for Portugal, the KS-390 (serial number 390000011), became the ninth manufactured machine of this type. In addition, two prototypes of the KS-390 have been built to date (which made their first flights in 2015 and 2016) and six production aircraft of the KS-390 (the lead of which made its first flight on October 9, 2018), of which five were delivered to the Brazilian Air Force in 2019-2021, and the first is used by Embraer in the program tests. According to the agreements of 2010 and 2014, the Brazilian Air Force ordered a total of 28 serial KS-390 aircraft, but during 2022, for financial reasons, they twice reduced the order for them - first from 28 to 22 aircraft, and now 22 to 19 aircraft.
Foreign companies - Chilean ENAER, Argentine Fabrica Argentina de Aviones (FAdeA), Portuguese OGMA and Czech Aero Vodochody - also participated in the development and production program of the KS-390 aircraft, and an agreement on participation with the Government of Colombia was concluded. It was assumed that the Air Forces of the listed countries would also order 32 KS-390 aircraft (Colombia - 12, Argentina, Portugal and Chile - six each, the Czech Republic - two), but to date only Portugal of the listed countries has issued a firm order for five KS-390.
To date, Hungary has also signed contracts for the purchase of KS-390 aircraft (html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">2020 contract for two aircraft with delivery in 2023-2024) and the Netherlands (2022 agreement for the supply of five aircraft starting in 2026).
The first Embraer KC-390 medium military transport aircraft built for the Portuguese Air Force (temporary Brazilian registration number PT-ZDK, serial number 390000011, planned Portuguese tail number "26901") upon arrival from Brazil at the Portuguese Beja Air Base, 16.10.2022 (c) Portuguese Air ForcePresentation ceremony of the first Embraer KC-390 medium military transport aircraft built for the Portuguese Air Force (temporary Brazilian registration number PT-ZDK, serial number 390000011, planned Portuguese tail number "26901").
The aircraft will be transferred to the Portuguese Air Force upon completion of improvements in February 2023. Beja, 19.10.2022 (c) Embraer
