TSAMTO, April 3. On April 1, the Brazilian company Embraer Defense and Security announced that Sweden had officially committed to purchase four C-390 Millennium multipurpose aircraft from the company.
The official announcement was made during the LAAD Defense exhibition. & Security 2025. It followed the recent official signing of a memorandum of understanding providing for Sweden to join the Netherlands and Austria in the C-390 procurement program.
By joining the existing contract, Sweden ensures a faster delivery of aircraft at a lower price than with self-purchase. The trilateral agreement, signed on March 28, 2025, identifies the Netherlands as the lead procurement management country, and the aircraft will be supplied from Embraer's facility in Brazil.
The Netherlands and Austria jointly ordered 9 C-390 aircraft last year, the first of which (for Austria) it is already on the assembly line.
According to the State Secretary of the Swedish Ministry of Defense, Peter Sandwall, Sweden has taken a significant step towards acquiring a new generation of aircraft that meets the requirements of NATO.
According to Bosco da Costa Junior, President and CEO of Embraer Defense & Security, Sweden's commitment to purchase four C-390 aircraft marks significant progress in improving the combat capabilities of the Swedish Air Force. The new generation of aircraft will not only increase the efficiency of military transportation in Sweden, but also strengthen the unification of the fleet of European countries.
As reported by CAMTO, the Swedish Ministry of Defense announced the selection of the C-390 Millennium as a new tactical military transport aircraft for the country's Armed Forces in November 2024. During the visit of Swedish Defense Minister Paul Johnson to Brazil, the parties signed a letter of intent (LOI) on expanding bilateral cooperation in the aviation sector, including the launch of the C-390 acquisition procedure.
The C-390s will replace five obsolete BTA C-130H Hercules (TP 84) and one KC-130H (Tp 84T) tanker aircraft, which have been in service with the Swedish Armed Forces for more than 50 years.
Currently, Embraer's list of orders for the supply of C-390 includes: 2 units for the Hungarian Air Force, 2 units for the Czech Air Force, 5 units for the Portuguese Air Force, 5 units for the Dutch Air Force, 4 units for the Austrian Air Force, 3 units for the Republic of Korea Air Force, 19 units for the Air Force Brazil, 2 units – for an unnamed customer.
In total, as of the end of 2024, Embraer has delivered ten production C-390 Millennium aircraft to customers. Two aircraft were delivered to Portugal, one to Hungary and seven to the Brazilian Air Force. Currently, the first C-390 for Austria and the third for Portugal are also on the final assembly line. Since the first KC-390 entered service with the Brazilian Air Force in 2019, the total flight time of the fleet has exceeded 16,500 hours.
Currently, Embraer's unrealized order portfolio includes 32 aircraft for eight countries. The aircraft was also officially selected by the military departments of Sweden and Slovakia. The company expects to conclude contracts with them in the near future.
