Millennium Momentum: Slovakia latest nation to select Embraer C-390
December 11, 2024
Embraer’s C-390 Millennium medium airlifter is gathering increased momentum across Europe, with Slovakia the seventh European and sixth NATO member nation to express firm interest in the type. Alongside the aircraft’s best-in-class attributes, interoperability with other allied air forces provided by the platform was also cited as a key contributory factor to the order.
The C-390 Millennium multi-mission airlifter is “quickly becoming the aircraft of choice among EU/NATO members and its allies in Europe,” commented its manufacturers, with president and CEO of Embraer Defense and Security Bosco da Costa Junior adding: “The C-390 is currently the best aircraft in its category due to its cost efficiency, versatility and reliability”.
In Slovakian service, the C-390 will replace the C-27J Spartan medium transport and L-410 light transport aircraft, slated as being of limited use for their “insufficient transport capacity, operational range and very low availability”. A post-2020 changing security situation and ongoing armed conflicts also prompted the hunt for their successors. “Listed insufficient capabilities have repeatedly been identified as critical in conducting evacuation flights from the area of military operations in Lebanon in 2024,” highlighted a document published by the Slovak Republic in 2030.
This document also indicated that the “planned date of completion of deliveries within the investment project” was 2030. In Q3 2024, Embraer delivered two units, double the one it delivered in Q2.
Receiving the first multi-mission aircraft to serve outside of Brazil, the Portuguese Air Force (FAP) ordered five KC-390 units (the air-to-air refuelling designation of the platform) in 2019; the first of which entered into service in 2023. In October 2023, the Czech Republic announced it was to acquire two aircraft, formally signing the contract in November 2024. This year has also seen the first C-390 enter service with the Hungarian Air Force, while the Dutch Ministry of Defense signed a contract for the acquisition of nine C-390s through a joint purchase with Austria (with each nation to receive five and four units respectively).
Last month, NATO newcomer Sweden became the first country in Northern Europe to opt for the C-390, with Embraer explaining its acquisition “will not only bolster national defence, but also enhance interoperability with allied forces while benefitting from the synergies present in Europe in terms of training facilities, support and logistics”.
