Embraer KC-390 Military Transport - Sales
KC-390 Customers | |
|---|---|
| Brazil | 16-28 |
| Argentina | 2 |
| Chile | 8 |
| Colombia | 12 |
| Czech Republic | 2 |
| Hungary | 2 |
| Portugal | 5 |
| SkyTech, Inc. | 6 |
The recently appointed Air Force commander Brigadier Carlos de Almeida Baptista Jr, told the newspaper Valor Economico the Brazilian Air Force should have a maximum of 16 KC-390 aircraft. The original order for the airlifter foresaw 28 aircraft, four of which had already been delivered until last year. However, Baptista explained that budget cuts in the Force forced a review of the agreement. “I informed Embraer that I would like a consensual renegotiation because I intend to reduce the order below 21 planes. We are studying the number, but it should be between 13 and 16. I informed Embraer that it will be a 50% reduction in the contract,” he said 02 June 2021.
In Feberuary 202 the Brazilian Air Force cut the number of KC-390 that it will procure from Embraer from 28 to 22 aircraft. Earlier, the FAB said it will only buy 16 aircraft. Embraer then countered that the reduction to the order was done unilaterally and the aerospace company would consider legal actions against the Brazilian government. The delivery schedule will be stretched until 2034, which Embraer says will allow it to carry out long-term planning with its suppliers.
On September 1, 2010 Embraer participated in a ceremony in Brasília, for signing a Declaration of Intent by the Ministers of Defense of Brazil and Colombia, for Brazil’s neighboring country to take part in the development program and in the production of the KC-390 military transport jet. This was the first step toward bilateral negotiations that will establish the terms and conditions of Colombia’s participation in the program, and which could result in setting up a factory for machined parts in that country, in order to serve the aviation market, as well as in the purchase of 12 KC-390 airplanes by the Colombian government.
“Colombia was the launch customer of the Super Tucano on the international market, and we are very honored to see the country lining up with our Company, once again, this time as part of the ambitious KC-390 program,” said Orlando José Ferreira Neto, Embraer Executive Vice President, Defense Market. “The development of an aeronautics hub in Colombia will strengthen even more the cooperation between the technological and industrial defense bases of both nations.”
The relationship between Embraer and the Colombian Air Force (FAC) dates back approximately 20 years. The FAC has operated 14 Tucano planes, since 1992, which are used to train pilots, as well as two EMB 110 Bandeirante aircraft to transport personnel. Added to these aircraft is a fleet of 25 Super Tucano training and light attack turboprops. In the commercial aviation segment, Colombia’s state-run SATENA (Servicio Aéreo a Territorios Nacionales) airline flies five ERJ 145 and two EMBRAER 170 jets, with 50 and 76 seats, respectively, serving 43 destinations throughout the country.
“By beginning these conversations for setting forth Colombia’s participation in the development of the KC-390 airplane, and actually being part of the program itself, we are taking big steps to significantly speed up the development of the country’s aeronautics industry, through the Colombian Aeronautics Industry Corporation (CIAC), not only because we will increment our engineering capacities, but because we are very proud to join this project with Embraer,” said the Air Marshal Flavio Ulloa, Colombian Air Force Chief of Logistical Operations. “With Embraer’s more than 40 years of experience in developing airplanes, and the experience of the Colombian Air Force in the operational area, we will be able to work together to make the KC-390 one of the most modern and versatile aircraft for handling different types of missions, whether military or commercial, and we thank Embraer for allowing us to be a part of this project.”
On June 26, 2012 the Boeing Company and Embraer announced an agreement to collaborate on the KC-390 aircraft program. Under this agreement, Boeing and Embraer will share some specific technical knowledge and evaluate markets where they may join their sales efforts for medium-lift military transport opportunities. “Boeing has extensive experience in military transport and air refueling aircraft, as well as deep knowledge of potential markets for the KC-390, especially those which were not considered in our original marketing plan” said Luiz Carlos Aguiar, president and CEO of Embraer Defesa e Segurança. “This agreement will strengthen the KC-390’s prominent position in the global military transport market.”
The KC-390 collaboration is part of a broader agreement that Boeing and Embraer signed in April 2012. The companies previously announced that they are exploring ways to cooperate in commercial airplane efficiency and safety, research and technology, and sustainable aviation biofuels. Boeing and Embraer will conduct a joint market assessment for the medium-lift military transport market and analyze business collaboration models. The market assessment includes potential customers that had not been considered in the initial market prospects for the KC-390.
On February 6, 2018 Embraer Defense & Security announced today, at the Singapore Airshow, the signing of a Letter of Intent with aviation services company SkyTech for up to six new KC-390 multi-mission transport aircraft. The aircraft are earmarked for multiple defense projects and both companies have also agreed on a potential strategic collaboration to jointly explore new business opportunities in training and services. SkyTech is the result of a partnership between two long-standing players in the field of defense services: aircraft, complete crew, maintenance, and insurance (ACMI) company HiFly, from Portugal, and Australian aviation services and charter provider Adagold Aviation.
“We have been following the KC-390 program since its inception and believe that it will be a game-changer in the medium-sized airlift category as well as a multi-role platform”, said Paulo Mirpuri, president of SkyTech. The company has also stated that this is the first of a wide variety of platforms that will fulfil various niche roles and projects that SkyTech is undertaking worldwide.
The FAB already operates other transport aircraft manufactured by Embraer, like the EMB 120 Brasilia, the ERJ 145, and the Legacy 600. Besides these, the fleet of military aircraft designed and manufactured in Brazil, like the Tucano, the Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) airplanes operated within the SIVAM, and the Super Tucano, as well as the AMX, which was developed in a partnership with Italian companies. In June 2008, Embraer signed a contract for the sale of two EMBRAER 190 jets to the FAB, configured especially for carrying authorities.
Brigadier General Márcio Bruno Bonotto, the head of the Brazilian Air Force purchasing department, voiced his dissatisfaction 12 May 2017 with Brazil's former acquisition policies, which led to Brasilia buying foreign arms with no reciprocal contracts in place. To make amends, he proposed that Sweden buys the new KC-390 Embraer transport aircraft as a replacement for its aging fleet of C-130 Hercules. "We would not want to be in the position when our partners never buy our products, and would like to make a bid. The KC-390 is a spectacular plane and it would be great if Sweden acquired them," Márcio Bruno Bonotto said. At present, however, Sweden is performing an upgrade of its Hercules fleet, which would prolong the planes' lifetime until 2030.
By September 2018 BOEING and EMBRAER were negotiating the installation of an assembly line for the new KC-390 military freighter in the United States. It would be a second line, additional to that already existing in Gavião Peixoto, in the interior of São Paulo. The project is part of the agreement in which the American aircraft manufacturer intends to acquire control of the commercial aviation unit of EMBRAER. The production area for military aircraft will not be sold, but the two companies also intend to create a joint venture in the Defense area for the installation of the freighter factory in the USA.
The KC-390 "made in the USA" would only be assembled in that country, starting from the same parts that are now part of the freighter project produced in Brazil. With this Americanization of the product, two new markets for the EMBRAER product are opened. The American market itself, which includes the air force and other agencies such as the national guard; and allied US states within the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, which has a diplomatic and financial structure marketing of American products. Some examples of countries covered by the FMS are South Korea, Japan, Israel, Australia and many others.
The Super Tucano, Embraer's light-attack aircraft, is already manufactured in Jacksonville, Florida, just so it can be bought by the US government. The American headquarters is also in Florida at Fort Laudardale.
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