Portugal's first Embraer KC-390 has been on its way to the European country since Tuesday night (17). The flight marks the delivery of the first C-390 Millennium to a foreign customer, shortly after the Czech Republic has become the latest country to select the Brazilian tactical jet.
Portugal is a partner in the project, manufacturing parts of the plane, and was also the first foreign country to acquire the KC-390, g the purchase of five planes in 2019. They will replace the veteran C-130 Hércules, which are already at the end of their service life. operational life.
According to data from the tracking website RadarBox, the first unit of the Portuguese Air Force (FAP), registration 26901, took off from Embraer headquarters in Gavião Peixoto at 22:14 pm, under registration AFP07. The aircraft made a direct flight to Recife, where it made a technical stop before heading to Cape Verde, landing in Espargos at 07:54 am (Brasília time).
The jet's flight can be followed when it takes off, by clicking here.
The first Portuguese KC-390 had already been presented and gone to the European country before, but on test flights and crew training. Now, 26901 will become the first KC-390 delivered to an overseas customer. The Portuguese C-390s will be operated by the 506 Rhinos Squadron, from Air Base No. 11 in Beja.
Good sales for Embraer
The KC-390 was developed in partnership with the Brazilian Air Force to meet a challenge: replacing the C-130 Hércules, whose presence in the market has been established since the 1950s. The first sale was precisely to the FAB, which signed 28 aircraft, but reduced the order to 19. This week the Brazilian fleet of the model completed 10 thousand flight hours.
After the purchases from FAB and FAP, it was Hungary's turn, which ordered two planes. Later the Netherlands and Austria ordered five and four planes, respectively; Czech Republic and Embraer are negotiating two more aircraft.
The C-390 can carry more payload (26 tons) compared to other military transport aircraft in its class, and flies faster (470 knots) and farther, being capable of performing a wide range of logistics, transport and launching cargo and troops, aeromedical evacuation, search and rescue, firefighting and humanitarian missions, operating on temporary or unpaved runways.
