LE BOURGET—Embraer is working to refine its evolution of the KC-390 tanker and transport aircraft over the coming year to define its maritime patrol aircraft and refueling boom strategy, says João Bosco da Costa Junior, CEO of the Brazilian aircraft maker’s defense and security business.
The boom strategy could be vital if Embraer is successful in its long-shot effort to sell the KC-390 to the U.S. Air Force, but also necessary for other markets. “The airplane is capable to have this kind of functionality, and we are exploring this,” da Costa Junior says in a Paris Air Show interview
Embraer would source the boom rather than trying to design its own to reduce risk, he adds.
The company also is working on other elements of its program plans, including the possible location of a U.S. assembly facility should the company prevail in its effort to land a Pentagon order. Embraer already has big operations in Melbourne, Florida, but da Costa Junior says the company is looking beyond there for potential KC-390 production.
The company also continues seeking a potential U.S. partner to front its KC-390 bid to make it politically more palatable in the U.S. Those discussions, including with players such as Northrop Grumman, are still at an early stage, though, he notes. “We are in touch with several companies,” he adds.
One of the issues the company wants to resolve no later than the end of next year is whether it will integrate a boom to demonstrate the system on a KC-390 or settle for showing the eventual team has the technical capability to get the job done.
In parallel, the company is looking to evolve its plans around adding features to the KC-390. The Royal Netherlands Air Force on June 17 signed a deal at Le Bourget to acquire one roll-on/roll-off medical module to use the KC-390 as a flying hospital. The country also signed options for seven more of the Aeromedical Evacuation Systems that other air forces could tap.
Da Costa Junior says that design approach—of being able to missionize the KC-390 in a way kit can be removed so the aircraft can still be used for tanker and transport roles—also underpins its other efforts, including the ambition to field a maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) configuration.
Embraer is working with the Brazilian and Portuguese air forces to define the details of the MPA setup. “We are in the beginning,” da Costa Junior says, with the goal of wrapping up the initial configuration definition by the end of 2026.
The company, he adds, is in touch with other operators or potential operators to get their perspective on evolving the platform. Portuguese Air Chief Gen. João Cartaxo Alves said at the Paris Air Show that he wants an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance version of the KC-390 after the MPA.
Embraer also is ramping up output of the KC-390, given recent order intake. The company plans to build five of the aircraft this year, six in 2026 and 10 from around 2030. That level of output should satisfy the sales campaigns underway, he says. Although Embraer has capacity to build 18 aircraft per year, da Costa Junior says it is working on strengthening the supply chain to underpin higher output.
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