Embraer's KC-390 Is Winning Europe—Now It Wants America

Greece's €600 million order is the latest in a string of wins for the Brazilian airlifter. A Northrop partnership could push it into the US market next.

By The Defense Desk

Greece approved €600 million to acquire three KC-390 Millennium airlifters on June 11, replacing its Lockheed C-130 Hercules fleet through an intergovernmental contract with Portugal. [1]

Embraer anticipates building six KC-390s this year, rising to ten aircraft a year by the end of the decade. [1] The company puts the total addressable market for the airlifter at as many as 450 aircraft over the next two decades — a figure that excludes the United States entirely, which Monteiro called a "conservative" estimate. [1] The type has already captured fleet renewal campaigns in Austria, Czech Republic, the Netherlands, and Sweden, and is in service in Portugal and Hungary. [2]

To crack the US market, Embraer is partnering with Northrop Grumman to study adding a dedicated refueling boom to the Millennium — a modification that would let it gas up a wider range of aircraft, including F-35 stealth fighters. [1] Embraer has pledged to open a dedicated US assembly line if Washington moves forward with an order, though an Air Force program to field a next-generation tanker remains in limbo. [1]

Whether the boom study closes a viable business case depends heavily on American demand — a question Embraer admits it cannot yet answer. The aircraft's European momentum is real, but the US remains the prize that would transform a regional success into a program of record.

A competition in India also remains open, and Greece's order will come from the 10 purchase options placed by Portugal last September after Lisbon ordered its sixth aircraft. [1][2] The Millennium is still challenging the C-130J Super Hercules and Airbus A400M Atlas — and the scoreboard is moving in its favor. [1]