Embraer KC-390

[Harald]

Embraer KC-390 Military Transport Flying Display at Paris Air Show 2017

The Embraer KC-390 twin-engine jet-powered tactical tanker / transport aircraft is currently under development, with certification expected in early 2018. Its performance at this year's Paris Air Show marks its first public flying display. The Brazilian Air Force (FAB) is the launch operator and has a contract for 28 aircraft. The multi-role military transport can be used for aerial refueling, as well as carrying cargo and troops.

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KC-390 tour kicks off with Swedish evaluation

FlightGlobal

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Portugal opens talks to buy KC-390s from Embraer

FlightGlobal

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Embraer enters critical phase in KC-390 programme, analyst says

Janes

[Harald]

Portugal considers KC-390 as adequate to replace its C-130

Speaking to Jane's on Mar. 9, the Portuguese Ministry of National Defence (MoND) said the Embraer KC-390 is being considered as adequate to progressively replace the country's C-130.
The plan is to buy up to six aircraft but there are no firm plan currently to place an order.

http://alert5.com/2017/03/11/portugal-considers-kc-390-as-adequate-to-replace-its-c-130/

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WARP SPEED FOR BRAZILIAN FREIGHTER/TANKER KC-390

Airheadsfly.com

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Embraer Begins Tactical Testing Of KC-390

Tony Osborne | Aerospace Daily & Defense Report | Sep 22, 2016

LONDON - Embraer is expanding the envelope and broadening the testing of the tactical capabilities of the KC-390 airlifter.

Since the aircraft's international debut at the Farnborough Airshow in July, Embraer has conducted free fall and static line parachuting tests from both the ramp and the side paratrooping doors, performed airdrop testing with a container delivery system and also extended the refueling hoses from the wing-mounted hose-drogue units to check the stability, Col. Claudio Cardoso, program manager for the KC-390, told the Military Airlift Conference here on Sept. 21.

With two prototypes available for the flight test campaign, Cardoso described the flight test program as "intensive," even the KC-390's ferry flight across the Atlantic and the various stops in Europe and the Middle East were used to tick off test points.

As well as an international debut at the Farnborough Airshow, the KC-390 also visited Portugal, the Czech Republic, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, where the aircraft was shown to the country's air arm.

The two aircraft are expected to achieve the milestone of a combined 500 flight hours in the coming days.

"The aircraft are each flying two flights a day. This is a very intensive flying campaign," Cardoso told delegates.

A flyover of the capital Brasilia, marking the country's independence day on Sept. 7, saw two F-5 Tigers fly in pre-contact positions behind the tanker. According to Cardoso, the F-5 pilots reported smooth conditions behind the tanker.

Testing of more specialized capabilities will follow in 2018, with operations from austere runways including ice and snow so that the KC-390 can support Brazil's Antarctic research programs. The company also plans to test aerial refueling of helicopters requiring the aircraft to fly at around 120 kt.

The air force wants to achieve initial operating capability and certification in 2017, with full operational capability in 2018.

The KC-390 has arrived at a difficult time for the Brazilian air force, with the air arm facing budget cuts due to the Brazilian economic slowdown.

"The budgets are still an issue," Cardoso told delegates. Negotiations between his agency, the Coordination Commission for Combat Aircraft Program (COPAC), Embraer and suppliers are ongoing to realign the program after it was rebaselined in the summer of 2015 to deal with the budgetary challenge. The aircraft was due to begin entering service early next year, but the timetable was delayed. Both the KC-390 and the Gripen have had development funding allocated, but the schedule for deliveries has yet to be fully agreed upon.

The air force will receive its first production aircraft in 2018.

The Brazilian air force (FAB) is buying 28 KC-390s to replace 21 C-130s. As part of a restructuring of the air arm, the FAB is planning two bases for the KC-390. One will be located at Rio de Janeiro's Galeao International Airport, the current main operating base for the FAB Hercules. A second unit will be stood up at Anapolis airbase near Brasilia. Anapolis will also be the first to house Brazilian Gripens.

"The air force doctrine is going to have to change with the technology this aircraft is going to bring," Cardoso said.

The aircraft will be used in air transport, air-to-air refueling and search and rescue roles. As part of the purchase, the air force plans to buy 14 refueling kits for the fleet.

http://aviationweek.com/defense/embraer-begins-tactical-testing-kc-390

[Ace1]

Embraer, Boeing to collaborate on sales, support of KC-390 medium airlift

Embraer and Boeing have signed a teaming agreement to jointly market and support the KC-390, a multi-mission mobility and aerial refueling aircraft. Under the agreement the companies will together pursue new business opportunities, both for the aircraft itself and for aircraft support and sustainment. Embraer will provide the aircraft while Boeing will be responsible for in-service support.

The agreement expands an existing collaboration between the two companies. In 2012, the two companies first announced their intention to jointly market the aircraft. "The expansion of our relationship makes the best medium-sized airlift product available to customers, bolstered by the best support available," said Jackson Schneider, president and CEO of Embraer Defense & Security. "Boeing has outstanding experience in the military mobility market and the KC-390 is the most effective aircraft in its category."

"The teaming agreement between Boeing and Embraer brings together two strong companies and underscores our commitment to branch out beyond the traditional OEM role into services for non-Boeing aircraft," said Ed Dolanski, president of Boeing Global Services & Support. "Our advantage is Boeing's global reach, which provides greater flexibility, enabling us to quickly respond to customers, as well as take advantage of synergies that help lower costs -- savings we can pass on to the customer."

The Embraer KC-390 is a tactical transport aircraft designed to set new standards in its category while presenting the lowest life-cycle cost of the market. It can perform a variety of missions such as cargo and troop transport, troop and cargo air delivery, aerial refueling, search and rescue and forest fire fighting. It is a project of the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) that, in 2009, hired Embraer to perform the aircraft development.

The first prototype performed its first flight in February 2015 and two prototypes are currently in flight test campaign, averaging two flights a day and proving high aircraft readiness. The aircraft is currently on an eight nation tour and expects to receive certification by the end of 2017. Deliveries are expected to begin during the first half of 2018.

http://www.defesanet.com.br/en/e_embraer/noticia/22921/Embraer--Boeing-to-collaborate-on-sales--support-of-KC-390-medium-airlift/

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FARNBOROUGH: Successful show debut for Embraer KC-390

By Dominic Perry, Farnborough | 15 July 2016

Embraer's developmental KC-390 tanker/transport is due to depart on a multinational demonstration tour in the coming days, following a successful debut at the Farnborough air show.

Speaking on board the jet-powered type, which was parked in the airframer's static display, Jackson Schneider, chief executive of Embraer's defence unit, said the KC-390 had attracted substantial interest.

"We have received visits from around 20 international delegations," he says. "We had several who have requested visits or demonstrations in their own country.

"It is the right airplane for a bunch of nations." A delegation from Sweden was among the nations who were given a tour of the aircraft.


Tony Best/FlightGlobal

The aircraft on the static line is the company's initial flight-test prototype (PT-ZNF) which arrived at Farnborough on 7 July following a stop-over at Alverca air base in Portugal where it was presented to the Portuguese air force.

Portugal has signed a letter of intent (LoI) for six examples of the KC-390 as a replacement for its fleet of legacy Lockheed Martin C-130Hs.

Fellow European LoI-holder the Czech Republic will receive a visit from the KC-390, Schneider confirms, when the aircraft departs the UK on 16 July.

He says three other countries are involved in the tour of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, but declines to be more specific.

Embraer is aiming for certification of the International Aero Engines V2500-powered transport in 2017, ahead of service entry with the Brazilian air force in 2018.

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/farnborough-successful-show-debut-for-embraer-kc-39-427520/

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KC-390 confirmed for Farnborough debut

By Dominic Perry | 29 June 2016

Embraer is to give its developmental KC-390 tanker/transport an international debut at the Farnborough air show, ahead of a multi-national promotional tour for the jet-powered type.

One of two flight-test examples will make the journey across the Atlantic, initially arriving on 4 July at the Alverca site of OGMA, the Portuguese aerostructures supplier which is 65% owned by Embraer. The company builds parts, including the main fuselage, for the programme. The aircraft will then transfer to the UK show around two days later, Embraer says.

During its stay in Portugal, the International Aero Engines V2500-powered type will be demonstrated to the Portuguese air force, which has signed a letter of intent (LoI) to acquire six examples. These are expected replace its Lockheed Martin C-130Hs, which are due to be retired in around 2018.

However, Portugal – which is a strategic partner in the KC-390 programme – has yet to sign a firm contract for the airlifters, and its socialist government has shown little urgency to firm up its tentative commitment.

So far Brazil, with a deal for 28 units, is the only confirmed customer for the KC-390. However, a number of other nations have signed LoIs covering an additional 32 examples. Embraer is confident these will be converted into firm orders, although it offers no timeframe.


Embraer

"It would make no sense to give you a forecast, but I can only say to you that we are very positive," said Jackson Schneider, chief executive of Embraer's defence division, at a 28 June pre-Farnborough briefing in Évora, Portugal.

"I think the presentation at Farnborough will create a new momentum," he adds.

Aside from Portugal, the demonstration tour will take in the Czech Republic, the programme's other European partner, with a LoI for two aircraft. The KC-390 will also visit a number of other prospective customer nations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, says Schneider.

A second prototype joined the programme in May, and so far the two flight-test articles have accumulated around 320h. "We are hitting all the goals that we set out at the beginning of the process," Schneider says.

Recent test points covered have included in-flight opening of the ramp and cargo door, and paratroop and cargo air drop trials.

In addition, high- and low-speed extension of the hose and drogue refuelling system has been performed. Refuelling trials are due to take place in the second half of 2016, says Schneider.

Other evaluations this year will include crosswind trials to be held in Chile, another tentative customer for the type.

Certification and initial operating capability are scheduled for the second half of 2017, ahead of first delivery to the Brazilian air force in 2018. Embraer is "on target" to meet this revised deadline, he says.

Initial components – wing skins and the horizontal and vertical stabilisers – for the first customer aircraft are in production at Embraer's Évora factory, and are due for delivery to the Gaviao Peixoto final assembly line in September or October.

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/kc-390-confirmed-for-farnborough-debut-426808/

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First Military Trials for the FAB's Future Transport Aircraft

Source: Brazilian Air Force; issued June 22, 2016
Issued in Portuguese; unofficial translation by Defense-Aerospace.com


The Brazilian air force has begun operational testing of the Embraer KC-390 transport / tanker aircraft at Campo Grande air base. The first tests covered air-dropping of troops and supplies, and went well, the air force said. (FAB photo)

The inhabitants of Campo Grande (MS) have followed unusual movement in the city's skies: since June 13, the KC-390 transport / tanker aircraft is deployed at the city's air base for a trials campaign that will continue until July 9. One of the most eagerly anticipated tests, the first drop of paratroopers, took place on Tuesday (June 21) and was considered a success by those involved.

"There were major concerns about the paratroopers' exit from the fuselage because there is an aerodynamic flow around a new airframe. Fortunately, the feedback we received from the military was very positive, they reported that the exit was very smooth," said Colonel Claudio Evangelista, the Força Aérea Brasileira's (FAB) technical manager of the KC-390 program.

The first paratrooper to jump out of the KC-390 was the Commander of the Airborne Rescue Squadron (EAS), known as PARA-SAR, Major Anderson Oliveira Schiavo. With him, 17 other military personnel of the Brazilian Air Force and Brazilian Army performed a free-fall jump from 12,000 feet (over 3.5 km), using both the rear ramp and the side doors to exit the fuselage. During the next few days, hooked jump tests will take place.

Sergeant Major Batista, of CECOMSAER, said "I thought the jump was very satisfactory, because the aircraft gave us stability, and judder was almost nonexistent." Army Captain Ricardo Alcantara agrees. "The biggest difference I felt compared to other aircraft which we operate is that the KC-390 is much more stable," he said.

Aerodynamic freezing

The test campaign forms part of a so-called "freezing" process of the aircraft, or the need to verify aerodynamic modifications resulting from findings observed during the tests, so as to define the aircraft's final configuration.

According to André Gama, an Embraer engineer, besides the paratrooper launch the campaign includes dropping of supplies and checks of the stability of extractor parachutes. He said that the tests are mainly to support the final development of the aircraft, but that some will also be used for the KC-390 certification. "It's almost a war exercise. In a few days, the campaign will expand to involve over 200 people, including Embraer professionals and military personnel," said Gama.

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/articles-view/release/3/174978/parachute-drops-begin-kc_390-operational-evaluation.html

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Embraer optimistic on Brazil order as KC-390 makes progress

By Stephen Trimble, Washington DC | 29 April 2016

Embraer has made several strides in the KC-390 flight test programme in the last week, but Brazil's political turmoil has clouded the tanker-transport's only contract in uncertainty.

Against a backdrop of a presidential impeachment process underway in Brasilia, the second and last KC-390 flight test aircraft flew on 28 April from Gaviao Paixoto, a remote airport in Sao Paulo state where Embraer develops and builds military aircraft.

The first test aircraft also has started a series of critical envelope testing, lowering and raising the rear ramp in flight, says Embraer chief executive Frederico Fleury Curado, speaking on a 29 April first quarter earnings call. The same aircraft also has opened and closed two other openings in-flight – the cargo door and the exit door for paratroopers.

"On the development side we're very happy with where we are," Curado says.

Embraer also is "optimistic" about the fate of the contract with the Brazilian air force, which calls for deliveries of 28 KC-390s beginning with the first three in 2018, Curado says.

But he acknowledges the political turmoil in Brazil and the domestic economy has imposed new constraints on the government's spending budget.

However, Curado points to recent signs that the air force is honouring its financial commitments to Embraer. The programme was put on hiatus for several months in 2015 after the air force stopped paying Embraer, leading to more than $300 million in unpaid bills on the KC-390 programme. Embraer and the air force signed an agreement last August to resume payments and pay off the balance over the next four years. So far, the air force has been complying with the agreement, according to the accounts receivable data on Embraer's balance sheet.

Embraer also has signed up commitments from five other countries to sell a combined 32 aircraft, but they have not yet been converted to firm orders. Those campaigns and those to other potential foreign customers will ramp up at the end of this year, Curado says.

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/embraer-optimistic-on-brazil-order-as-kc-390-makes-p-424817/

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PICTURES: Rheinmetall selected as KC-390 training provider

By Beth Stevenson, London | 15 April 2016

Embraer has selected German company Rheinmetall to develop the training system for its developmental KC-390 transport, under a deal potentially worth at least €100 million ($112 million).

Announced by Rheinmetall in April, the framework agreement will see the company provide a full suite of training equipment over a 10-15 year period, which it expects will result in sales worth "well over" €100 million.

Training for cargo handling, procedures and maintenance, plus flight and mission training, will be provided. Rheinmetall will draw upon its experience in providing the cargo hold simulator for the Airbus Defence & Space A400M for the project.

"We look forward to building on our recent fruitful co-operation with Rheinmetall and are confident that our partnership will result in a first-class KC-390 training media suite that will definitely contribute to the overall success of the KC-390 programme," Jackson Schneider, president and chief executive of Embraer Defense & Security, says.

The aircraft is undergoing flight testing, with certification expected by the end of 2017 and deliveries starting in 2018. The photos below, taken in early March near the airframer's São José dos Campos facility, show the prototype carrying out flight trials under the observation of the Brazilian air force.





All pictures: Brazilian air force

The Brazilian air force has 28 of the type on order, and Argentina, Chile, Colombia, the Czech Republic and Portugal have all expressed their intent to order the KC-390, Flightglobal's Fleets Analyzer shows.

Embraer told Flightglobal in March the single flying prototype had completed 100h. A second test aircraft is in final assembly and is due to join the certification effort in mid-2016.



https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/pictures-rheinmetall-selected-as-kc-390-training-pr-424249/

[andré herc]

Embraer's delayed military cargo jet on schedule now - exec
SANTIAGO, MARCH 29 | BY ROSALBA O'BRIEN AND FELIPE ITURRIETA
The development of a key military cargo plane by Brazilian planemaker Embraer is progressing on schedule, a company executive said, although he suggested that a delay last year had upset some potential customers.

The large KC-390 cargo aircraft has been developed by Embraer as a direct challenge to Lockheed Martin Corp's Hercules airlifter, promising a jet that flies higher, fuller and faster, at a lower price.

But last year, amidst a slumping economy, government spending cuts forced Embraer into delaying development of the plane, and it said it would deliver its first order to the Brazilian military in 2018 rather than 2016.

"There is no talk of another delay today," the CEO of Embraer's defense arm, Jackson Schneider, told Reuters at the FIDAE airshow in Chilean capital Santiago on Tuesday.

"We have done more than 150 hours of flight, the second prototype should fly in two or three weeks," he said, adding that certification should take place "towards the end of 2017".
Voor meer zie link
http://www.reuters.com/article/chile-airshow-embraer-idUSL5N17204A

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