Bosco da Costa Junior, President and CEO of Embraer Defense and Security, stated: "This certificate places the C-390 in a select group of aircraft in the world. It is a unique moment in Embraer's history. The C-390 is redefining military and resupply airlift, challenging the thinking behind currently available platforms. Air forces around the world are focused on optimizing the relationship between their operational needs and their budgets, and the C-390 is the right aircraft to meet this equation."
To achieve its certification, the prototype aircraft underwent around 3.500 hours of varied operational conditions. Additionally, 85.000 hours were performed using laboratory test benches to ensure all requirements were met.
During the ceremony, Air Force Commander Lieutenant-Brigadier Marcelo Kanitz Damasceno stated: "This is the KC-390, the aircraft that embodies the true meaning of the word "perseverance". Wherever it is, there will be the Brazilian State; there will be the order and progress of a nation that aligns itself with the idea that the full development of democracy cannot do without inviolable sovereignty. Finally, I wish that these feelings of Brazilianness and pride, which we now experience, will surface in each citizen, when contemplating the skies and verifying that the "wings that protect and integrate the country" and Embraer are heading united in the purpose of ensuring a future consistent with the strategic stature of our beloved Brazil,"
During the ceremony, the sixth aircraft unit was handed over to the Brazilian Air Force (FAB), the first with full operational capability (FOC). The already delivered aircraft will be retrofitted to be capable of FOC.
Besides those from the FAB, the C-390 has orders from Portugal, Hungary and the Netherlands. Numerous other countries are also interested in the C-390.
Source: Embraer and Aeroflap
Image: Embraer