The governments of Austria and the Netherlands signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) this week for cooperation in the acquisition of Embraer C-390 Millennium airlifter, the Austrian Ministry of Defense said on April 19.
The 39-page agreement provides that the Netherlands will acquire nine aircraft, four of which will be transferred to Austria.
The MoU further establishes that the two air forces have an urgent need to replace their C-130 Hercules turboprops and that there will be “joint acquisitions and synergy effects in the areas of training and maintenance.”
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According to the Austrian Ministry of Defense, the European country’s first C-390 Millennium is expected to be delivered by 2027.
Expanded fleet
Austria had announced the choice of the Brazilian multi-role jet in September 2023, but was not clear about the conditions of the acquisition. The local media, however, already anticipated the Netherlands’ involvement in the agreement.
The Royal Netherlands Air Force also selected the C-390 but in June 2022. Since then, the signing of the contract with Embraer is expected.
Now, with the agreement between the Netherlands and Austria, the acquisition agreement should take place in 2024 with an aircraft manufacturing period of between 24 and 36 months.
The Austrian Armed Forces will replace three C-130s with four C-390s. The expanded fleet is a requirement for the country to be able to keep enough aircraft available.
Embraer has so far obtained 40 orders for the C-390, 19 of them from the Brazilian Air Force. There are orders from Portugal (5) and Hungary (2), in addition to contracts to be signed with the Netherlands (5), Austria (4), Czech Republic (2) and South Korea (3).
