Paris, 16 jun 2025 (Lusa) - Portugal's Defence Minister Nuno Melo announced on Monday plans to purchase a sixth KC-390 Millennium aircraft from Brazilian company Embraer for the Portuguese Air Force and to sell 10 other aircraft to NATO countries.
"We have decided to opt for the sixth aircraft, an option that the contract provided for, but we should note that we will acquire it at the price agreed when we signed the contract, i.e. some time ago, and not at the price at which the aircraft is being sold now. Therefore, if Portugal wanted to sell it, it would resell it at a huge profit,” he told the press during his visit to the 55th edition of the Paris Air Show.
According to Nuno Melo, the partnership between Portugal and Brazil through Embraer, which “results in huge profits for Portugal and strengthens the defence industries”, will gain further reinforcement from the “potential option for 10 other aircraft”.
With the option to sell 10 aircraft, “each aircraft sold means €11 million for the Portuguese state and, for each of these sales, we add advantages that will bring even more profit to the Portuguese Air Force,” he added.
In 2019, Portugal agreed to purchase five KC-390 aircraft and a simulator from Brazilian manufacturer Embraer, and Embraer has already delivered two to replace the Hercules C-130s, for a total of €850 million.
As part of this process, the team modified the aircraft to bring it into line with the requirements that NATO, the United Nations and the European Union had established, and these modifications enable other countries to purchase the aircraft at a profit for the Portuguese State.
The minister wanted to emphasise that Portugal was involved in the KC-390 Millennium project, participating in the manufacture of numerous components, using “cutting-edge technology that puts Portugal at the forefront of a project that is also national in scope, on a global scale”.
Nuno Melo also pointed out that the country is the only one in Europe that “provides training for KC390 pilots” at the centre in Beja.
“Pilot training is a very large source of income, and for each aircraft sold, Portugal makes a profit of more than €11 million, which means that the more KC aircraft are sold worldwide, the more Portugal benefits,” he said.
In August 2019, the Portuguese government and the leading Brazilian manufacturer of commercial, executive and military aircraft signed an agreement to purchase five KC-390s, agreeing to deliver one aircraft per year, with the third scheduled for delivery in the coming months, according to Air Force spokeswoman Captain Patrícia Fernandes.
The KC-390 Millennium can perform a wide range of missions, including the transport and launch of cargo and troops, aeromedical evacuation, search and rescue (SAR), humanitarian aid and disaster response (HADR) operations, firefighting, and aerial refuelling, both as a tanker and as a receiver.
In addition, this modernised aircraft can support maritime surveillance operations, increasing range and flight time through in-flight refuelling, as well as faster and more strategic transport with fewer stopovers, allowing the transport of people and cargo to the theatre of operations.
Depending on the version, it could cost the Ministry of Defence £130 million, an “investment” that, according to Nuno Melo, will equip the Portuguese Air Force and pay for itself.
“We invest in defence, with a great economic and financial return, which helps to pay for the investment made in re-equipping the Armed Forces in Portugal, and it generates added profit for the Portuguese economy and for the State,” he said.
For the minister, the country “uses the best of its intelligence, its engineers, its technology” in a project that pays off, which is why his visit to the show in Le Bourget, about 20 km from Paris, aimed to sell and make a profit rather than to buy, in addition to modernising the Armed Forces.
"We are investing up to 2% with a return for the Portuguese economy (...) and it seems to me that we are already talking about a sufficiently large step given our circumstances, not least because we measure this investment as a percentage of GDP. Therefore, we must calculate these steps carefully, ensuring a steady strengthening of the economy, which, through increased GDP, also allows for a greater return on national defence. That is all we are doing, to fulfil our commitments to NATO,” he said.
Embraer has an Engineering and Business Centre in Lisbon, making the country “the gateway for a global company in Europe, with benefits for everyone,” said Nuno Melo.
Asked about the manufacture of Super Tucano aircraft in Portugal at the request of NATO, Nuno Melo revealed that “Portuguese industry will deliver the first five this year.”
This will also involve an investment of close to €200 million in re-equipping the Armed Forces, of which €75 million will be allocated to Portuguese industries to reconfigure the aircraft to NATO specifications, he said.
MYCO/ADB // ADB.
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