Lithuania’s selection of the C-390 airlifter at the Paris Air Show 2025 | Photo: Embraer
Brazil’s Embraer won the tenth customer for its C-390 Millennium airlifter with Lithuania’s Ministry of National Defence announcing the selection of the aircraft last week.
Lithuania will buy three C-390 aircraft in an order that will include ‘industrial cooperation that will provide opportunities for MRO capabilities, parts co-production and partnerships with knowledge institutes,’ according to a statement from Embraer.
Vice Minister of National Defence of Lithuania, Loreta Maskaliovienė, said in the statement, “We have carefully studied the various types of military transport aircraft available on the market, and our assessment has clearly shown that the C-390 Millennium is the most suitable platform to meet our national military operational requirements. Therefore, Lithuania has chosen Embraer Company for further negotiations and expects to finalise the acquisition contract in the coming months.”
President & CEO of Embraer Defense & Security, Bosco Da Costa Junior, said, “This selection reflects Embraer’s commitment to strengthening defence capabilities in Europe. In this regard, the C-390, with its versatility, performance, and NATO interoperability, is the ideal platform — readily available to carry out the most demanding missions.”
In addition to South Korea, Austria and Brazil, the C-390 has been selected by a total of seven NATO countries, which have ordered, or plan to order, a total of 22 aircraft after Portugal placed an order for an additional aircraft following on its original order for five aircraft.
Illustration of the aeromedical configuration selected by the Royal Netherlands Air Force for its C-390 fleet | Illustration: Embraer
The Netherlands, which has also ordered five C-390 aircraft, placed an order last week for an Aeromedical Evacuation System for its fleet. An Embraer statement called the system ‘a roll-on/roll-off,’ ‘self-contained, air-transportable unit that functions as a mini hospital, supporting ‘treatment and transport of patients, including those requiring full life support, and ‘transport of infected patients, protecting the medical staff and the crew.’
According to Embraer, the C-390 can carry 26 tons of payload and fly at speeds of 470 knots for missions that include transporting and dropping cargo and troops, medical evacuation, search and rescue, firefighting and humanitarian missions, operating on temporary or unpaved runways, such as packed earth, soil and gravel. The aircraft can also be configured for air-to-air refuelling, both, as a tanker and as a receiver.
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