The customer base for the Embraer C-390 has grown to include Uzbekistan. The first Brazilian transporter for another country has also been completed.
At the Singapore Airshow, Embraer announced that Uzbekistan is the first customer for the C-390 in Central Asia. The order for the jet transporter had already been placed and was listed in the annual report as from an "undisclosed customer". Two aircraft were listed in the report. The South Americans have not confirmed whether both are destined for Uzbekistan. According to the company, the country will use the aircraft for transportation and humanitarian missions. "We officially welcome the Republic of Uzbekistan to the group of C-390 operators as the Uzbek Air Force modernizes its transport capabilities," said Bosco da Costa Junior, President and CEO of Embraer Defense & Security. The Uzbek armed forces currently have the Airbus C-295M and Ilyushin Il-76 in the transport sector.
However, the first operator on the Asian continent will be South Korea. The first C-390 destined for the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) has completed final assembly and is about to begin flight tests. As part of the LTA II (Large Transport Aircraft) program, the country opted for the Brazilian product at the end of 2023.
Eleven countries have opted for the C-390
At the end of last year, Embraer had an order backlog of 33 C-390s. The total number of orders amounted to 46 aircraft plus options for 19 additional jets. The transporter is currently flying in Brazil (8 of 18 aircraft delivered), Portugal (3 of 6) and Hungary (2 of 2). Other customers include the Netherlands (5), Austria (4), Sweden (4), the Czech Republic (2), South Korea (3) and Uzbekistan (2?). The orders from Lithuania (3) and Slovakia (3) have not yet been finalized.
The self-protection system for the military transporters is supplied by Elbit Systems. The Israeli company is probably also currently working on a variant for electronic signal reconnaissance. However, details of this are not yet known.
