Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer on Tuesday rolled out the first prototype of its KC-390 military transport and air-to-air refuelling aircraft at its Gavião Peixoto plant in São Paulo state. The aircraft is the biggest type yet developed by the company and probably the biggest aircraft ever developed in the southern hemisphere.

“This significant milestone of the KC-390 programme demonstrates Embraer’s ability to manage such a complex and high-technology project and to perform it on track,” enthused Embraer Defence and Security president and CEO Jackson Schneider. “It paves the way for the beginning of the ground tests to prepare for the first flight.”

Those ground tests will include systems evaluations, engine ground runs and vibration tests. This first aircraft will be followed by a second prototype and then by 28 production aircraft for the Brazilian Air Force (abbreviated to FAB in Portuguese). Five other countries are currently planning to buy another 32 of the type.

Powered by two turbofan engines, the KC-390 will, Embraer states, have the lowest total life-cycle costs and highest availability in its class. It will be able to operate from short and semi-prepared airfields. It is fitted with a complete fly-by-wire flight control system.

The programme is being largely funded by the FAB. “The KC-390 will be the backbone of the FAB’s air transportation network,” affirmed FAB Commander Lieutenant-Brigadier (equivalent to Lieutenant-General) Juniti Saito. “It will be able to operate in both the Amazon and Antarctica. The jet engines give the aircraft enormous agility in fulfilling all of its missions, faster and better.”

The new aircraft will have a tactical payload of 16 t and a logistical mission payload of 23 t. With a 19 t payload it will have a range of 2 000 nautical miles (nm), rising to 2 600 nm with maximum fuel and a payload of 14.7 t. Ferry range will be 3 250 nm.

In its press release, Embraer described the KC-390 as “a significant advance in terms of technology and innovation for the Brazilian aeronautics industry. The aircraft is designed to establish new standards in its category, with a lower operating cost and the flexibility to perform a variety of missions: cargo and troop transport, troop and cargo air delivery, aerial refuelling, search and rescue and combating forest fires, among others”.