Austria is procuring four Embraer C-390 transport aircraft
Gerhard Heiming
Austria is replacing its three almost 60-year-old C-130 Hercules transport aircraft with C-390 transport aircraft from the Brazilian manufacturer Embraer. At a press conference on September 20th, Austrian Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner announced that all further planning would focus on the Embraer C-390.
Embraer's aircraft system is the only one in the 20 ton class that meets all the requirements. Criteria include performance, speed, seating, payload, avionics equipment, transport of a “Pandur Evolution” with a mounted weapon station. The plan is to purchase four units (one of which is an option) to ensure availability to complete tasks. The unit price was stated to be between 130 and 150 million euros.
Nach einem vom Ministerium veröffentlichten Katalog von Fragen und Antworten strebt Österreich eine Kooperation mit anderen Betreibern der C-390 wie den Niederlanden, Portugal und Ungarn an, um die Beschaffungs- und Betriebskosten niedrig zu halten. Dem Vernehmen nach sollen die Flugzeuge gemeinsam mit den Niederlanden beschafft werden. Die Niederlande haben einen Bedarf von fünf Transportflugzeugen zum Ersatz ihrer C-130H.
The new transport aircraft are expected from 2026/2027 and will be stationed at the current C-130 location in Linz/Hörsching.
Gerhard Heiming