The Swedish Flygvapnet will exchange its C-130Hs with 4 C-390 Millennium airlifters purchased by means of a joint procurement with Austria and the Netherlands.
The Swedish Air Drive (Flygvapnet) and the Brazilian protection main Embraer signed a contract for 4 C-390 Millennium airlifters on Oct. 6, 2025, to be delivered by 2027. Sweden thus turns into the eighth nation in Europe and ninth nation general to function Embraer’s cargo plane.
The Swedish defence materials company Forsvarsmakten, Defence Minister Pål Jonson and Embraer specified that this contract is a part of a joint procurement with the Netherlands and Austria. An choice to buy seven extra plane can be current.
This procurement “reduces each the value and the supply time,” with Embraer including that it “paves the best way for future acquisitions by different European nations.” The Netherlands and Austria had been the primary two NATO members to enter right into a strategic partnership and already collectively ordered 9 C-390s in 2024.
The signing ceremony at Uppsala Air Base, Sweden, occurred within the presence of a Força Aérea Portuguesa (Portuguese Air Drive) C-390. The Flygvapnet mentioned this was a “lengthy awaited step within the course of to exchange the present transport plane 84 Hercules,” referring to the native designation of the C-130H, the Tp84 Hercules.
The Flygvapnet at present operates 5 C-130Hs (Tp84) and one KC-130H (Tp84T). The oldest plane,which had been purchased from the U.S. within the Sixties, had been retired ten years in the past.
NEWS | Sweden orders 4 Embraer C-390 Millennium as a part of joint European procurement; contract consists of seven extra choices paving the best way for future acquisitions. Learn full information: pic.twitter.com/IyRmHNVc0r
— Embraer (@embraer) October 6, 2025
The precise contract follows the choice of the C-390 by Stockholm in November 2024, with a Letter of Intents (LOI) that protection minister Pål Jonson signed in Brazil. Lithuania additionally inked a cope with Embraer for 3 plane on Jun. 19, 2025, to complement its fleet of three C-27J Spartans.
The C-390 Millenium is already utilized by Brazil (since 2019), Portugal (2023) and, most lately, the Hungarian Air Drive (in 2024). Different future European operators, moreover the Netherlands and Austria, are the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
C-390 rising significance
Forsvarsmakten mentioned that the C-390 will “meet the Air Drive’s operational wants for a long-term tactical transport functionality, whereas strengthening the Armed Forces’ potential to quickly transport personnel and materiel each nationally and internationally.” The signing ceremony occurred within the presence of Pål Jonson, Air Drive Maj. Gen. Chief Jonas Wikman, FMV Secretary Common Mikael Granholm, Dutch State Secretary Gijs Tuinman, together with representatives from different C-390 operators Brazil, Hungary, Czech Republic, Portugal, Austria and the Netherlands.
“This vital milestone for protection in Europe is a part of a broader trilateral partnership between Austria, Sweden, and the Netherlands, geared toward fostering joint procurement, interoperability, and long-term cooperation across the C-390 Millennium platform,” Embraer mentioned in its assertion. “The seven choices signed underneath this framework mirror rising European curiosity on this subsequent era plane and a shared dedication to modernizing tactical airlift capabilities throughout the continent.”
Selecting the C-390 Millennium permits Sweden to “improve its operational capabilities and interoperability whereas benefiting from European synergies in coaching and lifecycle help,” says the producer. President and CEO of Embraer Protection and Safety Bosco da Costa Junior mentioned the contract reinforces the C-390’s “rising status as the brand new normal for tactical airlift in Europe and amongst NATO nations.”
The C-390 can carry a payload of 26 tons, with the Flygvapnet placing its passenger capability at 80 individuals and classifying it as a “medium distance tactical transport plane.” It could possibly contact speeds of 470 knots and may conduct a variety of missions, together with “transporting and dropping cargo and troops, medical evacuation, search and rescue, firefighting and humanitarian missions, working on non permanent or unpaved runways, corresponding to packed earth, soil and gravel.”
Sverige signerade idag kontrakt på fyra nya militära transportflygplan av modellen C-390 until ett värde av ca 8 miljarder. Det är en viktig investering som ersätter åldrande materiel och stärker vår förmåga att snabbt agera vid kris, både nationellt och internationellt. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/5XUBriiB60
— Pål Jonson (@PlJonson) October 6, 2025
The plane’s air-to-air refueling configuration, designated the KC-390, has “already confirmed its aerial refueling capability each as a tanker and as a receiver, on this case by receiving gasoline from one other KC-390 utilizing pods put in underneath the wings,” says the corporate. It’s unclear if Sweden can be buying the air-to-air refueling tools.
A lot wanted joint functionality for Sweden and Europe
Minister for Defence of Sweden Pål Jonson mentioned the funding within the C-390 “replaces growing old tools and strengthens our potential to behave shortly in a disaster, each nationally and internationally.” The choice to buy the plane “along with the Netherlands and Austria […] reduces each value and supply time” and “provides Swedish taxpayers extra protection for his or her cash – and a stronger Sweden.”
“It’s a much-needed improve for our air pressure. Inside 2-3 years, we are going to now have a extremely trendy and succesful platform that may deal with extra missions than our present Hercules plane,” Jonson mentioned on X. The Forsvarsmakten assertion quoted the Flygvapnet chief Maj. Gen. Jonas Wikman, who “emphasised that Swedish Air Drive historical past was written as we speak and that the C-390 is a welcome contribution to the Swedish Air Drive.”
🇸🇪 Försvarsmakten får fyra nya transportflyg av typen C-390. Idag genomfördes en signeringsceremoni på flygbasen i Uppsala.
— Flygvapnet (@flygvapnet) October 6, 2025
“This is a vital day, a milestone and a stepping stone into the long run. For us, this marks a starting in some ways a section of change inside the Air Drive the place we’re adapting to new challenges,” mentioned Wikman. FMV’s secretary common Mikael Granholm additionally mentioned how joint procurement with Austria and the Netherlands helps dealing with “challenges collectively and collaborate on them,” moreover checking supply deadlines and prices.
The Netherlands’s Minister for Arms Procurement and Personnel Gijs Tuinman and the Austrian Armed Forces’s Nationwide Armaments Director Harald Vodosek welcomed Sweden into their partnership. Each promised to “take advantage of” of the C-390 to “strengthen safety throughout Europe” and “set new requirements of effectivity and interoperability for our most demanding missions.”
“Out the door, 45° to the sky, and gravity does the remaining.” 🌍✈️
Throughout Train Adaptive Hussars 2025, 🇭🇺paratroopers from the Parachute Squadron of the HDF Particular Operations Command leap from the KC-390, honing covert insertion abilities the place velocity & shock are every little thing. 🪂… pic.twitter.com/1qpdUDMG0P
— NATO Allied Joint Drive Command Brunssum – JFCBS (@NATOJFCBS) September 18, 2025
Embraer says the present world fleet of C-390s has a mission functionality fee of 93% and mission completion charges above 99%. The Hungarian Air Drive, which operates two KC-390s, had one of many plane take part in Train Adaptive Hussars 2025 late in September, releasing paratroopers from the Parachute Squadron of the HDF Particular Operations Command.
