Page 6 - Australian Defence Magazine July 2019

NEWS REVIEW
INDUSTRY UPDATE
Embraer readies
for KC-390 Entry
into Service
NIGEL PITTAWAY | GAVIÃO PEIXOTO & SÃO JOSÉ DOS CAMPOS
Embraer is now looking to export the KC-390.
BRAZILIAN aircraft manufacturer Em- braer is preparing to deliver the first KC- 390 multi-mission airlifter to the Brazilian Air Force, following the initial flight of the aircraft in late May.
The first aircraft is due to be handed over in June to the Brazilian Air Force, which is the launch customer for the type. The aircraft is actually the aircraft produced, including two prototypes, and is the first of 28 aircraft on order by the Brazilian Air Force.
The KC-390 is a turbofan-powered air- lifter in the same class as the Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules and able to uplift 23 tonnes of distributed payload, or 26 tonnes of concentrated payload. It can also perform other missions, including air to air refuelling, search and rescue and aerial firefighting.
The flight test campaign for military type certification is now in its final stages but was marred by a runway excursion incident involving one of the two prototype aircraft at Embraer’s test facility in Gavião Peixoto last year. This incident has delayed the flight test program by somewhere between 6-12 months and has necessitated the second-
ment of the first production aircraft (the third built) to the program. This aircraft was originally intended to be the first air- craft delivered to the Brazilian Air Force in the second half of 2018.
Civil certification of the aircraft was achieved in October 2018 and with produc- tion ramping up and deliveries imminent, Embraer’s focus is now turning to the lucra- tive export market.
The delivery of the first aircraft comes at a critical time for Embraer, which is in the final stages of carving out its commercial aircraft business to a Joint Venture with Boeing. The new company will, subject to regulatory approval, be known as Boeing Brasil Commercial, in which the US manu- facturer will hold an 80 per cent stake.
A second Joint Venture, in which Em- braer will retain 51 per cent of the stake will see the two companies jointly market- ing the KC-390 for export. Embraer De- fence & Security CEO Jackson Schneider said the marketing JV will consolidate the KC-390’s place in the international mar- ket, leveraging Boeing’s international mar- ket presence.
“The defence market is a very tough stra-
tegic market and with the Boeing alliance we will have a different profile, in terms of the ability to present the aircraft in some countries and to some defence forces in a different way to what we could have done alone,” Schneider said.
“It will help us to capture the market share we want and perhaps even in the fu- ture to the US market, offering the KC-390 to the US forces, or through the US sales support mechanisms.”
The commercial JV is expected to be approved by the anti-trust authorities around the end of the year and the de- fence marketing agreement is set to follow shortly thereafter.
One early campaign which did not have the benefit of the JV however, was in NZ, where the Royal NZ Air Force had a re- quirement to replace its 50-year old fleet of C-130H Hercules airlifters. The KC-390's main competitor in the Future Air Mobil- ity Capability (FAMC) competition was the C-130J-30, which was selected by NZ in mid-June.
Disclaimer: The writer travelled to Brazil as a guest of Embraer.
Beca secures airfield maintenance contract
BECA has been awarded a contract for the management and contract administration of national airfield maintenance works un- der projects P0008 and P0009, for the Cap- ital Facilities and Infrastructure branch of Defence's Estate and Infrastructure Group.
These are major projects for Defence and an extension of the work delivered for the P1004 program alongside Aurecon and the P0007 program. The latest projects involve airfield works at RAAF Base William- town, RAAF Base Darwin, Robertson Bar- racks and Mount Bundey Training Area.
“We are delighted to be given this oppor- tunity to deliver major works to maintain capability and operability on these bases," David Barter, Business Director of Estate & Infrastructure at Beca, said.
The company will deliver services includ- ing project management and contract ad- ministration, detailed business case devel- opment, master plan feasibility studies, and design peer review.
Beca has been providing aircraft pave- ment maintenance advice and design ser- vices to the ADF since 2009.
COMING UP IN AUGUST ADM
• Materialsforunderwater technology
• STEMandDefence,tightening up the pipeline
• Women in Defence Award winners wrap up
• Simulation capability from SMEs
6 | July 2019 | www.australiandefence.com.au
NIGEL PITTAWAY