Brazilian Air Force and Embraer Conclude KC-390 Preliminary Design Review

The Brazilian Air Force (FAB) and Embraer Defense and Security concluded, in August, the preliminary design review of the military transport jet aircraft KC-390 development project. The contractual event, one of the program’s relevant milestones, took place at Embraer facilities in Eugênio de Melo, from August 20th to 29th. 

Throughout the event, Embraer presented to the Air Force Command the technical characteristics of the project’s solutions adopted for structural and aircraft systems, including the definitions of the main components and their interfaces, demonstrating that the project has reached its expected maturity at the current phase. 

“We are quite pleased with the results and we are sure that the project is on the right track”, said Colonel-Engineer Sergio Carneiro, Project KC-390 Manager at FAB. “We checked all the main aspects of the aircraft’s project and the KC-390 meets the Brazilian Air Force’s expectations.” 

As part of the project design review, an evaluation of the cockpit’s ergonomics was also performed, with the participation of Air Force Command military personnel, featuring 1st Lieutenant-Aviator Joyce de Souza Conceição, of the 1st/1st Transport Group. Lieutenant-Aviator Joyce de Souza is the first woman pilot to evaluate the KC-390’s cockpit. 

“The discussions with the Air Force were very productive and we are pleased with the result of this work”, said Paulo Gastão Silva, Director of the KC-390 Program at Embraer. “We have a very qualified and motivated team on this project and we will keep working hard to satisfy our customer.”

The next major contractual event will be the project’s critical design review, when the project’s maturity will be verified for prototype manufacturing.

Equipped with the most advanced mission and flight systems, the KC-390 is the largest aircraft ever built by the Brazilian aircraft industry and will establish a new standard for mid-sized military transport aircraft, in terms of performance and load capacity.