Sweden, Colombia interested in Embraer’s KC-390, says Brazilian minister

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Brazilian Defense Minister Jose Mucio said late Thursday that countries such as Sweden and Colombia had expressed interest in buying Embraer’s KC-390 military cargo aircraft.

Mucio said he held nearly 20 bilateral meetings during the LAAD defense and security fair this week and, in some of them, the KC-390 was on the agenda.

“Evidently, these sales need to be planned, studied and evaluated, to have a source of financing, a guarantee. But the concept of the KC-390 is very big with all the countries,” he told Reuters.

“Sweden itself has talked about the KC-390, others have also talked about it and it’s a big success. Sweden was expected to give an answer and Colombia is also interested in making an acquisition,” he added.

So far, the Brazilian Air Force has ordered 19 of the aircraft from Embraer.

In addition to Brazil, Portugal and Hungary have already acquired it, while the Netherlands selected the aircraft last year for purchase.

Earlier this week, Reuters reported, citing sources, that Austria was looking to advance in talks with Embraer on purchasing four or five KC-390 aircraft.

Embraer Defense CEO, Bosco da Costa Junior, told Reuters earlier this year the company aimed for more international deals, focusing especially on increasing sales of the KC-390.

In a new interview at LAAD on Wednesday, Costa Junior reiterated that “several countries” were in talks for possible purchases of the freighter, although he did not specify which ones.

Mucio said the certification of the cargo aircraft by the NATO Western military alliance could open doors in the European market and others.

“The production in Portugal is important because it already meets NATO’s pre-requisites,” he said, explaining that manufacturing the aircraft in Brazil to sell in Europe does not meet some NATO requirements.

(Reporting by Rodrigo Viga Gaier; Additional reporting by Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Mark Potter)