Austria to buy four Embraer C-390 cargo planes for over $500 million

GRAZ, Austria — The Austrian Air Force will buy four Embraer C-390 Millennium aircraft to replace its aging fleet of three C-130 Hercules cargo planes in a deal expected to be worth more than €500 million (U.S. $532 million), the Defence Ministry announced Sept. 20.

Austria’s current fleet of turboprop transporters was purchased 20 years ago as secondhand aircraft. The planes are now 56 years old. To prolong their service life, an upgrade of almost €37 million would be required, the Austrian public broadcaster ORF reported.

The service would ultimately have to withdraw the fleet from service by 2030 amid maintenance costs for the aging aircraft constantly increasing, the ministry said.

In a news conference, the ministry said this money would instead contribute to the purchase of the four new aircraft.

The ministry added that the price per unit will likely be between €130 million and €150 million, and that the first new planes may arrive in Austria as soon as 2026. A contract is expected to be signed in the first half of the coming year, per defense officials.

The C-390 was the only aircraft in its class that fulfilled all of Austria’s requirements, the ministry said in a news release. It is also larger than the American-made C-130 and capable of transporting a Black Hawk helicopter or a Pandur Evo light wheeled tank with its weapons station attached.

The S-70 Black Hawk has served as the backbone of the Austrian military’s helicopter fleet for the past 21 years. The country recently announced the purchase of 12 further units.

The new transport aircraft will be stationed on the military airfield in Hörsching near the northern Austrian city of Linz. The air base currently hosts the Hercules fleet and will receive upgrades to accommodate the new aircraft.

Defence Minister Klaudia Tanner highlighted as a benefit that other European partners were also procuring the Brazilian aircraft .

Portugal has ordered five and Hungary bought two C-390s, while the Czech Republic and Sweden are also considering buying the aircraft, Reuters reported.

Austrian defense leaders said they hope to piggyback on a planned procurement of the aircraft by the Dutch to keep costs down and facilitate training. Negotiations for the collaboration are already underway, according to the Austrian ministry.

Austrian newspaper Kronen Zeitung reported the Netherlands may add the four extra aircraft to its own order before passing them onto Austria.

Austria has shied away in recent years from purchasing military aircraft directly from manufacturers following a major corruption scandal surrounding the 2002 procurement of the Eurofighter jet.

Linus Höller is Defense News' Europe correspondent and OSINT investigator. He reports on the arms deals, sanctions, and geopolitics shaping Europe and the world. He holds master’s degrees in WMD nonproliferation, terrorism studies, and international relations, and works in four languages: English, German, Russian, and Spanish.

奥地利格拉茨——奥地利国防部于9月20日宣布，奥地利空军将购买四架巴西航空工业公司生产的C-390“千禧”运输机，以替换其老旧的三架C-130“大力神”运输机，预计这笔交易价值超过5亿欧元（5.32亿美元）。

奥地利目前使用的涡轮螺旋桨运输机机队是20年前作为二手飞机购入的，如今机龄已达56年。奥地利公共广播公司ORF报道称，为了延长其使用寿命，需要进行近3700万欧元的升级改造。

该部表示，由于老旧飞机的维护成本不断增加，该部门最终将在 2030 年前停止使用该机队。

该部在新闻发布会上表示，这笔资金将用于购买四架新飞机。

该部补充说，单价可能在1.3亿欧元至1.5亿欧元之间，首批新飞机最早可能在2026年交付奥地利。据国防官员透露，预计将在明年上半年签署合同。

奥地利国防部在一份新闻稿中表示，C-390是同级别飞机中唯一满足奥地利所有要求的机型。它比美国制造的C-130更大，能够运输一架黑鹰直升机或一辆配备武器站的潘杜尔Evo轻型轮式坦克。

过去21年来，S-70“黑鹰”直升机一直是奥地利军队直升机机队的中坚力量。该国最近宣布将再购买12架。

这架新型运输机将驻扎在奥地利北部城市林茨附近的霍尔兴军用机场。该机场目前驻扎着大力神运输机队，并将进行升级改造以适应新飞机的到来。

国防部长克劳迪娅·坦纳强调，其他欧洲伙伴也在采购巴西飞机，这是一个好处。

路透社报道称，葡萄牙已订购五架C-390运输机，匈牙利购买了两架，捷克和瑞典也在考虑购买该型飞机。

奥地利国防部领导人表示，他们希望借助荷兰计划采购该型飞机的机会，降低成本并简化培训流程。据奥地利国防部称，双方已就合作事宜展开谈判。

奥地利报纸《皇冠报》报道称，荷兰可能会在将这四架飞机转交给奥地利之前，先将其添加到自己的订单中。

近年来，奥地利一直避免直接从制造商处购买军用飞机，此前在 2002 年采购欧洲战斗机时发生了一起重大腐败丑闻。

林努斯·霍勒是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者和开源情报调查员。他报道影响欧洲乃至全球的军火交易、制裁和地缘政治。他拥有大规模杀伤性武器不扩散、恐怖主义研究和国际关系三个硕士学位，并精通英语、德语、俄语和西班牙语四种语言。