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Dutch buy planes in Brazil with Austria
The Federal Army will replace its “Hercules” with four C-390s from Embraer,
Minister Tanner announced.
Joint procurement with the Netherlands is being sought.
Costs: Around 600 million euros.
The favorite has prevailed.
As Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner (ÖVP) and Armaments Director Major General Harald Vodosek
announced in a press conference on Wednesday,
the Federal Army will procure jet-powered transport machines to replace the three aging C-130 "Hercules".
Four C-390 “Millenium” from the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer are scheduled to land in Austria by 2030 at the latest.
This is made possible through the desired cooperation with the Netherlands,
whose air force is also replacing its old “Hercules” with five C-390s.
The Austrian machines are said to be almost identical.
The details of the cooperation will be negotiated over the next few months,
and the contract is expected to be finalized in the first half of 2024.
Delivery of the first aircraft is expected within two to three years after the contract is signed, said Tanner.
The press conference with Minister Tanner and Armaments Director Harald Vodosek can be viewed:
The Embraer aircraft was the only one that met the technical specifications of the Armed Forces,
the minister explained, explaining why this type could be decided on relatively early.
One of the most important requirements of the domestic air force was
that the Pandur EVO wheeled armored vehicle and its weapons station could be relocated with the aircraft “in one piece,”
Vodosek added.
It must also be possible to transport an S-70 “Black Hawk” helicopter.
Costs: around 600 million euros
The comparatively higher operating costs may also have spoken against US competitor Lockheed Martin,
which wanted to make the current Hercules version C-130J attractive to the armed forces.
However, the General Staff and leading officers in the domestic air force spoke out in favor of the (K)C-390 early on.
The previous year a Brazilian Army aircraft was on display at Airpower in Zeltweg .
“This is exactly what we need,”
the Kleine Zeitung heard from several quarters at the time.
Airpower
Klaudia Tanner already got a picture of the C-390 in Zeltweg
Regarding the expected costs,
Tanner said that one should expect around 130 to 150 million euros per piece,
so in total up to 600 million euros will be due.
However, through joint procurement with the Netherlands - a total of nine aircraft would then be ordered -
it is hoped that the price will be lower.
The Dutch are already at the end of their contract negotiations with manufacturer Embraer,
Austria will now enter into these discussions.
“The advantage of cooperation is that we get identical equipment.
There will be no oil solution and therefore no interface problems in use,”
explained the armaments director.
In addition to joint procurement,
the collaboration will primarily affect the areas of training, logistics and maintenance.
But the shipyard will remain in Austria, Tanner noted.
The C-390 (the manufacturer uses the version name KC-390) with two jet engines only had its first flight in February 2015,
and the first machines are now in service with Portugal, Hungary and Brazil.