Embraer Presents Its Offer for Poland: Airlifters and Beyond

Since 2019, Poland has been running a program for new transport aircraft with the codename „Drop”. Until recently, this program was considered a low-priority project. Poland currently operates medium-sized C‑130 aircraft of the E and H versions, which are stationed in Powidz and, although old, are still capable of performing their missions.

Modern transport aircraft became important during the War on Terror, when Poland and other countries in the region were involved in assisting the United States in Afghanistan and Iraq on missions abroad. For this reason, in the first decade of the 21st century, Poland purchased 17 light C295M transport aircraft and received a total of 10 old C‑130 Hercules aircraft of the E and H versions from the USA (some of which have already been withdrawn from Polish service, while others are yet to be delivered). Other countries in the region also invested in transport aircraft to support their foreign missions. Even smaller players like Lithuania or Slovakia invested in C‑27 Spartan aircraft.

Transport Aircraft, a Secondary Priority

Nowadays, such investments seem to be of secondary importance compared to the purchase of combat hardware and munitions. Recently, however, there have been reports about Airbus proposals to sell Poland not only light H145 helicopters or A330 MRTT aerial refueling aircraft (both among the best in their classes and needed by Poland to support combat aviation and helicopter pilot training), but also the A400M Atlas transport aircraft.

In this context, Embraer’s move is understandable. On 11th March, the company organized a press meeting, where it presented an offer related to its aircraft – the KC‑390 Millennium. The Millenium belongs to the category of medium transport aircraft, essentially the successor to the world’s most popular Hercules. As a result, a plane was created with a slightly higher payload – 26 tons instead of 20 – and with a larger cargo compartment. As emphasized by Embraer representatives, the aircraft was designed to use the most popular, commercially available jet engine as well as avionics derived from civilian transport and passenger aviation. Consequently, the aircraft is relatively inexpensive to purchase (priced at around USD 150 million) and cheap to operate.

Embraer stresses that even today, 42 percent of every KC‑390 is produced in Europe. This signals that the aircraft is strongly tied to the European economy and that its purchase will, to some extent, be an investment in the Old Continent. It is not a purchase from the USA either.

As announced at the meeting, part of these activities is already taking place in Poland. Directly or indirectly, Embraer is set to provide over the Vistula 1,350 jobs and to benefit from a network of 18 subcontractor companies. Groups of representatives from the Brazilian firm are currently traveling around the country to determine where and what new production services could be performed locally. The goal is to expand the network of Polish subcontractors, and this does not necessarily (or in every case) have to be conditional upon Poland purchasing Embraer aircraft. The Brazilians are also looking for entities that could supply them with aerostructures, essentially handling the most unglamorous part of the work.

The research is meant to result from two phenomena. First, Embraer is currently in a good position with growing orders for its aircraft, which means new component suppliers are needed. Second, engaging in the Polish market is also intended to encourage Poland to order Embraer products.

This concerns transport aircraft, where the Brazilians are clearly trying to present a counter‑proposal to what Airbus can offer with the A400, and also (or rather, primarily) regional passenger aircraft. Polish Airlines LOT are in the market for as many as 84 aircraft of this category, where Airbus with its regional A220 and Embraer with its E2 family are competing. In comparison, the order for military transport aircraft under the Drop program is modest, with plans for 5 to 10 aircraft in the future. However, considering that so far 23 aircraft of this type have been exported (Portugal 5, the Netherlands 5, Austria 4, Korea 3, Hungary 2, Czech Republic 2, an undisclosed customer 2, Slovakia, Sweden – contracts not signed), the Polish order is still significant. This is especially noteworthy given that it involves a large NATO country, i.e. a prestigious customer.

Should their aircraft be chosen, the Brazilians propose to establish in Poland a European training center for these airframes, to set up a full maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) center, and to localize some of the onboard systems.

The day before the media conference, Embraer representatives met with officials from the Ministry of National Defense, including Deputy Minister Paweł Bejda, and presented their offer. Minister Bejda declared that it would be thoroughly considered.