Greece Approves €600 Million Buy of Three Embraer C-390 Millennium Airlifters

Greece's KYSEA national security council cleared the purchase of three C-390 Millennium transports on July 23, in a government-to-government deal with Portugal that hands the Hellenic Air Force Lisbon's Embraer production slots.

Greece's Government Council for National Security and Foreign Affairs, known as KYSEA, approved the acquisition of three Embraer C-390 Millennium transport aircraft on July 23. The package is valued at roughly €600 million and carries an option for three additional airframes.

Beyond the aircraft themselves, the program covers conversion training for aircrew and technicians, an initial spares package, ground support equipment and a multi-year follow-on support contract. Hellenic Aerospace Industry is to take on domestic maintenance work for the fleet.

The deal is structured as a government-to-government agreement with Portugal rather than a direct commercial purchase from Embraer. That arrangement lets the Hellenic Air Force assume Portuguese production slots on the manufacturer's line in Brazil, pulling deliveries forward to a 2027-2030 window that Athens could not have reached by joining the back of the order book.

The C-390 is a twin-turbofan tactical transport that Embraer offers with a podded aerial refueling capability and a range of secondary roles including aeromedical evacuation and firefighting. It has become the default European choice for air arms replacing turboprop airlifters: Portugal, Hungary, the Netherlands, Austria, Sweden and the Czech Republic have all signed for the type, and the Czech Air Force took delivery of its first aircraft at Prague-Kbely on July 6.

For Greece, the buy addresses one of the oldest fleets in the Hellenic Air Force inventory. The service still operates 15 C-130B/H Hercules, aircraft that have proved increasingly difficult and expensive to keep serviceable, alongside eight C-27J Spartans. The three C-390s will progressively replace part of the Hercules fleet rather than all of it, with the option aircraft determining how far the substitution eventually goes.

The order is the latest in a broad Greek rearmament effort. Greece, which ranks 19th in the global military power ranking, has 24 Rafales in service and 20 F-35As on order, and finalized a €3.5 billion Israeli air defense package for its Achilles Shield program a day after the airlifter decision.

Contract signature with Portugal and Embraer is expected to follow the KYSEA approval, with the three aircraft entered on order in the Hellenic Air Force inventory. First deliveries are scheduled for 2027.