Colombia orders two Embraer KC-390 Millennium airlifters for fleet modernization
Embraer announced on August 4, 2026, that the Fuerza Aeroespacial Colombiana (FAC) has signed a contract for two KC-390 Millennium multi-mission aircraft, making Colombia the first Latin American customer for the type outside Brazil and the 13th nation to order it. The FAC put the value of the contract at $366.4 million at fixed prices, with execution spread over four years. The package covers the two aircraft, mission equipment, initial training for pilots, maintenance technicians and mission support personnel, ground support equipment, and 24 months of integrated logistics support. Embraer said the deal also includes an offset program structured to meet Colombian regulatory requirements. Deliveries are scheduled for 2029 and 2030, with the first aircraft to be ferried from Embraer's Gavião Peixoto plant to CATAM air base in Bogotá. Replacing an aging Hercules fleet The purchase falls under the FAC's heavy tactical military transport requirement, part of a modernization plan the force ties to its Air and Space Development Strategy 2042 (EDAES 2042), formulated in 2019. Colombia's tactical airlift currently rests on a small fleet of Lockheed C-130B and C-130H Hercules, operated since the late 1960s and supplemented over the years by second-hand US transfers. That fleet came under scrutiny after a C-130H registered FAC-1016 crashed shortly after takeoff from Puerto Leguízamo on March 23, 2026, killing 70 of the 126 people on board. The decision was not entirely free of controversy. President Gustavo Petro directed the FAC to conclude negotiations with Embraer in July 2026, according to Infodefensa , before the force had completed a technical comparison that also included the Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules and Airbus A400M. The FAC nevertheless maintained that its selection followed technical, legal and financial analyses conducted by its own personnel. Tanker role and Gripen interoperability Two Brazilian Air Force F-39E Gripen fighters refuel simultaneously from an Embraer KC-390 Millennium. (Credit: Embraer) Embraer said the aircraft will be delivered with connectivity allowing them to operate alongside the 17 Gripen E/F fighters Colombia ordered from Saab in November 2025 under a €3.1 billion contract. The KC-390 can be fitted with removable air-to-air refueling equipment, allowing it to serve as either tanker or receiver. Bosco da Costa Junior, President and CEO of Embraer Defense & Security, said the company was "honored by the FAC's decision to select the KC-390 Millennium," pointing to a relationship dating back more than 35 years to Colombia's purchase of the EMB-312 Tucano and later the A-29 Super Tucano. Embraer says the KC-390 carries up to 26 tons of payload at speeds of up to 470 knots and can operate from short or unpaved strips. Beyond Brazil, the type has been selected by Portugal, Hungary, South Korea, the Netherlands, Austria, the Czech Republic, Uzbekistan, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, Slovakia and Lithuania [though the latter postponed the procurement – ed. note]. The Czech Air Force received its first aircraft on July 16, 2026.
