{"id":2519,"date":"2026-07-08T12:18:50","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T12:18:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zephyrsys.us\/index.php\/2026\/07\/08\/czech-air-force-receives-first-c-390-millennium-transport-aircraft\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T12:18:50","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T12:18:50","slug":"czech-air-force-receives-first-c-390-millennium-transport-aircraft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zephyrsys.us\/index.php\/2026\/07\/08\/czech-air-force-receives-first-c-390-millennium-transport-aircraft\/","title":{"rendered":"Czech Air Force Receives First C-390 Millennium Transport Aircraft"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Fist<\/p>\n

The Czech Republic received the first of the two C-390 Millenniums ordered in 2024 from Embraer, with the second aircraft expected to arrive in 2027-2028.<\/h2>\n

The Czech Air Force received on Jul. 6, 2026 its first C-390 Millennium transport aircraft, when the plane landed at the 24th Transport Air Force Base in Prague-Kbely. The aircraft is the first of two C-390s the Czech Republic ordered in October 2024 as part of a CZK 11.3 billion ($508 million) deal.<\/p>\n

Sharing the images on X, the Czech Armed Forces said: \u201cThe C-390 Millennium aircraft has arrived in the Czech Republic. Every new aircraft means greater capabilities for transporting soldiers, equipment, and materials where they are needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

V\u00edtej doma! \"\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\uddff\"<\/p>\n

Do \u010cesk\u00e9 republiky p\u0159ilet\u011bl letoun C-390 Millennium. Ka\u017ed\u00fd nov\u00fd stroj znamen\u00e1 v\u011bt\u0161\u00ed schopnosti p\u0159epravy voj\u00e1k\u016f, techniky i materi\u00e1lu tam, kde je pot\u0159eba.\"\u2708\" pic.twitter.com\/gRnle3L35t<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Arm\u00e1da \u010cR (@ArmadaCR) July 6, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In a separate short update<\/a>, the Czech Armed Forces (Arm\u00e1da \u010cesk\u00e9 Republiky) and the Ministry of Defense (Ministerstvo Obrany) identified the aircraft with its official local designation, the KCV-390 Millennium.<\/p>\n

Embraer announced the CzAF C-390\u2019s first flight on May 25<\/a>. While revealing the aircraft on Jun. 13, 2026, following its paint job at its facility in Brazil, Embraer said that the special three-tone gray camouflage was designed by academic painter Pavel Hol\u00fd from the Military History Institute in Prague.<\/p>\n

\n

Two Jas 39 Gripen C from 211th tactical squadron provided honorary escort for the new C-390 Millenium of the Czech Air Force as it entered Czech Airspace pic.twitter.com\/cBx9j5bGn2<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Daniel of Bohemia (@Danny_elMayor) July 8, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

At the time, the Czech MoD also said<\/a> that an initial batch of six pilots, six flight engineers and 12 ground-based engineering personnel were in Brazil as a part of a two-month training package. \u201cAfter the aircraft arrives in the Czech Republic, training will continue for another six months under the supervision of Brazilian instructors,\u201d FlightGlobal<\/em> reported quoting the Czech MoD.<\/p>\n

C-390 in Czech service<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Embraer had previously said in October 2024<\/a>, on the occasion of signing the contract with the Czech MoD, that the two C-390s for the CzAF are \u201cNATO-standard\u201d aircraft. These can perform a wide range of roles including \u201ctactical transport of troops, vehicles, and equipment, medical evacuation, firefighting, disaster management, humanitarian support, and air-to-air refueling.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Check out the best images of the maiden flight of the first C-390 Millennium aircraft ordered by the Czech Air Force. The NATO-standard aircraft will enhance and modernize the operational capabilities of the country being able to perform a wide range of missions. pic.twitter.com\/AjMgVWGhu9<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Embraer (@embraer) May 25, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The C-390 has a maximum payload of 26 tons and a top speed of 470 knots according to Embraer. With the addition of a \u201crapid deployment aerial refueling (AAR) system,\u201d the C-390 becomes the KC-390, adding the capability to refuel aircraft with hose-and-drogue system, such as the Gripens in service in the CzAF.<\/p>\n

There is also a significant local Czech defense industrial participation in the C-390 acquisition, with Embraer saying in October 2024 that the procurement \u201cpositively impacts the local aerospace industry, which will see a significant increase in its share of production for the program.\u201d This includes the leading edges of the wings and the rear fuselage being manufactured by Aero Vodochody.<\/p>\n\n

The statement also quoted then defense minister Jana \u010cernochov\u00e1: \u201cPast and present history clearly shows us that the military needs to be able to transport people and heavier cargo over longer distances. Evacuations from Afghanistan and Sudan are clear evidence of this. I am therefore very pleased that we have managed to acquire aircraft for our Air Force that are capable of performing these tasks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Czech defense news outlet CZ DEFENCE<\/em><\/a>, while saying the second aircraft is expected to arrive between 2027 to 2028, said there are plans to increase the fleet in the future with a view to have a \u201cminimum threshold for a truly sustainable and operationally viable fleet.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"\ud83d\udcf8\" 24th Transportation AFB, CzAF, Tereza Dudov\u00e1 pic.twitter.com\/uSgqRHrFq5<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Daniel of Bohemia (@Danny_elMayor) July 7, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The report also added the current contract includes a host of other equipment and material like \u201csimulators, training and maintenance facilities, a large set of spare parts, an operations and maintenance planner, equipment for special operations, a firefighting and refueling kit, equipment for ground refueling of vehicles, an air ambulance module, and equipment for search and rescue operations.\u201d The Czech Air Force (CzAF) also operates six C-295 tactical transport aircraft and four smaller twin-turboprop Let L-410 UVP-E\/UVP-T Turbolets for short-range passenger and cargo transport.<\/p>\n

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Na Ruzyni pr\u00e1v\u011b p\u0159ist\u00e1l prvn\u00ed z dvojice Embraer\u016f C-390 Millenium Vzdu\u0161n\u00fdch sil A\u010cR. Dolet\u011bl ze z\u00e1vodu v\u00fdrobce v Braz\u00edlii. Nov\u00e1 vlajkov\u00e1 lo\u010f transportn\u00ed letky uveze a\u017e 26 tun n\u00e1kladu, p\u0159\u00edpadn\u011b pojme 80 cestuj\u00edc\u00edch nebo 64 pln\u011b vyzbrojen\u00fdch v\u00fdsadk\u00e1\u0159\u016f. Pln\u011b nalo\u017een\u00fd letoun dolet\u00ed\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/qRNvyqO2XT<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Vojt\u011bch O\u010dadl\u00fd (@vojtaocadly) July 6, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Do Prahy p\u0159ilet\u011bl prvn\u00ed Embraer C-390 Millennium pro Arm\u00e1du \u010cR<\/p>\n

Letadlo pojme a\u017e 80 cestuj\u00edc\u00edch, dosahuje cestovn\u00ed rychlosti zhruba 870 km\/h. P\u0159i n\u00e1kladu 14 tun m\u00e1 Embraer dolet\u011bt p\u0159ibli\u017en\u011b 5 000 kilometr\u016f, s p\u0159\u00eddavn\u00fdmi n\u00e1dr\u017eemi a\u017e 8 000 kilometr\u016f. Unik\u00e1tn\u00ed kamufl\u00e1\u017e navrhl\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/Lsiu3xaFNK<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Georgi Bidenko (@georgibidenko) July 6, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Support agreements with European companies<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Being the fifth European and NATO member operator of the type also allows the CzAF to share maintenance and repair resources within the continent, saving costs and easing logistics. This is especially true as Embraer inked support and technology transfer agreements with other European countries.<\/p>\n

On Jun. 25, 2026, the Brazilian company signed<\/a> a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with Poland\u2019s leading aerospace Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) company, Wojskowe Zak\u0142ady Lotnicze Nr 2 SA (WZL-2), a subsidiary of Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa Group (PGZ).<\/p>\n

The strategic agreement\u201d includes industrial cooperation between the two companies for \u201cservices and support [..] related to the KC-390,\u201d mentioned a statement. WZL-2 and Embraer \u201cwill jointly prepare a broad framework for future collaborations, encompassing a wide range of capabilities in services and support, aircraft completion and conversion, exterior painting, and systems integration.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"\ud83d\udccd\"V\u00e1clav Havel Airport Prague, #CzechRepublic<\/a> (\"\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\uddff\")<\/p>\n

The first @ArmadaCR<\/a> C-390 Millennium has arrived in country following delivery from #Brazil<\/a> (\"\ud83c\udde7\ud83c\uddf7\").<\/p>\n

\"\ud83d\udcf8\": Leti\u0161ti Praha https:\/\/t.co\/NRlBrgkefm<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/TK6i8bHbzS<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 SA Defensa (@SA_Defensa) July 6, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The press release quoted WZL-2\u2019s chairman of the board of directors Jakub Gazda: \u201cOur goal is to develop industrial and maintenance capabilities in Poland to support KC-390 Millennium operations, while strengthening the country\u2019s aerospace and defense capabilities. We believe that combining Embraer\u2019s experience with WZL-2\u2019s expertise will bring concrete benefits to the Polish Armed Forces and the entire Polish defense industry.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Czech Republic received the first of the two C-390 Millenniums ordered in 2024 from Embraer, with the second aircraft expected to arrive in 2027-2028. The Czech Air Force received on Jul. 6, 2026 its first C-390 Millennium transport aircraft, when the plane landed at the 24th Transport Air Force Base in Prague-Kbely. The aircraft […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2520,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zephyrsys.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zephyrsys.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zephyrsys.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zephyrsys.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zephyrsys.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2519"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/zephyrsys.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2519\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zephyrsys.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zephyrsys.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zephyrsys.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zephyrsys.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}