The First Hungarian KC-390 Military Transport Aircraft Arrives in Hungary
The Hungarian Ministry of Defense announced that the first of two KC-390 military transport aircraft ordered from Brazilian aviation company Embraer in 2020 under the “Zrínyi 2026” modernization program arrived at Kecskemét Air Base near the Bács-Kiskun district on April 12. According to the ministry’s statement, the aircraft will remain at Kecskemét air base for three weeks while NATO’s special communication equipment is installed and verified. Following these procedures, the KC-390 aircraft will return to Brazil to complete the final phase of the testing program before returning to Hungary in the autumn for the official handover ceremony.
Zsolt Kutnyánszky, Minister of State responsible for Defense Policy, Force Development, and Defense Industry at the Hungarian Ministry of Defense, stated at a press conference commemorating the arrival of the first KC-390 military transport aircraft at Kecskemét Air Base that the Hungarian Defense Forces are going through a period of transformation and technological renewal. Stating that HDF troops have state-of-the-art military equipment thanks to the armed forces development program, the Minister of State added that air policing and air defense are extremely important, therefore modernization of the air forces is the number one priority in this period of development.
In his speech, Zsolt Kutnyánszky emphasized the importance of well-trained Hungarian soldiers in addition to the acquired assets. The Minister of State stated that the Hungarian Defense Forces are proud of their soldiers and that their “air force pilots are among the best” and that the Hungarian government has implemented a significant salary increase to reward HDF pilots and air traffic controllers/intercept controllers for their responsible work. Kutnyánszky stated, “Now is the time to be a soldier,” and expressed his hope that the new military equipment being delivered will make the Hungarian Defense Forces even more appealing to young people.
The two KC-390 military transport aircraft, which will be delivered to the Hungarian Air Force in 2024 and 2025, will serve in the 59th Teve transport fleet based at Dezső Szentgyörgyi Air Base. This fleet, which used 11 Antonov An-26 transport aircraft from 1974 to 2020, currently has only two A319 passenger transport aircraft leased from Airbus. With these new aircraft, the Hungarian Air Force will fill the gap left by the 11 An-26s that have been withdrawn from service with more advanced aircraft, while also taking another significant step toward military modernization.
The KC-390 Millennium is a medium-sized tactical military transport aircraft that can perform a wide range of military and civilian missions, including humanitarian assistance, medical evacuation, search and rescue, firefighting, cargo and troop transport, and airborne and aerial refueling. The internal and external configurations of these aircraft, which are preferred by the Air Forces of Brazil, Portugal, Austria, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, and South Korea, as well as Hungary, can be quickly changed to accommodate different mission roles. The cargo hold of the 35-meter-long KC-390 has a length of 18.5 m, a width of 3.45 m and a height of 2.95 m. The maximum carrying capacity of the aircraft is 26 tons and it can travel up to 2,590 km with such a load. These aircraft, powered by two IAE V2500-E5 turbofan jet engines, have a maximum speed of 800 km/h and a service ceiling of up to 8000 metres. The landing gear with low-pressure tires allows KC-390 Millennium aircraft to land on soft, unpaved ground such as hard runways or damaged runways.