Farnborough 2022: Embraer, BAE Systems sign teaming MOU

Displayed at the Farnborough Airshow, the Embraer KC-390 will now be marketed in the Middle East region by BAE Systems, with a particular emphasis on Saudi Arabia. (Janes/Gareth Jennings)

Embraer and BAE Systems signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) at the Farnborough Airshow related to the KC-390 Millennium airlifter and the Eve electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.

Under the MOU, which was signed on 19 July between Jackson Schneider, President and CEO, Embraer Defense & Security, and Ian Muldowney, Chief Operating Officer for BAE Systems' Air sector, BAE Systems will market the Embraer KC-390 in the Middle East region in general and Saudi Arabia in particular. The UK company will also undertake development of the Eve for the military sector.

“I am sure that with this partnership we will be a good position to offer the KC-390 to the Middle East, particularly to Saudi Arabia,” Schneider said, with Muldowney adding. “The next part of this announcement will see BAE Systems explore a military variant of Eve, for potential surveillance, personnel transport, medical evacuation, and other roles”.

According to both Schneider and Muldowney, the decision to have BAE Systems lead in the Middle East marketing effort for the KC-390 leans on the company's long standing and wide-ranging industrial footprint in the region. In terms of the specific Saudi requirement, the Kingdom has a need to replace ageing Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules airlifters, and though formal request for tenders has yet been issued, Schneider and Muldowney feel the KC-390 would be well placed. Designated C-390 in its transport guise and as KC-390 in its tanker-transport guise, the Millennium can carry more payload than the C-130 at a higher speed and over a farther distance.