Portugal Will Buy Three KC-390 Aircraft From Embraer on Greece's Behalf, in a 590 Million Euro Deal Paid for by Athens

Portugal is to buy three more KC-390 military transport aircraft from Embraer, but not for its own Air Force: the planes are destined for Greece. A Council of Ministers resolution published in the Diário da República on 22 October authorises up to 589,975,907.96 euros, plus VAT, for the aircraft, an electronic warfare suite, training and support, and says every cent is to be covered by what Athens pays.

How the deal works

Resolução do Conselho de Ministros n.º 207/2026, approved on 14 October and signed by the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, rests on a government-to-government model. Portugal buys the aircraft from the manufacturer and then sells them to the Hellenic Republic under a separate agreement between the two states. According to the resolution, Greece made a formal request to the Defence Ministry's KC-390 programme mission for three aircraft with associated goods and services, after a letter of intent signed on 16 June 2025 and a later memorandum of understanding between Lisbon and Athens.

The spending is split in two:

• 532,894,587.68 euros for the three aircraft and an entry-into-service logistics package, contracted by the Defence Ministry's central services, through the Directorate-General for Armament and Heritage, from a consortium of Embraer S.A. and Embraer Portugal S.A.
• 57,081,320.28 euros for the Força Aérea, covering the electronic warfare equipment, training, logistic support, technical support teams based in Greece and programme management.

VAT at the legal rate comes on top of both figures. The annual ceilings, for both lines combined, are about 88.5 million euros in 2026, 150.0 million in 2027, 22.1 million in 2028, 157.3 million in 2029, 150.0 million in 2030 and 22.1 million in 2031. Any amount unspent in one year can be carried into the next.

Who pays

The resolution says the charges are entered in the Military Programming Law but are financed exclusively by revenue from the sale of the aircraft to Greece. That revenue is to stay in the KC-390 programme, both to pay for this contract and for the "continuity and capability development" of the programme.

The resolution does not mention firefighting. Its stated rationale is industrial and strategic: it says Portugal's part in developing and building the aircraft since 2010 has built up national aeronautical skills, and that the Força Aérea has positioned itself as a strategic partner of Embraer, with Beja's Air Base n.º 11 being consolidated as a KC-390 training centre.

Portugal's own fleet

Lisbon signed contracts for five KC-390s and a flight simulator in 2019, and in 2025 exercised an option on a sixth aircraft. The same 2025 decision secured an option on up to 10 more for purchase by European or NATO countries through the Portuguese state. The resolution says the KC-390 has been bought by 10 other countries, five of them NATO members. The Força Aérea received its fourth aircraft, fitted with an air-to-air refuelling kit, at Beja on 24 January 2026, Lusa reported via RTP. The KC-390s are replacing the Air Force's C-130 Hercules.

What happens next

The resolution takes effect from its approval and delegates every follow-up act to the defence minister, so the contracts with Embraer and with Greece can now be signed. It does not give a delivery schedule. The 2027 budget, as Observador reported on 8 October, already earmarks money for new KC-390s, alongside a still unresolved choice of F-16 replacement. For a comparison with how other big procurement bills return money to Portuguese industry, see our report on the frigate programme.