The Brazilian Air Force (FAB) and Embraer Defense & Security have successfully concluded the Critical Design Review (CDR) of the KC-390 military transport aircraft. The contract event, which is one of the main landmarks of the program, took place at Embraer’s facilities in the Eugênio de Melo district of the city of São José dos Campos, from March 11 to 22.
During the CDR, the definitive aerodynamic and structural configurations, as well as the architecture and systems installations were confirmed, and meaning that the design is sufficiently mature to begin the detailed project and manufacture the prototypes of the aircraft.
“It was two intense weeks of presentations and discussions, and we were very happy with the solutions presented by Embraer,” said Engineer Colonel Sergio Carneiro, Manager of the FAB’s KC-X Project. “We came out of these discussions convinced that the building of the prototypes can begin.”
Participating in the closing of the CDR were members of the Brazilian Air Force High Command, with special mention of Air Force Lieutenant General Aprígio Eduardo de Moura Azevedo, Air Force Chief of Staff. The FAB delegation got a close look at the tools and models used in developing the KC-390, such as an engineering simulator and a life-size model of the cockpit.
“We have concluded an important stage of the KC-390 Program and, therefore, we gave an accounting to the FAB of the work done. We will now begin the production phase of the prototypes,” said Luiz Carlos Aguiar, President and CEO of Embraer Defense & Security.
“This is a great program landmark, and we are proud of the result of our efforts to demonstrate the maturity of the project to the FAB,” said Paulo Gastão Silva, Director of the KC-390 Program at Embraer. “We are certain that the KC-390 will be another big success of the proven combination of the well-defined FAB requirements and the solutions developed by Embraer to meet them.”
The manufacture of the first pieces of the prototype will soon begin and all of the activities of the project are focused on taking the first flight in the second half of 2014. The KC-390 is the largest airplane ever conceived and built by the Brazilian aeronautics industry and will establish a new standard for medium-sized military transport aircraft, in terms of performance and payload, as well as advance mission and flight systems.
