From Brazil to India: Embraer's C-390 aims for MTA success

Embraer is exploring partnerships with potential suppliers in India for a broad collaboration across its various business areas, including defense and commercial aviation.

This announcement follows a visit by senior Embraer executives to India, where they assessed opportunities to expand the company's supply chain in the country.

The Brazilian aircraft manufacturer highlighted potential opportunities in areas like aerostructures, machining, composites, and software development.

Roberto Chaves, Embraer's executive vice president of global procurement and supply chain, stated that India has a strong aviation and defense industry, making it a viable option for Indian manufacturers and systems developers to become important suppliers for Embraer.

India has 44 Embraer aircraft in service, spread across commercial, defense, and business aviation. Among the operators is Star Air, a regional airline that uses ERJ-145s and E175s. The Indian Air Force also flies ERJ-145-based early warning aircraft, called ‘Netra’ in the country.

Embraer highlights India's ongoing Medium Transport Aircraft (MTA) acquisition as a significant future opportunity and promotes its C-390 tactical transport as a strong contender for the program.

In February, Embraer teamed up with Mahindra Defence Systems to present the C-390 for consideration.

According to the company, India is seen as an important partner in the region, and if the C-390 is chosen, Embraer and Mahindra plan to establish a robust local supply chain. This could potentially include setting up an assembly line for the C-390 in India, as noted by Flight Global.

This statement follows Lockheed Martin's recent move to strengthen its partnership with India's Tata Advanced Systems. They plan to set up a local Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) facility in India for the C-130J tactical transport, which Lockheed is proposing for the MTA program.

(The author of this article is a Defence, Aerospace & Political Analyst based in Bengaluru. He is also Director of ADD Engineering Components, India, Pvt. Ltd, a subsidiary of ADD Engineering GmbH, Germany. You can reach him at: girishlinganna@gmail.com)
 
(Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own and do not reflect those of DNA)