Lithuania’s Ministry of National Defence has announced the Embraer C-390 Millennium as the nation’s choice for its next-generation military transport aircraft. This key decision enhances Lithuania’s operational effectiveness and NATO interoperability, initiating the acquisition process under the country’s applicable laws and procedures.
The C-390 Millennium is engineered to perform in austere and challenging conditions, delivering exceptional speed, payload, and versatile mission profiles. With this selection, Lithuania aligns itself with numerous European and NATO partners—including Portugal, Hungary, the Netherlands, Austria, Czech Republic, Sweden, and Slovakia—that have modernized their air forces with the C-390.
Operational since 2019 with Brazil, and later adopted by Portugal in 2023 and Hungary in 2024, the aircraft boasts proven reliability, maintaining a 93% mission capability and over 99% mission completion rates. Its 26-ton payload capacity, faster cruise speed of 470 knots, and ability to carry out a broad range of missions—including cargo and troop transport, medical evacuation, search and rescue, firefighting, and humanitarian support—make it a highly flexible platform. It can operate from unprepared runways and is also capable of air-to-air refueling, functioning effectively as both a tanker and receiver.

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