Hanwha Aerospace and GA-ASI join forces to co-develop UAVs
The $510 million partnership will see Hanwha invest to co-develop and manufacture the Gray Eagle STOL, with a maiden flight test expected by 2027.
Hungary has taken ownership of its first C-390. (Photo: Embraer)
Embraer has delivered the Hungarian Air Force its first C-390 Millennium multi-mission aircraft. The aircraft will be the first model of its kind to be equipped with a roll-on/roll-off Intensive Care Unit, allowing for faster, more effective humanitarian and medevac missions.
The delivery makes Hungary only the second C-390 operator within the NATO alliance. It will enhance the Hungarian Air Force’s capabilities across a broad range of military and civilian mission profiles including medical evacuation, humanitarian support, search and rescue, cargo and troop transport, precision cargo airdrop, paratrooper operations and air-to-air refuelling.
The C-390 can carry more payload (26 tons) than similar medium-sized military transport aircraft and can fly up to 470 knots.
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The air-to-air-refuelling version of the C-390, the KC-390, can both give and receive fuel in mid-air, assuming a second KC-390 is available to feed it fuel from pods installed under its wings.
The current fleet of C-390 aircraft operating in the world, including those within the Brazilian Air Force and the Portuguese Air Force, has accumulated more than 14,000 flight hours, with a mission capable rate of 93% and mission completion rates above 99%.
Hungary’s minister of defence Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky said the C-390 would give the Hungarian Air Force unprecedented capabilities in military air transport.
“It is in Hungary's security interest to have strong, well-equipped, modern defence forces, and we are working on that,” he remarked.
The $510 million partnership will see Hanwha invest to co-develop and manufacture the Gray Eagle STOL, with a maiden flight test expected by 2027.
The country was reportedly “months” away from an official aircraft selection, as of mid-March 2025.
The ongoing study was first announced by Embraer in late 2024 with the Brazilian Air Force, with this latest addition announced during the LAAD defence and security exhibition.
The potential sale, approved by the US to the Philippines, is for 20 F-16 Block 70/72 jets, days after US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth visited the country.
The acquisition of four C-390 aircraft follows the country’s signing of an MoU in 2023 and formal selection in 2024. It will join the existing contract held by the Netherlands and Austria.
The counter-UAS prototype, named Low-cost Air Defence or ‘LOAD’, will be used to combat kamikaze UAS.