Hungary is at the forefront: it recognized the need for this military tool years earlier

Hungary (and Portugal) has overtaken Europe

In November 2020, the Hungarian government signed a contract for the purchase of two KC-390 military cargo aircraft. These are not cheap devices; but a long-awaited capability is returning to the national defense. The KC-390s were ordered to replace the Soviet AN-26 transport aircraft, which were retired in June 2020 after 46 years of service. The extremely unreliable AN-26s could no longer carry out their tasks at all.

Pursuant to the contract four years ago, the national defense will receive ramped transport vehicles,

Thanks to its special design, the plane is suitable for take-off and landing in poor-quality terrain outside of a concrete airport, as well as for parachute airborne operations.

They are also capable of air refueling and taking on fuel to increase their own range and flight time.

When the first KC-390 landed at the military airport in Kecskemét, retired colonel László Tömböl, national arms director To the Hungarian Nation he explained, the KC-390 aircraft are the first true battlefield transport aircraft of the Air Force. They endow the national defense with capabilities that our An-26s, which were withdrawn from service a few years ago, did not have.

Moreover, as he said, the KC-390 surpasses the legendary American C-130 Hercules in all indicators, in addition to transporting soldiers and paratroopers, it can support medical care and evacuation, and can even refuel the Jas-39 Gripens in the air. (Following this, Tömböl noted that some of the Gripen pilots had previously received training for aerial refueling, but due to the lack of practice, their skills need to be updated.)

• The plane is thirty-five meters long, and its cruising altitude can reach eight thousand meters.
• The KC-390 is capable of delivering large loads weighing up to 23 tons, military equipment, vehicles and personnel – 80 equipped soldiers or 60 paratroopers. (This is 21.5 tons in the case of the C–130J-30, 37 tons in the case of the Airbus A400M, but the latter device is not a basis for comparison, it was brought up only as an indication.)
• Its equipment enables emergency evacuation, as well as the carrying out of large numbers of sick and injured personnel.
• Compared to the AC-130 Hercules, the speed of the KC-390 with a Brazilian jet engine is one and a half times faster, exceeding 800 kilometers per hour, and its range is nearly seventy percent greater, more than 6,000 kilometers.