Boeing and Embraer have rebranded the KC-390 airlifter as the C-390 Millennium to emphasise the transport’s cargo mission.

Boeing and Embraer have rebranded the KC-390 airlifter as the C-390 Millennium to emphasise the transport’s cargo mission.

The companies have also announced that their defence joint venture set up to sell the KC-390 will be branded as Boeing Embraer – Defense. The two firms announced their joint venture in 2018.

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Boeing Embraer – Defense will also sell an aerial refuelling version of the transport that will keep the KC-390 name. The companies have not disclosed if there are hardware differences between the KC-390 or C-390, or if the rebranding is for marketing purposes.

The Boeing Embraer – Defense joint venture has received regulatory approval from the USA and Japan, but is awaiting approval from other regulatory bodies, says Marc Allen, Boeing’s president of Embraer Partnership and Group Operations. Allen would not say which regulatory bodies he is referring to, although Boeing and Embraer’s proposed commercial business merger has recently come under scrutiny scrutiny from the European Commission over anti-trust concerns.

The KC-390 completed jet aircraft aerial refuelling flight tests about six weeks ago, says Jackson Schneider, president and chief executive of Embraer Defense & Security. Despite the rebranding, aerial refuelling remains an important application for the aircraft, he says.