The certification, carried out with two Brazilian Air Force Gripen Es, will greatly expand the capabilities of the jet and give an added capability to air forces that operate both aircraft types.
Embraer, the Brazilian Air Force (Força Aérea Brasileira – FAB) and Saab announced on Nov. 14, 2025 that they certified the F-39 Gripen E (local designation of the JAS39 Gripen E) to be refueled by the KC-390 Millenium following an extensive testing campaign. This Gripen E, the most advanced version of the Gripen, is currently operated by Brazil and Sweden, which received its first airframe on Oct. 20, 2025.
The test campaign, designated Operation Samaúma by the FAB, was undertaken at Gavião Peixoto, São Paulo, home to Embraer’s facility and the Gripen Flight Test Center. The images released show the KC-390 refueling at least two FAB F-39Es, with the fighters flying in different representative loadouts to assess the aerodynamics of both the aircraft.
A third F-39 is also seen, which in the video operates as a chase aircraft. However, given that the testing campaign took place over several days, each of the aircraft may have been refueled with different load conditions.
NEWS | KC-390 Millennium and Gripen E successfully complete refueling certification flights. Read full news: https://t.co/12OZxSuKqI pic.twitter.com/HDWFVXY27J
— Embraer (@embraer) November 14, 2025
Embraer also released images of the company-owned KC-390 used in the refueling certification, which has received a new paint scheme, to take part in the upcoming Dubai Air Show. The aircraft now sports a light-grey and bluish-grey digital livery.
Gripen E certified to be refueled by the KC-390
Extensive footage from inside the cockpits of the F-39Es, the refueling system’s operator console of the KC-390, and the third F-39E that possibly served as a chase aircraft, captured the Millenium’s underwing drogue-and-hose refueling system in various stages of release, connection and separation from the fighters’ port-side retractable refueling probes.
At one point the KC-390 was refueling two Gripens simultaneously. The flight test campaign took place between October and November, with studies underway for a year, FAB said. The aerodynamic and engineering data will be used for future production and development by the respective flight testing and certification authorities.
Embraer’s and Saab’s joint press release added that the “campaign was coordinated by the Department of Aerospace Science and Technology (DCTA) from the FAB,” with the involvement of engineers and test pilots of all the three entities (Saab, Embraer and the FAB). “During the tests, a range of flight configurations, speeds and altitudes were evaluated and confirmed precision during in-flight refuelling. Both aircraft’s latest-generation fly-by-wire systems contributed to the successful operation, with the KC-390 providing a favourable wake and the Gripen demonstrating responsiveness in flight,” Embraer said.
The flight test campaign consisted of two objectives. The first was “qualifying the Gripen E as a receiver for in-flight refuelling,” thereby “validating the fighter’s performance, stability, and structural integrity throughout the operation.” The second goal was to “verify the compatibility of both aircraft across the KC-390’s entire flight envelope,” for high-speed, day and night refuelling.
Chief Operations Officer of Embraer Defense & Security Walter Pinto Júnior said in the press release that the trials demonstrate the KC-390 Millennium’s “unique multi-mission capability,” which “allows the airplane to be converted into a tanker in a matter of hours, offering unbeatable flexibility to Air Forces worldwide.”
Saab’s head of Flight Testing Mikael Olsson said that the technical milestone marks a new operational reach for the Gripen E, and further “reinforces the strategic partnership between Brazil and Sweden and Brazil’s role within the global Gripen programme ecosystem.”
“The verification of in-flight refuelling between the KC-390 and F-39 Gripen […] is the result of a joint effort combining Swedish technology, Brazilian engineering and the operational excellence of the Brazilian Air Force,” said the FAB’s Colonel Aviator George Luiz Guedes de Oliveira
The Swedish Military Aviation Authority (SE-MAA) and the FAB’s Industrial Promotion and Coordination Institute (IFI) will use the data for their own certification and technical analysis processes, “ensuring that both aircraft comply with the most demanding international standards.”
Enhances Brazilian Air Force capability
The FAB stressed on how the refueling reflects Brazil’s credible indigenous aerospace technology and the KC-390’s maturity as a tanker-transport meeting international standards. “With the support of the KC-390 Millennium aircraft, the Gripen can, with just one refueling, reach any point in Brazilian territory in a few hours, including distant border regions, approximately 3,000 kilometers from Anápolis (GO), where the Anápolis Air Base (BAAN), headquarters of the Gripens, is located,” the FAB said.
The service named use cases like Combat Air Patrols and Composite Air Operations (COMAO) where the Gripen protects friendly aircraft conducting “reconnaissance, ground attacks, paratrooper drops, and troop infiltrations, for example,” where the aerial refueling would come in handy.
The Gripens carried different load configurations with missiles, bombs, and external tanks, and each profile “evaluated at various altitudes and speeds to verify the aircraft’s behavior and the stability of the systems.” These include fuel transfer systems, pressure sensors, automated flight controls, position sensors, safety valves, and emergency procedures, where any “incompatibility can result in collision, fuel leak, or loss of control.”
O KC-390 Millennium e o F-39E Gripen concluíram com sucesso uma série de voos de certificação de reabastecimento realizada nas instalações da Embraer em Gavião Peixoto, São Paulo. pic.twitter.com/OclCNHXz7B
— Embraer (@embraer) November 14, 2025
Gripen and C-390 operators
In Europe, the Gripen can be refueled by A400Ms and A330 MRTTs of various European air forces and NATO. The KC-390, the tanker version of the C-390 Millenium cargo aircraft which Embraer says can be converted in a matter of hours, adds another aerial refueling capability.
This is especially important since Sweden, Czech Republic and Lithuania are also the Brazilian C-390’s future customers, while Hungary already operates both Gripen and C-390s. The refueling certification gives their air forces an organic aerial tanker capability. Portugal too operates the C-390, while the Netherlands, Slovakia and Austria are awaiting their own Millenniums.
Saab Gripen E and Brazil
Thailand recently became the fourth nation to officially choose the new Gripen variant with 12 jets, after Sweden, Brazil, and Colombia. Sweden has signed on for 60 jets, followed by 36 for Brazil and up to 24 for Colombia. Peru is also in talks to acquire the jet.
As the FAB said: “Qualification as a receiver is a fundamental step for the future certification of the Gripen with other refueling aircraft, considering that each different tanker requires specific pair certification.”
Brazil’s 2014 $4.5 billion Gripen deal for 36 aircraft included 28 F-39Es and eight F-39F. Fifteen of the jets are to be manufactured within Brazil, at Embraer’s and Saab’s facilities. These include the former’s final production and assembly line at Gavião Peixoto, in São Paulo.
Saab’s facility in São Bernardo do Campo produces the aerostructures, including the tail cone, air brakes and forward fuselage. The FAB received the tenth airframe on Jun. 12, 2025, aboard a ship, which is set to join the First Air Defense Group (1º GDA) “Jaguar Squadron” at Anápolis Air Base, as per Brazilian reports.
O KC-390 Millennium, com sua nova identidade visual, será apresentado em exibição estática pela primeira vez no Dubai Airshow 2025 na próxima semana.
Creditos Imagens: Alisson Vilela (https://t.co/vYsQYI6PNm) pic.twitter.com/q3pGzk409h
— Embraer (@embraer) November 13, 2025
As for the KC-390s, the FAB presently operates a total of seven airframes, with the last delivered to the 1st Transport Group at Galeão Air Base in September 2024. The service is awaiting 12 more, for a total order of 19, which Embraer said it would complete by 2034.
