Embraer and Anduril have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the Farnborough Airshow to jointly pursue the integration of Anduril’s pallet-launched Barracuda-500M (B-500M) stand-off cruise missile into the C-390 Millennium.
Anduril claims the Barracuda-500M to be an affordable, mass-producible cruise missile designed to rapidly rebuild and enhance US and allied munitions inventories.
The company further emphasises that the palletised variant enables airlift aircraft to launch dozens of munitions simultaneously, unlocking new concepts of operation centred around cost-effective, large-scale employment.
The collaboration aims to expand the C-390’s operational capabilities.
“This collaboration with Anduril marks another important step in the evolution of the C-390 Millennium. By exploring the integration of stand-off launch capabilities for palletized, kinetic, and non-kinetic effects, we are further expanding the aircraft’s flexibility to meet the evolving needs of modern air forces. Together, we are developing innovative solutions that strengthen mission versatility, support agile combat employment, and increase operational possibilities for our customers worldwide,” President and CEO of Embraer Defense & Security, Bosco Da Costa Junior, stated.
According to Embraer, this next-generation multi-mission aircraft has been selected by the Air Forces of Brazil, Portugal, Hungary, the Republic of Korea, the Netherlands, Austria, the Czech Republic, Uzbekistan, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, Slovakia, and Lithuania.
“Integrating the pallet-launched Barracuda-500M with Embraer’s C-390 Millennium gives allied militaries a new way to generate massed, stand-off effects from a proven airlift platform,” Senior Vice President for Global Defense at Anduril, Greg Kausner, highlighted.
“Anduril’s Barracuda family of systems delivers rapidly producible, operationally relevant capabilities to meet the growing demand for affordable, scalable munitions.”
Anduril completed the first successful flight test of Pallet-Launched B-500M in September 2024 and has since conducted dozens of successful flight tests that have further validated the maturity, performance, and modularity of the Barracuda-500 system, including Networked Collaborative Autonomy flights, terminal engagements, and payload performance validation testing.
This agreement builds on recent procurement framework agreements with the US Department of War, as well as a localised production deal with PGZ in Poland.