The first two Embraer Phenom 100EV business jets ordered by the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) arrived in the country this past Saturday. FAB 3701 and FAB 3702 registration aircraft entered Brazil through Boa Vista airport, where they were spotted.
The planes were manufactured at the Embraer plant in Melbourne, Florida, and flew to Brazil on two Caribbean stops in Puerto Rico and Barbados.
At the FAB, the Phenom 100EV will be designated as “U-100” and will serve as utility aircraft carrying personnel and equipment. The aircraft will be operated by the 6th Air Transport Squadron (ETA), also known as the “Guara Squadron”, based in Wing 1 in Brasilia, federal capital.
The Brazilian Air Force has ordered four Phenom 100EV units with option for two more aircraft. The Guara Squadron has a very versatile role in the force and therefore brings together various aircraft such as the C-95 Bandeirante, the C-97 Brasilia, the C-98 Grand Caravan and the U-35 and U-55, the latter received at the end of the past year.
Traditional costumer
As expected, the Brazilian Air Force is a traditional Embraer customer and operates or has operated almost all aircraft produced by the planemaker. Interestingly, the Phenom was one of the rare exceptions, after all other civil jets were adopted by the Air Force, as happened recently with the Legacy 500. The midsize business jet assumed the role of a laboratory aircraft that was previously performed by the Bandeirante and Hawker 800XP jets.
The Legacy received the IU-50 designation and has been active in the calibration of navigational aids such as ILS, used for instrument landing.
The Phenom 100EV is the enhanced version of Embraer’s smallest executive jet, capable of carrying four to seven passengers up to 2,182 km. It is equipped with two Pratt & Whitney PW617F1-E turbofans and Prodigy Touch Flight Deck avionics. The model already operates in other air forces such as Pakistan and also by the British government.
