Anduril Cruise Missiles Could Launch From Embraer’s C-390

Embraer and Anduril have signed a memorandum of understanding to pursue integration of the pallet-launched Barracuda 500M stand-off cruise missile into the C-390 Millennium, the companies announced Tuesday at the Farnborough International Airshow. The agreement between the Brazilian airframer and the U.S. defense technology company aims to give the tactical transport a stand-off strike role.

Loaded on standard pallets, the munitions would leave the airplane through the open rear ramp using roll-on/roll-off mission systems and conventional aerial-delivery procedures, then separate from the pallet and fly autonomously to their targets. Anduril said the palletized variant “enables airlift aircraft to launch dozens of munitions simultaneously.”

“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,” said Embraer Defense and Security president and CEO Bosco da Costa Junior.

The collaboration offers “a new way to generate massed, stand-off effects from a proven airlift platform,” according to Anduril senior v-p of global defense Greg Kausner, who said the Barracuda family delivers “rapidly producible, operationally relevant capabilities.”

Embraer says the C-390 carries 26 metric tons (57,300 pounds) of payload and cruises at 470 knots, and that air forces in 12 countries have selected the airplane to date.

Anduril flew the first successful pallet-launched Barracuda 500M test in September 2024 and has since conducted dozens more flight tests that the company said “further validated the maturity, performance, and modularity of the Barracuda 500 system.”

The agreement follows procurement framework agreements with the U.S. Department of Defense, most recently on July 15 covering large-scale production of pallet- and lug-launched Barracuda 500s with deliveries starting in 2027, and a localized production deal signed July 6 with Poland’s state-owned defense group Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa.