The Institute for Promotion and Industrial Coordination (IFI) handed over, on 05/04, by the Director General of the Aerospace Science and Technology Department (DCTA), Lieutenant-Brigadier of the Air Maurício Augusto Silveira de Medeiros, the Supplementary Final Type Certificate of the Modernized E-99 to Embraer, the company responsible for modernizing the aircraft. The issuance of the certificate, the result of the work of technicians from the IFI’s Aerospace Product Certification Division (CPA) – in interaction with Embraer – attests that the project to modernize the sensors of this aircraft meets the safety and performance requirements set forth in the contract. This means that the aircraft can fly safely and is capable of fulfilling the mission determined by the Brazilian Air Force (FAB).
The Head of Technical Assistance at the IFI, Lieutenant Colonel Gustavo Borges Basílio said,“The certification of its modernization, carried out by Embraer together with the IFI, promotes a considerable improvement in the Brazilian strategic capacity, in the Task of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, in addition to the Actions of Alert in Flight and Control and Alarm in Flight.”
The Vice President and Chief Engineer of Embraer, Henrique Langenegger said,“There were many trips abroad to carry out the rehearsals, in addition to planning workshops to speed up the work. The IFI was always willing to cooperate so that the activity could be carried out.”
The Embraer R-99 is the Brazilian Air Force military designation of the EMB-145-RS. It is an aircraft based on the ERJ 145 civil regional jet. The R-99 series are equipped with Rolls-Royce AE1 3007 turbofan engines. The military versions provide 20% more thrust than the civil version. The first flight was in 1999. In Brazilian service, the E-99 and R-99 are based in Anapolis AFB. Five E-99s and three R-99s are operated by the Air Force as part of the SIVAM program. The E-99s are under a modernization program that aims to update all the electronics, including a new Erieye-ER (extended range) radar, the same used on GlobalEye Detection range increased from 450 km to 723 km in the E99M version. The range of targets that can be detected now ranges from vessels and large aircraft to watercraft, rubber dinghies and vehicles, as well as hovering helicopters. The first E-99M (“M” stands for modernized) was handed over to Brazilian Air Force on november 27th, 2020.
The modernization of the E-99 aircraft introduced modifications to the Erieye Mission System, with the installation of new consoles, new radios and the implementation of audio recording and mission data, increasing the command and control capacity, mainly in composite air operations. Throughout the process, 434 contractual requirements were verified, distributed among 30 different technologies, producing more than 250 technical reports. The Working Group responsible for the certification activities involved around 60 people, with the collaboration of the Aeronautics and Space Institute (IAE), the Galeão Aeronautical Material Park (PAMA-GL), the Monitoring and Control Group – Aircraft Program (GAC-PAC), the Research and Flight Testing Institute (IPEV) and the Second Squadron of the Sixth Aviation Group (2nd/6th GAV – Guardian Squadron), responsible for operating the aircraft. From 2020 to 2023, development and certification trials took place, despite the impacts caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
