Dendias: the KC-390s will refuel the Rafale and Mirage first, and the F-16s a year from now

The most important news from the signing of the KC-390 agreement in Athens is hidden in a single phrase by Defence Minister Nikos Dendias. Speaking on Monday, November 2, in joint statements with his Portuguese counterpart Nuno Melo, Mr Dendias said the new aircraft will refuel the Rafale and the Mirage in the air in a first phase and, “a year from now”, the F-16s as well. The commitment carries particular weight because the F-16s cannot take fuel from the KC-390 in the refuelling configuration the Embraer aircraft have today. The deal itself is covered in our report on the signing.

Why the F-16s were left out

There are two basic methods of aerial refuelling. In one, fuel passes through a flexible hose (hose and drogue), to which the fighter connects using its own refuelling probe. In the other, the tanker uses a rigid boom, which connects to a special receptacle on the fighter. The KC-390s flying today refuel by the first method, through removable pods with a hose under the wings, together with additional fuel tanks in the cargo bay.

The F-16s, by contrast, have a boom receptacle, the method used by the US Air Force, and no probe. Portugal, from which Greece is acquiring the KC-390s, already faces the problem itself: Portuguese F-16AM/BMs cannot be refuelled by Portuguese KC-390s with their current equipment. In October Portugal approved a technical arrangement with Spain for aerial refuelling from Portuguese KC-390s. Spain has two types of fighters that refuel by hose, the Eurofighter Typhoon and the EF-18 Hornet.

What Dendias said about refuelling

The minister presented the purchase of 3+3 KC-390s as two firsts for Greece: its first jet transport and the first tanker aircraft in its history. “It is the first time in our history that we will acquire a tanker aircraft, that is, an aircraft that can refuel our fighters in the air. In the first phase the Rafale and the Mirage and, a year from now, the F-16s as well,” he said.

Mr Dendias explained that aerial refuelling multiplies the time fighters stay airborne, which in practice is then set by the endurance of the pilot. “If this capability does not exist, then the aircraft lands as soon as its fuel runs out,” he noted. To describe its strategic importance he went back to 1974: “If Greece had had aircraft refuelling our fighter aircraft in the air, the invasion of Cyprus in 1974 could not have happened and the bridgehead of the invasion could not have been maintained.”

The boom from Embraer and Northrop Grumman

Embraer is already developing a boom refuelling capability. On February 19, 2026 the Brazilian company and the American Northrop Grumman announced a joint programme to develop the KC-390 into a Multi-Mission Tanker, with planned improvements including an “advanced autonomous” refuelling boom, upgraded communications, improved situational awareness and survivability options. The chief executive of Embraer Defense & Security, Bosco da Costa Junior, said the effort would give priority to the boom system for the KC-390. The two companies are targeting the US Air Force and allied countries, among them users of the F-35A, which also refuels only by boom. They have not made a development timeline public.

What it means for the Hellenic Air Force

The Hellenic Air Force has never had a tanker aircraft of its own. To train in aerial refuelling, Greek F-16s relied on allied aircraft. With the KC-390s the Air Force acquires for the first time its own refuelling aircraft, initially for the Rafale and the Mirage. If the minister’s commitment to refuel the F-16s a year from the signing is met, the capability will extend to the Air Force’s F-16s.

The agreement signed provides for the first KC-390 to be delivered in 2027 and the other two in 2029 and 2031, while Portugal will transfer to Greece the know-how from its use of the aircraft and help train Greek pilots.