Nov 11 (Reuters) - Brazilian planemaker Embraer's ( ERJ )

defense unit is planning to open an office in Europe,

as sales of its C-390 Millennium military cargo aircraft gain

pace in the region.

The Czech Republic, Austria, the Netherlands and Sweden have

all recently moved to purchase the aircraft, joining current

operators Portugal and Hungary and underscoring strong momentum

for the C-390 in Europe.

"We are interested in opening an Embraer Defense & Security

office in Europe, which would very likely be in Portugal,"

defense unit Chief Executive Bosco da Costa Junior told Reuters

in an interview on Sunday.

Portugal was the first European and NATO country to place an

order for the C-390, in 2019, and received its first aircraft

last year. It is also expected to soon fill orders for Embraer's ( ERJ )

light attack fighter, the A-29 Super Tucano.

The Brazilian planemaker had earlier this year named the

European Union as a key market for sales of the C-390, along

with India, Saudi Arabia and the United States.

The latest country to select the aircraft for its fleet was

Sweden, which said on Saturday it would open negotiations for

the C-390 to replace its aging fleet of Lockheed Martin's ( LMT )

C-130 Hercules turboprops.

"This office's goal is to make Embraer Defense & Security a

European player. We want it to have all the security clearances

required by NATO," Costa said.

Expanding its presence abroad with more sales of the C-390

has been a key goal of Embraer's ( ERJ ) defense division, including

getting more orders from NATO nations.

"We want to invest in Europe. We want a seat at the table.

There is a lot of European content in our aircraft, and with new

setups we have been increasing the European content," Costa

said.

"It's a very strategic and well-considered step aimed at

making Embraer Defense & Security increasingly NATO and

European."

Europe represents 14% of the C-390's total addressable

market, according to BTG Pactual analysts, behind only

Asia-Pacific (34%) and the Middle East (32%).