Alenia C-27J

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The Alenia C-27J Spartan is a medium-sized military transport aircraft. The C-27J is an advanced derivative of the Alenia G.222 (C-27A Spartan in US service), with the engines and systems of the Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules. The aircraft was selected as the Joint Cargo Aircraft for the United States military.

Design and development

In 1997, Alenia and Lockheed Martin formed Lockheed Martin Alenia Tactical Transport Systems (LMATTS) for the development of an advanced version of the G.222 with advanced avionics, a glass cockpit and new engines, the same Rolls-Royce AE 2100s that power the C-130J Hercules. Lockheed Martin and Alenia later dissolved the LMATTS joint venture because Lockheed Martin decided to offer the C-130J as a contender in the same U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force Joint Cargo Aircraft (JCA) competition in which the C-27J was competing. Alenia Aeronautica then paired with L-3 Communications to form the Global Military Aircraft Systems (GMAS) joint venture to market the C-27J. Boeing Integrated Defense Systems later joined Alenia and L-3 Communications as a GMAS team member.

The C-27J has a 35% increase in range and a 30% increase in service ceiling over the original G.222. The Italian Air Force, Hellenic Air Force, Bulgarian Air Force, Romanian Air Force, United States Army and the United States Air Force have ordered the C-27J. Alenia is offering Canada the C-27J as a CC-130 Hercules and CC-115 Buffalo replacement. Lithuania ordered the C-27J as Antonov An-26 replacement.

The GMAS team promoted the C-27J in the U.S. Army and Air Force's Joint Cargo Aircraft competition against Raytheon and EADS North America's C-295. Both the U.S. Army and Air Force JCA orders combined are expected to top 100 aircraft. The JCA will eventually replace the existing C-23 Sherpa, C-12 Huron and C-26 Metroliners.

The C-27J had completed the U.S. Department of Defense's Early User Survey evaluations by November 2006, flying 26 hours and surpassing all the JCA program requirements. The GMAS team also announced that the C-27J will be assembled at a facility at Cecil Field, Duval County, Florida. While the final selection of the JCA was expected to be announced in March 2007, the decision came on June 13, 2007, when the Pentagon selected the C-27J as its Joint Cargo Aircraft. A contract worth US$2.04 billion was awarded to the L-3 Communications team for 78 C-27Js along with training and support on June 13, 2007.

On June 22, 2007, Raytheon formally protested the award of the JCA contract to the Alenia C-27J. On September 27, 2007, the GAO announced that it had denied Raytheon’s protest, thereby allowing the Pentagon to go ahead with the C-27J procurement. Prior to Raytheon's protest, the first C-27J aircraft were to begin delivery to the joint U.S. Army-Air Force test and training program in June 2008.

The C-27J was being considered as a sole-source contract by the Government of Canada as a future replacement for its current search and rescue airfleet, the contract being worth approximately $3 billion CDN as of January 2007.

Romania ordered seven C-27Js for delivery from 2008 to replace Antonov An-24 and An-26 aircraft, beating the EADS CASA C-295 However, the order was blocked by the government in February 2007 upon a legal challenge filed by EADS.. In June 2007, the order was confirmed again when the Romanian court rejected EADS' complaint. The Romanian government officially signed a contract for the delivery of seven C-27Js on December 7, 2007.

The C-27J is a probable contender for a Royal Australian Air Force requirement for 12 aircraft to replace its aging DHC-4 Caribou by 2010, and possibly more if the RAAF decides not to replace all its C-130H Hercules transports.

On November 13, 2007, the first C-27J was delivered to the Bulgarian Air Force. Currently orders stand at Italy (12), Greece (12 + 3 options), Bulgaria (5), Romania (7), and United States (78).

Operators

Bulgarian Air Force are expected to receive 5 aircraft through 2011 (1 delivered).
Hellenic Air Force 12
Italian Air Force 12, full optional (Digital Map, HUD, Aerial Refueling Probes)
Lithuanian Air Force 1 aircraft.
Romanian Air Force 7 on order (first Spartan to arrive at the end of 2008, and another 6 are expected to arrive through 2012).
United States Army - requirement for up to 75 aircraft.
United States Air Force - requirement for up to 70 aircraft.

Specifications (C-27J)

References

External links

Alenia Canadian website advocating C-27J
GMAS website promoting C-27J for the U.S. Army and Air Force JCA Program
CdnMilitary.ca Article on the C-27J Spartan
"Spartan In Name Only" LM Code One Magazine
Tiron, Roxana Gen. Moseley pledges to keep air cargo program on schedule. TheHill.com. (October 24, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-10-25..