Alenia C-27J Spartan

C-27J Spartan
An Italian Air Force C-27J Spartan
General information
Type	Military transport aircraft
National origin	Italy
Manufacturer	Alenia Aeronautica Alenia Aermacchi Leonardo
Status	In service
Primary users	Italian Air Force United States Coast Guard Royal Australian Air Force See operators below for others
Number built	117 as of 2022[1]
History
Manufactured	1999[2]–present
Introduction date	October 2006 (Italy)
First flight	24 September 1999
Developed from	Aeritalia G.222

The Alenia C-27J Spartan^[3] is a military transport aircraft developed and manufactured by Leonardo's Aircraft Division (formerly Alenia Aermacchi until 2016).^[4] It is an advanced derivative of the former Alenia Aeronautica's earlier G.222 (C-27A Spartan in U.S. service), equipped with the engines and various other systems also used on the larger Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules. In addition to the standard transport configuration, specialized variants of the C-27J have been developed for maritime patrol, search and rescue, C3 ISR (command, control, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance), fire support/ground-attack and electronic warfare missions.

In 2007, the C-27J was selected as the Joint Cargo Aircraft (JCA) for the United States military; these were produced in an international teaming arrangement under which L-3 Communications served as the prime contractor. In 2012, the United States Air Force (USAF) elected to retire the C-27J after only a short service life due to budget cuts; they were later reassigned to the U.S. Coast Guard and United States Special Operations Command. The C-27J has also been ordered by the military air units of Azerbaijan, Australia, Bulgaria, Chad, Greece, Italy, Kenya, Lithuania, Mexico, Morocco, Peru, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Zambia.^[5]