Leonardo from Italy to upgrade avionics of US Special Forces C-27J Spartan aircraft.

The U.S. Department of Defense on February 7 announced that Leonardo Societa per Azioni (S.p.A.), Pomigliano d'Arco, Naples, Italy, is being awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract in the amount of $91,882,621 with firm-fixed-price requirements to design, modify, integrate and install the 1.2+ avionics update package on the C-27J fixed-wing aircraft of the US.S Special Operation Command.

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Fort Bragg, N.C. (USASOC News Service, Mar. 19, 2014) The U.S. Army Special Operations Command Flight Company (UFC) unveils their new C-27J aircraft. The UFC is the only unit in the Army to have C-27Js, which replaces their aging fleet of CASA-212s (Picture source: US Army)

The C-27J aircraft provides U.S. special operations forces with fixed-wing aircraft support. This contract action supports a requirement to replace the aging avionic package on the C-27J that has components dating back more than 15 years, and to maximize commonality across the C-27J fixed wing aircraft operating enterprise. Fiscal 2021-2023 aircraft procurement, Army funds in the amount of $31,916,251; and procurement, construction and improvement, Coast Guard funds in the amount of $32,143,780 were obligated at the time of the award. The majority of the work will be performed in Naples, Italy. U.S. Special Operations Command headquarters, Tampa, Florida, is the contracting activity.

The Alenia C-27J Spartan is a military transport aircraft developed and manufactured by Leonardo's Aircraft Division (formerly Alenia Aermacchi until 2016). It is an advanced derivative of 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) decided 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 U.S. Special Operations Command. The C-27J has also been ordered by the military air units of Australia, Bulgaria, Chad, Greece, Italy, Kenya, Lithuania, Mexico, Morocco, Peru, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Zambia and an undisclosed country.

C-27J Spartan displayed at the World Defense Show 2023 in Saudi Arabia (Picture source: Army Recognition)