Slovenia secures second C-27J Spartan tactical transport aircraft
The C-27J is a twin-turboprop tactical transport with modern avionics, propulsion and other systems. (Photo: Slovenian MoD)
A new agreement between Leonardo, the Italian government and Slovenia has marked the procurement of a second C-27J Spartan medium tactical transport aircraft for Slovenia, following an earlier deal signed in March 2022.
The Italian government and Leonardo have signed a contract with the Slovenian MoD to supply the Balkan country with a second C-27J Spartan medium tactical transport aircraft.
Leonardo announced that it had signed a contract with the Italian Secretariat General of Defence and National Armaments Directorate in March 2022 for the first Slovenian C-27J. The value of the deal (in line with a November 2021 government-to-government agreement between Italy and Slovenia) was not disclosed, but Shephard Defence Insight describes a unit price of US$70 million for the C-27J.
As with the first contract, the deal for the second transport aircraft included related logistics and training services. The new Fire Fighter configuration, also previously purchased under the intergovernmental agreements between the two countries, will feature the second-generation palletised Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS II) from United Aeronautical Corporation, Leonardo said.
The C-27J is a twin-turboprop tactical transport with modern avionics, propulsion and other systems. Alenia Aermacchi (now Leonardo) and Lockheed Martin began developing an improved version of Alenia Aeronautica’s G.222 in 1996. The C-27J has incorporated Rolls-Royce AE2100 engines, six-blade propellers and the glass cockpit of Lockheed Martin’s C-130J.
The aircraft is 22.7m long with a 28.7m wingspan, a height of 9.65m and an MTOW of 31,750kg. It has a maximum range of 4,950km. Throughout the years, a number of variants of the aircraft have been developed, which include the MC-27, MPA/ASW, JEDI (EW version), HC-27J (USCG version equipped with the AN/APS-508 radar) and a SAR configuration.
Other operators of the C-27J include Italy, Kenya and the US.
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