The C-27J Spartan Tactical Airlifter began somewhat as a marriage of convenience. Alenia Aeronautica, the Italian aircraft company headquartered in Rome, was looking to continue its G.222 medium transport line by upgrading and modernizing the aircraft. Lockheed Martin was searching for a way to meet contractual offset obligations to Italy for that country's purchase of twenty-two C130J airlifters. As a result, A technical interchange agreement was signed in 1995. Lockheed Martin Alenia Tactical Transport Systems was formed the next year. Full-scale development of the C-27J began in June 1997.
A military airlifter, the G.222, first flown in 1975, has always had a rugged design. Despite its ninety-four-foot wingspan and seventy-five-foot length, the G.222/C-27 has an airframe that can withstand up to three g's in flight. A total of 106 G.222s were built, including ten for the US Air Force, which operated them as C27As at Howard AFB, Panama, in the early 1990s.
"The G.222 was underpowered and had some high-altitude/hot-day limitations that were evident in Panama," says Stan Yackel, the Lockheed Martin C-27J program manager. "Since the airframe was sound, we concentrated on propulsion and avionics in developing the C-27J."
One original design concept was to use the quick engine change installation from the C-130J on the C-27J. But that would have been a significant structural modification requiring the Spartan's airframe to be recertified. The G.222's existing nacelle design was instead modified to accommodate the 6,000 shp (flat rated to 4,637 shp) RollsRoyce AE2100D2 engine and its Dowty six-bladed, all-composite R391 propeller. Wind tunnel tests and a propulsion system prototype test aircraft confirmed that the new GKN Westland-designed nacelle would have no integration issues.
"We determined early in the process that developing a less capable avionics suite from scratch for the C-27J would require more time than reusing the integrated avionics from the C-130J," notes Yackel. "Software development for the C-27J has been a real highlight of the program. We located our software engineers and avionics engineers right beside the Systems Integration Laboratory rather than separate them. That collocated team became a vital link in establishing a virtual work environment with engineers in Italy."
Only eighteen months after program goahead, Gianluca Evangelisti, Alenia's chief test pilot for transport aircraft, and test pilot Agostino Frediani flew the C-27J propulsion prototype for the first time on schedule on 24 September 1999, from Alenia's flight test facilities at Caselle, Italy, near Turin. The second flight test aircraft—the first manufactured to the full production configuration and the first to have the advanced cockpit and full avionics suite—was flown on 12 May 2000. A third full-up C-27J, an existing aircraft that was retrofitted with the new propulsion and avionics, joined the test fleet on 8 September 2000.
"We had a fully certified aircraft in short order," Yackel recalls. With the US FAA certification of the propulsion system and avionics complete, the aircraft was soon civil-certified to European Joint Airworthiness Requirements, Part 25 standards. Military qualification by the Italian Ministry of Defence came in December 2001.
On The Front Lines
Lockheed Martin and Alenia restructured their business agreement in 2002. Under the revised agreement, signed in 2003, Alenia became the prime contractor and the technical authority on the aircraft. It will hold the C-27J's airworthiness certificate and all aircraft will be built at its Turin factory, which has the capacity to build up to sixteen C27Js a year. Alenia will also be responsible for product support of the aircraft outside the United States. Specific arrangements for support in the United States are still to be determined.Lockheed Martin is now the principal subcontractor and is responsible for propulsion, avionics, and software, as well as training and logistics support for those systems on the aircraft. Lockheed Martin will also be responsible for marketing and sales support for any C-27Js bought by the US government, as well as for any aircraft purchased through the foreign military sales program.
The Aeronautica Militare Italiana, or AMI, the Italian Air Force, announced its intention to buy the C-27J in September 2002. Greece followed in 2003 but went on contract first, so the Hellenic Air Force will be the first operator to receive the C-27J. The first of twelve aircraft will be delivered to Elefsis AB, Greece, starting in the first quarter of 2005. The five Italian aircraft will be stationed at Pisa AB, where the AMI's existing G.222 and C-130J fleet is based. Greece holds an option for three additional aircraft. Italy holds an option for an additional seven C-27Js.
"Maintainers and pilots will begin training this summer," adds Yackel. "The National Training Center at Pisa, which was built for the C-130J, was designed with additional space to accommodate a C-27J weapon system-level simulator as well."
Meet The Spartan
With its 102-inch cabin height, the C-27J can carry three standard 463L loading system HCU-6/E pallets built up to an eighty-three-inch height. Two of those pallets can be used to carry up to 10,000 pounds of cargo each on the aircraft's 37.5-foot-long cargo floor. Alternatively, the aircraft can carry six HCU-12/E pallets loaded to an eighty-three-inch height while carrying 4,800 pounds on most of the pallets. Five of the pallets are set on the cargo floor and an additional pallet is set on the ramp in this configuration.
The utility of 463L commonality is clear: the pallet must be able to be unloaded directly from a C-130 or larger aircraft, put on a smaller aircraft such as a C-27J, with no breakdown or reconfiguring, and taken directly to a forward-operating base. A load that can be carried directly on a C-27J must first be repacked for loading aboard a CH-47, the Army's heavy-lift helicopter, as only a sixty-eight-inch tall load can be winched over the Chinook's ramp. The shape of the CH-47's fuselage dictates the load height.
The Spartan's size also means that it can carry helicopter engines and transmissions in their shipping containers on their standard transport dollies or carry CH-47 or UH-60 rotor blades on their standard transport dolly. The C27J can also carry an OH-58C Kiowa helicopter with the Kiowa's blades, rotor hub, and tail rotor removed.
Another significant design feature in the Spartan is its ability to kneel. A load can be transferred directly from a Kloader, forklift, or truckbed while the aircraft is level, or the C-27J can kneel on its main gear raising the nose in order to allow vehicles, such as a Humvee, to be driven on and driven off, or equipment, such as artillery pieces, to be easily rolled on or rolled off.
The Spartan can carry a maximum payload of 25,350 pounds at 2.25 g's logistics load factor for 560 nautical miles. Alternatively, a 13,000-pound payload can be carried for 2,350 nautical miles. The C-27J cruises at speeds better than 312 KTAS.
The C-27J has been rated to transport payloads in and out of hard packed clay, gravel, or dirt runways, operating from a 1,900-foot field at the normal takeoff and landing weights of 67,240 pounds and 60,630 pounds, respectively. The Spartan can transport 18,000 pounds of payload 500 nautical miles into that 1,900-foot field and recover with 4,500 pounds in the same distance. The C-27's short takeoff and landing ability makes it an ideal platform for operating from the many short, unprepared strips in current theaters.
Also, an airlifter must be able to come into an area at a higher altitude to avoid surface-to-air threats such as shoulder-fired missiles, descend at a rapid rate, land in a limited amount of space, unload, and get out fast. The C-27J's integral countermeasure capabilities add another degree of safety in such hostile environments.
The C-27J is pressurized and can maintain a sea level altitude up to 13,500 feet for medical evacuation missions. The C-27J has individual oxygen lines for thirtysix litter patients and six attendants and sufficient reserve power for medical support equipment.
The C-27J's cargo ramp can be raised and lowered in flight with a seven- by eight-foot opening to allow airdrop loads up to 13,230 pounds on a single platform or up to 19,840 pounds on multiple platforms. The maximum airdrop speed is 180 knots. The Spartan can accommodate up to sixty-eight troops in a high-density seating option, forty-six combat troops, or thirty-four paratroopers.
The aircraft is operated by a crew of three, two pilots and a loadmaster, with the pilots experiencing low workloads, as demonstrated during evaluations on the test aircraft. The digital avionics, like the suite in the C-130J, are compatible with night-vision goggles, as is the lighting in the cargo hold. The aircraft has a low-power color weather radar, which has long range and can detect wind shear. The radar also has a ground-mapping mode.
Coming To A Theater Near You
The US Army will be considering the C-27J as a candidate for its new Future Cargo Aircraft competition that will first augment and then likely replace the C-23 Sherpa. The program calls for twenty-five aircraft initially with the aircraft going to the Army National Guard.
The Sherpa, a commuter airliner that was converted to limited military use in the 1980s, is currently flown by Army Guard units in seventeen states and the Virgin Islands. Although originally adequate to meet the Army's needs, the service says the C-23 no longer meets current requirements—cargo transport, aerial delivery, medical evacuation—or evolving ones, such as supporting National Missile Defense sites in Alaska.
The first FCA is expected to be delivered approximately two years after contract award. The Army's Golden Knights precision parachute team, which is looking to replace its Fokker C-31 aircraft, is also a likely user for the FCA. The Knights flew to Turin in 2002, made several jumps out of one of the C-27J test aircraft to evaluate the Spartan, and reported that the aircraft is well matched to their stringent requirements.
Another important role for the FCA will be transporting vehicles used by the Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Teams. These teams, which have already been established in states across the country, consist of twenty-two personnel and a fleet of ten large vehicles, including a large van and associated trailers. They would be the first responders in a WMD-type disaster.
Other potential customers for a transport such as the FCA include the US State Department, which is flying four of the former Air Force C27As; Canada and Australia, both of which have a near-term requirement to replace aging aircraft—Canadian Buffalo aircraft in the search and rescue role and Australian Caribou in the light tactical airlift role; Bulgaria; and possibly Portugal. India has also emerged as a potential buyer, with upward of sixty aircraft to be purchased for its air force, navy, border patrol, and coast guard.
In future years, the C-27J could become even more like the C-130J. The Italian Air Force has ordered head-up cockpit displays and aerial refueling probes for its fleet of C-27Js. These options may be incorporated as baseline equipment in future aircraft off the production line. Now in development, these options will serve to further increase the operational utility and capability of the C-27J.
"The C-27J is a durable aircraft, a military airlifter from day one," says Yackel. "It is the right size and has exactly the right capabilities for a wide variety of tactical airlift missions."
Jeff Rhodes is the associate editor of Code One.
