The C-27J Spartan. An overview of the joint Alenia and Lockheed Martin Flight Test Program

Roberto Vercelli, C-27J Flight Test Manager, Alenia Aeronautica, Flight Test Dept, Caselle Torinese, Italy
Ivan Prisco, C-27J Flight Test Engineer, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, Flight Test Dept, Marietta, USA

Abstract

In the early nineties Alenia Aeronautica studies revealed a growing potential market for medium sized Military cargo airlifts.

The Company was very knowledgeable on the subject because of the G222/C-27A, produced since the eighties, that played this role for various air forces worldwide.

This aircraft was also known as the Baby Herc, because of its close resemblance with the Lockheed Martin C-130 and it was mostly appreciated for being complementary and interchangeable with its larger brother.

Other similar aircraft were not on the drawing board except for militarized derivatives of commercial transports. More or less at the same time Lockheed Martin Aeronautics (LM Aero) was developing the advanced Hercules, the C-130J, with state of the art Avionics and Propulsion. The time was appropriate thus for Alenia to design a new aircraft, retaining and improving the C-27A qualities and making it, at the same time, the ideal complement of the C-130J.

The aim was to satisfy the requirements from the Military Forces, world wide, to have both a large and medium size Military Airlift in their fleet or to offer a low cost alternative for air forces that may not need the large airlifts.

The opportunity to develop the C-27A into a new design was boosted when the Italian Air Force awarded LM Aero with the second largest C-130J acquisition contract in the world.

In this frame, as it is common today, a notable amount of the contract value had to be offset to the National Industry and this gave birth to the C-27J.