House saves JCA duty for Conn. Guard

[unhappycamper]

House saves JCA duty for Conn. Guard
By Andrew Miga - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Dec 13, 2007 12:37:20 EST

A sweeping $696 billion defense authorization bill approved by the House on Wednesday included some good news for Connecticut’s Air National Guard.

Proposed language that threatened to delay for two years or more the state’s Air National Guard from taking up its new cargo-plane mission was dropped from the measure. Freshman Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., led the effort by Connecticut lawmakers on Capitol Hill to block the proposal.

“We did very well in this bill to keep them flying,” said Courtney, who helped organize a bipartisan group of lawmakers on the issue.

In the wake of the 2005 federal military base-closing commission’s decision, Connecticut’s Air National Guard is trading its A-10 “Warthog” attack aircraft for modern cargo planes known as C-27J Spartans that are part of the military’s Joint Cargo Aircraft program. The Guard in Connecticut has flown C-21 cargo aircraft, the military version of the commercial Lear 35 jet aircraft, during the transition to the Spartan cargo planes.

Language in the Senate version of the defense authorization bill for fiscal year 2008 would have shifted responsibility for the Joint Cargo Aircraft program from the Army to the Air Force, which had a slower timetable for developing the new airplanes than the Army.


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2007/12/ap_airguard_connecticut_071213/



uhc comment: Meet the C-27J



C-27J Spartan Tactical Transport Aircraft, Italy

Launched in 1997, the C-27J Spartan tactical transport aircraft incorporates the same propulsion system and advanced avionics as the C-130J Hercules Transporter. The C-27J has been developed by Lockheed Martin Alenia Tactical Transport Systems (LMATTS). LMATTS is a joint venture company based in Marietta, Georgia, which was set up by Lockheed Martin and Alenia Aeronautica, which is part of the Finmeccanica company of Italy.

The first flight of the development aircraft was in September 1999 and the aircraft received full Italian Military Type certification in December 2001. The Italian Air Force has ordered 12 aircraft to replace the G.222. Deliveries began in January 2007 and are scheduled to conclude in 2008.

In January 2003, LMATTS received the first export order for the C-27J when Greece signed a contract to buy 12 aircraft with three on option. The first was delivered in August 2005. In February 2006, the Defence Ministry of Bulgaria signed a contract for five C-27J aircraft, with an option for three more. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in November 2007.


According to wikipedia, we've already spent $5,000,000,000 on these things.


Air-Attack.com sez:

The C-27J offers significantly more capability than any other aircraft in its class. Equipped with floor strength greater than that of a C-130 Hercules, the C-27J has capacity for 3.5 463L standard stateside-configured pallets or 25,000 lbs of bulk cargo equipment.

The C-27J can also carry vehicles comfortably in the rear of the aircraft:

* 2 up-armored, combat ready HMMWVs
* BV-206S Armored All-Terrain Vehicle
* M119A1-105 mm Towed Howitzer
* OH-58 helicopter, or a LAV-V100.

All vehicles can be driven or winched on and off the aircraft via a hydraulically operated rear-loading ramp and the aircraft can offload vehicles quickly while taking fire.