L-3 Communications,
NEW YORK: L-3 Communications, prime contractor for the C-27J Joint Cargo Aircraft Program (JCA), announced today the successful completion of the C-27J JCA’s first flight in Turin, Italy.
“This first flight is a great achievement for the program and demonstrates our ability to deliver JCA to the warfighter,” said James Burkhardt, L-3 vice president of JCA.
“L-3 and Alenia promised the Army and Air Force the most capable aircraft with the best value,” said Bob Drewes, L-3 Integrated Systems Group president. “First flight is a very important milestone toward delivering on that promise.”
Early last week Alenia and Boeing announced that they had been negotiating a deal to establish a U.S. production/final assembly facility in Florida, in anticipation of increased aircraft quantity requirements following the initial JCA contract. The companies, however, announced last week that such a business relationship could not be reached.
“We will continue to maintain our focus on performance – we are confident that this recent announcement will have no effect on our ability to fully meet the JCA program requirements,” added Drewes.
The aircraft took off from Alenia Aeronautica’s Caselle facility June 16 and remained in flight for 20 minutes. The JCA’s maiden flight was in poor weather conditions and included takeoff, functional checks and landing operations.
The Joint Cargo Aircraft program is led by L-3, with Alenia Aeronautica (a Finmeccanica company) as the aircraft manufacturer. The team won the $2 billion contract in June 2007 for 78 aircraft for the U.S. Army and Air Force. Follow-on contracts, as well as international, foreign military and variant sales are expected to push the aircraft number over 200.
Following the flight test regimen, the aircraft will go to L-3’s Waco, Texas facility for final integration of unique mission equipment before delivery to the military customer. The flight test period is scheduled for 24 flights, lasting approximately two months.
The C-27J Spartan has been in production in Italy since 2001, with deliveries to Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Lithuania and Romania.
The C-27J is a mid-range, multifunctional and interoperable aircraft able to perform logistical re-supply, MEDEVAC, troop movement, airdrop operations, humanitarian assistance and homeland security missions for the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force. The C-27J will replace the U.S. Army’s C-23 Sherpa, C-12 and C-26 aircraft and augment the U.S. Air Force’s existing fleet of intratheater airlifters. The aircraft will play a key role in providing responsive aerial sustainment and critical re-supply support for the maneuver force to maintain operational momentum.
Headquartered in New York City, L-3 Communications employs over 64,000 people worldwide and is a prime contractor in aircraft modernization and maintenance, C3ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) systems and government services. L-3 is also a leading provider of high technology products, subsystems and systems. The company reported 2007 sales of $14 billion.
