US Army Orders Seven More C-27J Transports

[cancidas]

from FlightGlobal:

US Army orders seven more C-27J transports
By Stephen Trimble
The US Army has awarded L-3 Communications a contract to deliver the second batch of Alenia Aeronautica C-27J Spartan tactical transport aircraft starting in 2011.

Worth $201 million, the deal for seven aircraft raises the army's overall order to 13 under the nearly two-year-old Joint Cargo Aircraft (JCA) programme.

L-3 in October 2008 delivered the first two C-27Js from a previous order, and both are now being converted to perform the army transport mission. The next four transports are scheduled to be delivered after January 2010.

The army plans to buy at least 54 C-27Js under the JCA programme. The US Air Force also intends to acquire 24, but is not due to place an order until next year. The US Special Operations Command also plans to acquire C-27Js and convert them into light gunships.

[Matt Molnar]

Does L-3 actually do anything useful to these planes, or is this just a way for the government to scrub themselves of the stain of buying Italian aircraft while redirecting a few million bucks to a (well connected) American company?

[cancidas]

Does L-3 actually do anything useful to these planes, or is this just a way for the government scrub themselves of the stain of buying Italian aircraft and redirect a few bucks to a (well connected) American company?

**points to nose** :mrgreen: