Spartan Foothold

Team Infidel

Forum Spin Doctor
Aviation Week & Space Technology
October 6, 2008
Pg. 42
Finmeccanica’s U.S. arm lands deal for Afghan transports
By Amy Butler and Andy Nativi
Alenia North America scored its first win as a prime contractor for the Pentagon last week when it signed a contract worth up to $287 million to refurbish 18 Italian G222s into a common configuration for use by the Afghan National Army Air Corps.
The first refurbished aircraft will be delivered by September 2009, with the remainder to follow by mid-2011, says Andrew McCawley, Afghanistan program vice president for Alenia North America. The addition of newer fixed-wing transports is a key milestone for the young Afghan National Army Air Corps, which is now operating with old, ill-maintained equipment from the Soviet era.
Five separate G222 configurations, all from the Italian air force, will be modernized into one common configuration for the Afghan deal. The majority of the aircraft to be refurbished have logged 4,000-7,000 flying hours; the most heavily used has put in about 10,000 hr. These airframes have a 10-year life expectancy.
The G222 will carry 44 people, 32 fully equipped paratroops or five standard 463L (12/E) pallets. Gross takeoff weight is 58,422 lb. and range at maximum payload is 450 naut. mi. The Afghan version will use the same General Electric T64-GE-P4D engine employed by the Italian air force. The U.S. version uses a Rolls-Royce engine design. Avionics will be provided by Selex Communications, a Finmeccanica company.
The U.S. Air Force is now reviewing whether a unique data link and defensive system are needed for the Afghan aircraft. That study is due in four months, with final guidance expected in second-quarter Fiscal 2009.
The G222 is also in use by the Nigerian air force, which purchased five of the aircraft and received one as a gift. Alenia still has 10 G222s on hand, three that can fly; the remainder are grounded.
L-3 Vertex will handle logistics in Kabul. Alenia’s Capodichino facility near Naples will handle the refurbishing.
L-3 Communications, by contrast, is Alenia North America’s prime contractor for the U.S. Joint Cargo Aircraft (JCA) program, an effort worth more than $2 billion. The team has completed work on its first C-27J for the U.S. Army/Air Force, which includes a fully glass cockpit, more robust engines and nacelles and a stronger cargo floor. The total U.S. C-27J buy is now set at 78 aircraft, 54 of which will go to the Army. The requirement for the Air Force is expected to increase.
Air Force Special Operations Command has also requested funding to outfit a C-27J with a gunship suite, including targeting sensors and weapons. However, the pace of that effort was slowed when Congress opted not to approve funding in the Fiscal 2008 omnibus reprogramming earlier this year. Alenia North America President Guiseppe Giordo says the U.S. hasn’t yet decided whether to contract directly with L-3, as the JCA prime, for a gunship variant or to compete the integrator role for the program.
 
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