C-27J Spartan availability soon to improve

From Savvas D. Vlassis

By the end of the year, the availability status of the Air Force’s C-27J Spartan tactical transport aircraft is expected to have greatly improved, according to A/GEA Lt. Gen. (I) Themistocles Bourolias.

On July 7, between GDAEE and the Italian Leonardo SpA, Contract No. 010Γ/22, for the Continuous Support (FOS) of the C-27J. The contract is for a 4-year duration and provides for the immediate implementation in a flow of spare parts, in order for the technical staff of the 354 Tactical Transport Squadron and Leonardo, to intervene effectively and start restoring the grounded planes to power.

Today, the Squadron has a fluctuating availability of one to two of the eight aircraft, which cover a small portion of the tactical transport needs, not only of the Air Force, but of all the Branches. With the start of implementation of the FOS contract, it is estimated that within the next months and before the end of the year, a total of 5-6 airplanes will be operationally available.

In this way, regular transfers will be significantly relieved, until the operational availability of the C-130s, for which other actions are being taken, begins to be positively affected. To this day, the C-27Js are used in “simple” transport missions, without having been utilized to the full range of their capabilities, such as, for example, missions of dropping parachutists, supplies, etc.

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