Aeritalia G.222

     Notes: The G.222 (G for the chief designer, Giuseppe Gabrielli, 2 for the twin engine arrangement, and 22 for the NATO Basic Military Requirement 22 for which it had been originally designed) was conceived in response to a NATO requirement for a medium V/STOL transport.  The vertical takeoff requirement eventually evaporated as impractical, but Aeritalia continued the development of the G.222 as a STOL aircraft able to operate from austere and rough fields. The Italian Air Force accepted them for service in 1978, and various export customers emerged over the next 20 years.  In many cases, G.222 airframes were retired from some countries’ air forces, refurbished, and then sold on to other countries’ air forces. The US Air Force operated ten G.222s, upgraded by Chrysler Aerospace; these were designated C-27A Spartan (see below). The G.222 has seen heavy use in humanitarian missions in Africa as well as military airlift roles, and has seen combat service in Africa as well as Iraq and Afghanistan. It has also been used as aerial firefighting, maritime patrol, radio and radar calibration, and VIP transport.  The equipment for such missions is modular, and can be changed out as the mission changes.

     The G.222 is of conventional design, with high-mounted wings and an upswept rear, including a ramp for loading the aircraft. The engine nacelles are inboard of the center of the wings. The G.222 have adjustable-height landing gear, enabling it to “kneel” for easier loading. Most G.222s are powered by General Electric T64-GE-P4D turboprops of 3400 horsepower each, but as the US had an embargo on military equipment to Libya, G.222Ts exported to Libya are powered by Rolls Royce Tyne turboprops with 4860 horsepower each instead, with other US-based avionics being replaced by European equivalents.  The Tyne engines gave the Libyan variant superior performance at the cost of increased fuel consumption. (This variant, the G.222T, was also available from Aeritalia.) Early variants had basic avionics and equipment, but upgrades started by some operators in the mid-1990s brought better communications, better defensive gear, and cockpit lighting changes that allow the crew to fly the aircraft and read all the instruments while wearing night vision goggles, along with state of the art navigation systems, and the changing out of some other avionics and equipment with their modern counterparts. There is excellent visibility from the cockpit, and most instruments are centrally placed to be accessible to both pilots. Some G.222s are fitted with aerial refueling probes, though the G.222 is not fitted with aerial refueling equipment as standard. There is an EW platform version; it is not included here due to lack of information. The US C-27A Spartan is essentially the G-222-710 aircraft in US military paint, and with improved communications and navigation equipment.

     The C-27J Spartan is a vastly upgraded C-27A, with improvements in the engines, avionics, part of the empennage, and various subsystems taken from the C-130J Super Hercules.  First flight was in 1999, with military certification taking place in 2001. The first customer for the C-27J was the Italian Air Force in 2006; the US then ordered 38 of them in 2007. (The Italians call their C-27J the Praetorian.) They were first used by the US Air Force, but were retired due to budget cuts five years later, and the C-27Js were then assigned to the Coast Guard, Forestry Service (as aerial firefighters) and SOCOM. The C-27 has also been acquired by several Eastern European nations, several African nations, Australia, Mexico, and Peru. The C-27J is powered by Rolls-Royce AE 2100D3 engines developing 4590 horsepower each, with six-bladed propellers instead of the three-bladed propellers of the G.222/C-27A, and the crew has the glass cockpit of the C-130J. The cargo compartment is updated in view of the greater cargo capacity. An aerial refueling probe is not fitted as standard, but is an option.

     Variants of the C-27J include the AC-27J Stinger II (after the AC-119K Stinger), a medium gunship armed with a left-side-firing Bofors autocannon and equipped with six hardpoints normally taken up with precision guided weapons such as Hellfire ATGMs or Viper Strike smart bombs. The cockpit has a liner of Kevlar, increasing protection slightly. In the end, SOCOM elected to standardize on C-130-based gunships instead of using the AC-27J, though Leonardo still offers the conversion to customers worldwide.  Most potential AC-27J customers opted for the MC-27J Praetorian Gunship instead (below).

     The MC-27J is a multimission variant of the C-27J, taking lessons learned from the AC-27J modification and adding equipment for C3-ISR, Signals Intelligence (SIGINT), and a plethora of sensors, including AESA radar, Electro-Optical/IR vision, EW, and even enhanced communications including SATCOM radio and datalink capabilities. There are fewer hardpoints, but these normally carry Multiple Ejector Racks (MERs) to increase weapons load. It can support ground troops with anything from direct fire to electronic jamming or listening in on radio transmissions, as well as providing commanders with a highly effective mobile command post.

     The HC-27J is a US Coast Guard maritime surveillance platform, festooned with sensors, radar, cameras, and recorders. It can also double as a standard transport, and does perform many humanitarian response missions. The HC-27J fleet consists of reassigned USAF C-27Js, refitted and outfitted for their surveillance mission. The HC-27J replaces HC-130Hs in Coast Guard service; there is currently no money in the budget for new HC-130Js, though the Coast Guard expects to be able to replace the HC-27Js starting in 2028.

     The EC-27J “Jedi” (for Jamming and Electronic Data Instrumentation, but this is not an official name for the aircraft) is an initiative of Leonardo in Italy for a battlefield EW platform.  As such, it is loaded with jamming and MIJI-capable equipment, as well as some battlefield surveillance gear. An important feature of the Jedi is the use of jammers specifically designed to jam cell phones and hand radio transmissions, as well as other remote detonators for IEDs.

*The cockpit has a Kevlar liner, and has an AV of 8.