L-3 Selected to Provide C-27J for Australian Battlefield Airlifter Program

L-3 Communications announced on the 10th of May that it has been selected by the Commonwealth of Australia to provide the C-27J Spartan for the country’s Battlefield Airlifter program. The U.S. Foreign Military Sales program has an approximate contract value of $600 million and includes the supply of 10 new C-27J aircraft worth about $300 million, plus contractor logistics support, spares and training.

The announcement was made by the Australian Minister for Defence and the Minister for Defence Materiel.

“L-3 is proud to have been selected for the Australian Battlefield Airlifter program,” said John McNellis, L-3 corporate senior vice president and president of L-3 Integrated Systems Group. “We look forward to working with the U.S. and Australian governments to deliver this vital capability. The C-27J will serve the Commonwealth of Australia with superb performance, interoperability with international forces, as well as significant total life-cycle savings over the life of the program.”

To support the future force, the Battlefield Airlifter must be a multifunctional aircraft, able to perform logistical re-supply, medevac, troop movement, airdrop operations and humanitarian assistance. The C-27J is equipped to address each of these mission requirements and outperforms every other aircraft in its class, as demonstrated through exceptional performance during the U.S. Air Force’s current deployment in Afghanistan. The U.S. selected the C-27J over the C-295 through a competitive tender process in 2007.

Source : L-3 Communications Holdings Inc.