Spartan in service

Lacking a such a capability since the retirement of the DHC4 Caribou, the Royal Australian Air Force evaluated the C-27J to assess its ability fo fulfil the role demanded by AIR 8000 Phase 2 Battlefield Airlifter.

In May, Minister for Defence, Stephen Smith announced the Spartan would be selected to fulfill the requirement laid out in Air 8000. He explained that the C-27J was the chosen because it ‘was assessed as the aircraft which best met all the essential capability requirements and provides the best value for money. It was assessed as being able to fly further, faster, higher while carrying more cargo and requiring a smaller runway than the other aircraft under consideration, the Airbus Military C-295.’ Much was made in the statement of the aircraft’s virtues, namely its inherent survivability from threats such as small arms fire to MANPADS, thanks to its missile warning systems, electronic self protection, secure communications and battlefield armour, its flexibility and ability to undertake a wide range of missions from delivering ammunition to front line troops to undertaking aero-medical evacuation of causalities, and the complementary capability it provides to the other airlift assets in ALG, such as the C-17 and more importantly, the C-130J, with which it shares common engines, cargo handling system and avionics system architecture.

Unusually, Australia’s C-27’s are not to be procured not from the manufacturer, but via the Foreign Military Sales office of the Pentagon, who have offered to sell ‘divested’ USAF C-27Js that have been declared surplus in the wake of US Defense budget drawdowns.

Only five years ago, thirty eight Spartans, or Joint Cargo Aircraft, were acquired by the US Army to replace its ageing C-23 Sherpas as medium lift and intra-theatre airlifters. These aircraft then passed through the USAF’s Air Mobility Command and onto the US Air National Guard, which has since deployed the Spartan operationally to Afghanistan.

Operating out of Kandahar, the C-27J was operated by joint ANG and Army crew, deploying as the 702nd Expeditionary Airlift Squadron. Employed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, the since deactivated squadron flew, according to the USAF, 3200 missions, moved 1,400 tons of cargo, transported 25,000 passengers and executed 71 airdrops and all with only two aircraft at a 100% mission available rate.

To obtain a fuller appreciation of how the RAAF’s newest airlifter performed in actual combat conditions, Australian Aviation submitted a series of questions to Colonel Thomas Hans, commander of the 135th Airlift Group, Maryland Air National Guard, who provided the bulk of C-27J personnel to the 702nd EAS on its Afghanistan deployment.

According to Col. Hans, with AMC retaining overall operational command, the Spartan undertook a wide variety of missions as directed by the US Army’s 25th Combat Air Brigade (CAB), working on behalf of the Commander of Regional Command South. ‘We flew Time Sensitive Mission Critical (TS/MC) missions. Those were the missions that the Army prioritized over a 3 or less day lead time. We were moving Afghan National Army (ANA), NATO, U.S. troops, many VIPs, and last minute helicopter parts and aeromedical missions. We also accomplished Container Delivery System (CDS) resupply airdrops. Delivering water and other critical items to Army units that were advancing on the enemy.’

Operating from forward operating bases presented no great challenge to the Spartan, according to Col Hans, who stated that the aircraft took to the austere conditions of Afghanistan with ease. ‘We had 3 fields that we went into that we not paved. One of which
we opened for the first time to fixed wing aircraft. The aircraft
performed very well on those unprepared surfaces.’

(This rough field capability is of particular interest to the RAAF’s future operators of the C-27, 35SQN, who intend to fly the aircraft remote and rudimentary airstrips in Australia and overseas in support of humanitarian missions)

Colonel Hans was particularly enthusiastic about the aircraft’s performance in theatre, stating ‘On a scale of one to ten, I would rate a ten. With the 6 bladed turboprop engines we were able to operate well above the mountainous terrain and into unimproved airfields with a high pressure altitude. We also accomplished precise airdrops and aero medical missions. The C-27J is an efficient and effective size for small items, either equipment or personnel, that needed to be delivered now rather than waiting for a Hercules to get scheduled.’

Be that as it may, the C-130 and contractors will now be tasked with fulfilling the in theatre TS/MC mission, as the USAF has not only withdrawn the C-27J from Afghanistan, but also its inventory.

With $450 billion in defence savings being demanded by the US Government, the USAF has decided that the capability can be provided more cost efficiently by a bigger aircraft. This decision, however, is being pointedly disputed by the C-27J’s operator, the Air National Guard, who point out the Spartan’s cost of operation is far lower than the figures stated by USAF. As Col. Hans explains
‘As a member of a former C-130J unit, I think for the TS/MC mission that the C-27J performs is a perfect fit. We were able to accomplish every tactical airlift event that the Army asked us to do with it. It has some great capabilities and seems to be suited for the tactical airlift mission. I also think that the aircraft has not had the opportunity to be exercised in other roles that may prove to be additional untapped capability like firefighting, Special Operations, and electronic warfare, just to name a few. If you are looking to move large amounts of cargo and people then you can do better with a C-130, C-17 or C-5, but if you want efficiency with small loads very frequently in a dynamic battlefield or natural disaster, the C-27J is the right fit for that job. The C-27J is more economical than the other aircraft in the TS/MC role.’

At the time of writing, the final disposition of the C-27J fleet within the ANG is still uncertain, though for the moment, operations with the Maryland ANG are continuing.

In the meantime, the USAF will continue to divest itself of the Spartan, which makes the Maryland Air National Guard’s loss the ALG’s gain. And that the 135th Airlift Group has grown so fond of an aircraft it has operated for only a year bodes well for its future Australian operators.