Roxana Tiron
The Hill
Despite settling a bitter, years-long battle to protect a coveted cargo aircraft program, the Army is now likely to be left empty-handed.
The Army, and in particular the Army National Guard, likely will no longer receive the C-27J Spartan, also known as the Joint Cargo Aircraft (JCA), under a new Pentagon plan, according to multiple sources at the Defense Department, in Congress and the defense industry.
Those sources say Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and his inner circle are considering cutting the program in half and leaving the Air Force in charge of the remaining planes.
Instead of purchasing 78 or more C-27Js, the Pentagon could end up buying only 38, the sources told The Hill. Those who spoke asked for anonymity because details about the fate of the program have not been made public. Those details will be revealed when the Pentagon submits its budget request for fiscal 2010 in early May.
Currently, the Army and Air Force jointly oversee the nearly $3 billion program. The planes would be used to ferry cargo deep into battlefields, and also to ship goods to local communities in the U.S. during emergencies such as hurricanes.
A team of L-3 Communications and Alenia North America holds the contract for the C-27J. Alenia North America, part of the Italian conglomerate Finmeccanica, builds the plane.
The company was planning to manufacture the plane in Jacksonville, Fla., but it’s unclear whether the smaller quantity would give the company the incentive to build in the United States instead of Italy. The C-27J already is built with parts and components from 78 U.S. suppliers in 23 states.
When Gates made his announcement about the Pentagon’s budget on April 6, well in advance of its actual submission to Congress, he did not say a word about the program and the changes waiting in the wings. Sources say Gates and his closest advisers made the decision and that themilitary service leaders are just now learning about it. Most of the planes in the program were slated for the Army and Air National Guard.
A request for comment from the Office of the Secretary of Defense was not returned by press time.
However, the plan to take the C-27J away from the Army could create havoc in Congress and among the governors of multiple states that were expecting to house the aircraft on their bases. Without the C-27J, those bases may now be left without a critical mission: Apart from flying in combat, those planes were going to be used for homeland security missions, particularly for helping out during natural and other disasters.
Such a decision is likely to spark an intense debate on Capitol Hill and stir a lobbying campaign from state officials. Governors and their adjutants general in the past have sounded alarm that without these planes, the Guard’s ability to respond to domestic emergencies could be significantly jeopardized.
The Army National Guard was expecting to receive the C-27J in 12 states: California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Alaska and Washington state. Each was supposed to receive four airplanes. Alaska was supposed to share its airplanes with Guam.
The secretary’s plan to put the Air Force in charge of the program also comes after the extremely divisive debate over the program’s jurisdiction was believed to have been settled.
The Pentagon in late January submitted a congressionally mandated “roles and missions” report that concluded both the Army and Air Force should be assigned the C-27J. The latest proposal would change that.
Lawmakers have been skeptical about whether the Air Force has a clear need for the aircraft, and defense appropriators in this year’s budget slashed the Air Force’s funding request to procure the aircraft, but left about $16 million to fund the research and development for the Air Force’s portion of the program.
The Air Force was expected to receive the aircraft a couple years after the Army, which has already received two C-27J and has 11 others under contract. It’s unclear what is going to happen to the Army’s aircraft that were delivered and those under contract. They were initially meant to replace 43 of the Army’s beaten-up C-23 Sherpas.
The Army in particular has been adamant about buying a smaller cargo aircraft that can go deep into the battlefield to deliver needed supplies to troops. The Army has been relying heavily on its Chinook helicopters for that purpose. Army officials have argued for months that Afghanistan’s terrain, for example, has put much pressure on these helicopters, which are now filling the void of a cargo aircraft that can fly “the last tactical mile.”
Under the initial plan, the Air Force was expected to receive 24 C-27Js — four planes in six states across the country: Connecticut, Michigan, Maryland, North Dakota, Ohio and Mississippi. Now, under the proposed plan, the remainder of the 38 aircraft will likely go into the active Air Force.
