PICS: Romania accepts first C-27J Spartans...

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Stratofreighter
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PICS: Romania accepts first C-27J Spartans...

Post by Stratofreighter »

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/20 ... rtans.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
DATE:12/04/10

SOURCE:Flightglobal.com

PICTURES: Romania accepts first C-27J Spartans
By Craig Hoyle

Romania’s first two of seven C-27J Spartan tactical transports have arrived in Bucharest, after completing a ferry flight from Alenia Aeronautica’s Turin Caselle site in Italy.

The aircraft landed at Bucharest Otopeni airport on 12 April and have now been formally accepted by the Romanian air force.

The service will use the type to replace its remaining four operational Antonov An-26s in performing tasks such as personnel and equipment transport, medical evacuation, search and rescue and humanitarian assistance.

All images © Alenia Aeronautica

“The aircraft will be brought into service immediately, and a complex process of advanced training of the Romanian crews and technical staff will start,” says Alenia Aeronautica.
November 2024 update at FokkerNews.nl....
zapacitu
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Re: PICS: Romania accepts first C-27J Spartans...

Post by zapacitu »

The aircraft landed at Bucharest Otopeni airport on 12 April and have now been formally accepted by the Romanian air force.
That's what Alenia wants everybody to believe, but it's not the case. The planes have not been accepted into service yet because they are not in the configuration specified in the contract terms. Most notably the self defence suite is missing - check the photos, there are no sensors there, just simple lids on the relevant places. Here's what the Romanian MoD communique stated (in Romanian):
http://www.mapn.ro/cpresa/13378_COMUNICAT-DE-PRES" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;Ă
the relevant passage being:
Avioanele sunt puse la dispoziţie de către Compania Alenia Aeronautica SpA, fără efectuare de plăţi, într-o configuraţie iniţială de echipare care permite ridicarea nivelului de instruire a piloţilor militari, prin demararea procesului de operaţionalizare în paralel cu transferul gradual de responsabilitate privind exploatarea aeronavelor. Cele două aeronave vor intra în înzestrarea Forţelor Aeriene Române după ce vor fi configurate final, conform cerinţelor din contractul de achiziţie.
translated:
The aircraft are made available by the company Alenia Aeronautica SpA, without payments being made, in an initial equipped configuration which permits the raising of the level of training of military pilots by starting the process of operationalization in paralel with the gradual transfer of responsibility regarding the usage of the aircraft. The two aircraft will enter the inventory of the Romanian Air Force after being given the final configuration, in accordance with the acquisition contract.

Late last year, in an interview, the cief of the procurement department in the Romanian MoD stated that the latest delays in the delivery of the C-27J were caused by Alenia's inability to secure in time the export aproovals for several subsystems. Quite an irony, since the self protection suite was one of two main reasons for the selection of C-27J over C-295 (the second being the max height of the freight pallets, in order to have interoperability with the Hercules)
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Re: PICS: Romania accepts first C-27J Spartans...

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Thank you for this interesting "inside" Zapacitu! So no "operational flights" yet for Romanian C-27J Spartans, but only training...
November 2024 update at FokkerNews.nl....
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Re: PICS: Romania accepts first C-27J Spartans...

Post by Spike »

As stated on the Alenia-Aeronautica website, the aircraft are not in the final configuration but they were delivered in order to start
training of the Romanian crews and technical staff [...] accompanied by the integration, customization and testing of the specific military systems
Probably they would also like to tune the aircraft before the final configuration will be set...
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zapacitu
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Re: PICS: Romania accepts first C-27J Spartans...

Post by zapacitu »

a few more details...
the third Spartan (spotted recently in Italy) will be delivered later this year, with two each following in 2011 and 2012
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