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Air Force, Coast Guard talk C-27J deal
Posted : Sunday Mar 11, 2012 10:14:18 EDT
Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Robert Papp told lawmakers last week that he has talked with Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz about the feasibility of transferring C-27Js to the sea service.
The Coast Guard is conducting a business case analysis of transferring the cargo haulers.
The Coast Guard flies C-130Js and EADS-produced CN-235s, which it calls the HC-144.
The Coast Guard opted for the HC-144 over the C-27J because of lower life-cycle costs, Papp said at a House Appropriations homeland security subcommittee hearing.
Still, he’s not ruling out a mixed fleet of HC-144s and C-27Js.
“[S]ometimes things fall in your laps and if we can get … basically free from the Air Force, we might be able to come up with the plan that would allow us a mix of the [CN-235s], a mix of the C-27s,
and, oh by the way, that might put some extra money in our budget that we could devote to some of these other projects,” Papp said March 6.
Papp noted that the C-27J and C-130J use the same engines, which would help cut the logistical costs of operating two aircraft.
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