Tanzania orders C-27J airlifters from Italy

Tanzania has ordered two Leonardo C-27J Spartan transport aircraft that it will use primarily for civil support duties. (Janes/Patrick Allen)

Tanzania has ordered two Leonardo C-27J Spartan transport aircraft, the Italian government announced on 9 January.

Signed by the Tanzanian Minister of Defence and National Service, Stergomena Tax, and the Italian Ambassador to Tanzania, Marco Lombardi, the deal will see the Tanzanian Ministry of Defence (MoD) use the aircraft primarily for civil support duties.

“Equipped with kits for humanitarian, search-and-rescue, and firefighting missions, the new aircraft will be used by the Tanzanian authorities for firefighting operations on Mount Kilimanjaro and in the East African region,” the announcement said.

No details related to the contract value or the delivery timeline were disclosed.

The standard Spartan has an 11 tonne payload and a 3,070 n mile (5,685 km; 3,532 mile) ferry range. Leonardo recently revealed the C-27J Next Generation (NG), which includes new cockpit displays, weather radar, modern navigation, and communications equipment, as well as “advanced aerodynamic features”, as described by Leonardo.

The type is in service with or on order with the militaries of Australia, Bulgaria, Chad, Greece, Italy, Kenya, Lithuania, Mexico, Morocco, Peru, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, the United States (although the US Air Force divested the type to the US Coast Guard and US Special Operations Command owing to budgetary reasons), and Zambia.