C-27J Spartan
ICAO C27JA twin-turboprop transport with a Hercules engine on a much smaller airframe. Live C-27J Spartan positions.
Flying right now
Live · 30sAirframe
- Manufacturer
- Leonardo
- Role
- Tactical airlift
- Class
- L2T — Landplane, 2 turboprop engines
- Crew
- 2 to 3
- First flight
- 24 September 1999
- In service
- 2007
Operators airborne
About the C-27J Spartan
The C-27J is what happens when you take the engines and propellers of a C-130J and put them on an aircraft half the size. The result lifts less but gets into shorter and rougher strips, and shares enough with the Hercules that operators of both save on training and spares.
Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Slovakia, Australia, Morocco and Peru fly it, and the traffic on this page is mostly European. The United States bought a batch, cancelled the programme, and passed the airframes to the Coast Guard and special operations command, where a few still fly.
It is a modest fleet worldwide, so expect a handful airborne at most, usually on short intra-European sectors.
Callsign prefixes
- IAM
- Italian Air Force
- ROF
- Romanian Air Force
- LTU
- Lithuanian Air Force
How to recognise it
- —Two large six-bladed propellers on a high wing, which look oversized for the fuselage — because they are Hercules propellers.
- —A short, deep fuselage with a rear ramp and a swept T-tail.
- —Roughly two thirds the length of a C-130 with the same engine note.
Common questions
+ Is the C-27J related to the C-130J?
They share engines and propellers. Both use the Rolls-Royce AE 2100 with the same six-bladed unit, and the cockpit avionics are closely related, but the airframes are entirely different aircraft from different manufacturers.
+ Why did the United States cancel its C-27Js?
Budget pressure and overlap. The Air Force concluded the C-130 could cover the same missions, and the fleet was retired almost new. Some airframes went to the Coast Guard and special operations units, others straight to storage.
+ How much can a C-27J carry?
Around 11 tonnes, against roughly 20 for a C-130J. The trade is runway performance: it can operate from strips a Hercules would not attempt.