Azerbaijan purchases Leonardo C-27J NG Spartan aircraft from Italy

The Italian and Azerbaijan governments have inked a contract for the supply of the C-27J Spartan aircraft from Italian heavyweight, Leonardo.

An Azerbaijani delegation was in Italy for the contract signing in the presence of representatives of the defence ministers of the two countries. The signing of the contract is part of the commercial collaboration between Italy and Azerbaijan, Asia Defence Journal reports.

“The commercial collaboration between Italy and Azerbaijan has been strengthened with the signing of the contract for the supply of the C-27J Spartan,” says a press release issued by Leonardo on Jun. 8, 2023, to announce the addition of the Azerbaijan Air Force to the list of operators of the C-27J airlifter. The contract was inked in Italy by an Azerbaijani delegation in the presence of representatives of the Defence Ministers of the two countries.

The contract, worth an unknown value and an unspecified number of aircraft, is the result of the growing ties between the two nations, which started on the energy sector and has now extended to the defence field: Azerbaijan supplies gas to Italy (that has looked at Baku as an alternative to the Russian gas) via the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), the gas corridor used to transport natural gas from the Shah Deniz II field in Azerbaijan.

Initially linked to the energy sectors, the collaboration between Italy and Azerbaijan is now also extended to defence industry products thanks to the valuable contribution provided by the Italian Ministry of Defence working group.

The programme for the purchase of the C-27J from Leonardo, a tactical transport aircraft with many years of proven experience in the most challenging operational scenarios, was finalised through a technical round table between the Italian Ministry of Defence and its Azerbaijani counterpart. The agreement is part of the extensive modernisation programme of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, which are increasingly looking to the products of Italian industry.

Deployed in the most challenging geographic, environmental and operating conditions, Leonardo’s C27J Spartan is an aircraft capable of executing a vast range of defence and civil protection missions.

Extensive experience gained in operations with different air forces worldwide makes it the ideal aircraft for military transport missions, airdrops of paratroopers and materials, “last mile” tactical troop support, special forces operations, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

The first C-27J Spartan Next Generation taxiing still in its primer paint in 2020

In Asia-Pacific, the Leonardo C-27J is in service of the Royal Australian Air Force, which operates 10 of the transporter in its No 35 Squadron.

According to Leonardo, the agreement is part of the extensive modernisation programme of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, which are increasingly looking to the products of Italian industry.

Dealing with the variant, the aircraft purchased by Azerbaijan is certainly the C-27J NG (Next Generation), that has long been the Spartan’s production baseline. Here are some details about the aircraft we already published in a detailed article published in 2020:

The improved aircraft features new equipment, avionics and aerodynamic devices, most notably new winglets, that are intended to boost even more the performance and reliability of the Spartan.

"While its cruising speed of 325 KTAS (602 km/h) and service ceiling of 30,000 ft (9,144 m) will not change with the new configuration, the winglets will improve the aircraft’s climb capabilities in terms of climb gradients or MTOW of approximately 1,000 kg. This will allow us to operate from those airports with particularly steep climb gradients, which are normally served by four-engine aircraft," Matteo Maurizio, Head of Project Test Pilot Airlifters, Special Versions and UAS, who has been involved in the development of the new variant of the Spartan said in an interview.

In addition to the classic tactical transport and airdrop of troops and cargo, MEDEVAC/CASEVAC, firefighting, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief support, the C-27J can perform also VIP transport, firefighting, ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance), Maritime Patrol and tactical support missions by using multiple roll-on/roll-off palletized mission kits and systems which allow a quick preparation for the new mission.

One of the configurations obtained with the use of the aforementioned kits is the MC-27J Praetorian variant or the EC-27J JEDI (Jamming and Electronic Defense Instrumentation), a modified Spartan able to perform Electronic Warfare missions and prevent insurgents from using electronic devices to remotely detonate Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).