Leonardo Societa per Azioni has been awarded a $91.9m contract by the US Department of Defense to design modify, integrate and install the 1.2+ avionics update package on the C-27J Spartan fleets operated by US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) and the US Coast Guard (USCG).

As part of the contract, which was awarded on February 7, Leonardo will replace the ageing avionics package that is currently employed by the C-27Js flown by both SOCOM and the USCG. The current package has many components that date back more than 15 years and this latest move aims to replace these parts across both fleets to maximise commonality across the US C-27J fleets. The SOCOM headquarters in Tampa, Florida, is leading the contracting activity, with Fiscal Year 2021-2023 (FY21-23) US Army and USCG funds – totalling $31.9m and $32.1m, respectively – will be used for the construction, procurement and improvement of the C-27Js.

The majority of this work will be performed in Naples, Italy, so these rare C-27Js are expecting to be seen in Europe soon. The US Army currently operates seven C-27Js (serials 10-27024 to 10-27030) – which entered operational service in March 2014 after being acquired second-hand from the US Air Force (USAF) – in support of SOCOM operations, while the USCG employs 14 HC-27Js (serials 2701 to 2714). The Coast Guard examples were also sourced second-hand from the USAF in 2013, before the first example was delivered in November 2014.