Azerbaijani Air Forces To Procure C-27J Spartan Military Transport Aircraft From Leonardo
Azerbaijan, which has been trying to modernize its aging air force for several years, has signed a contract with Italy-based Leonardo for the supply of C-27J Spartan military transport aircraft. The contract in question was signed in Italy by an Azerbaijani delegation in the presence of representatives from the two nations’ defense ministries.
Azerbaijani authorities and the Italian company did not disclose how many aircraft the Azerbaijani air force will purchase under the contract, the total price of the agreement, or the timetable for delivery. However, Italian media had previously reported that Azerbaijan was evaluating two military transport aircraft produced by the Italian company Leonardo. The company only stated that the deal is an extension of Italy’s and Azerbaijan’s close energy ties. As is well known, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Italy and many other EU countries began looking for new suppliers in order to reduce their reliance on Russia for energy. Italy, along with Germany, Poland, Bulgaria, and Austria, is one of the most reliant European countries on Russian gas, but it has significantly reduced its reliance thanks to agreements signed with Algeria, Qatar, and Azerbaijan. Last year, the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which was built to transport natural gas extracted from Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz 2 gas field to Europe, transported 6.8 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Italy. Italy is currently in talks with Azerbaijan to double this capacity.
Although many Western countries, particularly the United States and Germany, do not officially impose an embargo on Azerbaijan as a result of the 44-day Second Nagorno-Karabakh War that erupted in 2020 and the subsequent conflicts, they also do not sell weapons to Azerbaijan. Due to current and potential future energy agreements, Italy does not hesitate to cooperate with Azerbaijan in military and technical fields. In this context, Azerbaijan and Italy signed a letter of intent in February 2020 for the purchase of M-346 aircraft.
The C-27J Spartan is a military transport aircraft developed and manufactured by Leonardo’s Aircraft Division that will meet the Azerbaijani Air Forces’ light transport aircraft needs, which currently have two Ilyushin Il-76s in their military airlift fleet. Aside from transporting soldiers and cargo, the C-27J can also carry out humanitarian aid and disaster relief missions, VIP transport, firefighting, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), maritime patrol, and tactical support missions. The aircraft can reach top speeds of 602 kilometers per hour and cruising speeds of 500 kilometers per hour thanks to two Rolls Royce AE2100-D2A engines producing 3,458 kW (4,637 shp) each. With a maximum payload of 11.5 tons, the aircraft has a range of 4.3 thousand kilometers with 6 tons of payload and 1,759 kilometers at full capacity. The C-27J requires a runway length of 580 m for take-off and 340 m for landing on unprepared runways. The C-27J only needs a runway width of 12.1 m to make a 180-degree turn on the runway it landed on and take off again.