June 19, 2007 -- Italian aircraft manufacturer Alenia Aeronautica, owned by state-run aerospace and defence group Finmeccanica, has won an order to build seven new-generation military transport aircraft C-27J Spartan to Romania. The aircraft, jointly built by Alenia Aeronautica and U.S. giant Lockheed Martin, will cost a total 220 mln euro ($294.4 mln). According to the CEO of Alenia Aeronautica Giovanni Bertolone, the contract for the order will be signed in the next weeks and the first aircraft will be delivered in 2008. The contract will envisage also a logistic support.

[Editor's note: C-27J Spartan appears to be the favourite of the Australian defence forces for substitution of the old DHC-4 Caribou aircraft in a deal worth some 600 mln euro ($803.16 mln), ANSA reported on April 17, 2007. According to media reports, the Australian defence plans to make a decision by mid-2007 on the acquisition of between 10 and 12 C-27J aircraft, which would replace the DHC-4 machines. The first deliveries, according to the local media, should take place as of 2010 or 2011.

Source: Italian News Digest
Source: Factiva