U.S. Coast Guard receives fifth C-27J aircraft

ELIZABETH CITY, N.C., Feb. 4 (UPI) -- The U.S. Coast Guard's fifth regenerated C-27J Spartan aircraft was flown to the HC-27J Asset Project Office in North Carolina.

The C-27J is the latest regenerated Spartan aircraft to complete the Coast Guard's regeneration process. The Coast Guard has plans to generate a total of 13 of the aircraft under the program and use them to train and qualify air crews and maintenance personnel.

The regeneration work is performed at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Ariz., by the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group. A sixth C-27J has begun the regeneration process, which involves extensive inspections of aircraft flight history and configuration.

The planes are then subject to functional flight tests before being certified as airworthy.

The Coast Guard plans to integrate 14 C-27s into its medium-range surveillance fleet to support disaster response, drug and migrant interdiction and search-and-rescue missions.

The Spartans, made by Alenia Aeronautica, are capable of reaching an airspeed of 290 knots, and have a range of 2,675 nautical miles. They are to be equipped with Minotaur mission systems, multi-mode radars, and night vision goggle capabilities.