G.222

The Aeritalia G.222 is a twin-turboprop tactical transport developed in Italy for the Italian Air Force and exported to several air arms. It entered Italian service in 1978, was built with Rolls-Royce Tyne engines for Libya and was bought by the US Air Force as the C-27A Spartan. Italy withdrew the type in 2005 in favour of its direct successor, the C-27J Spartan. A refurbished fleet supplied to Afghanistan from 2009 was scrapped within five years.

Development

In 1962 NATO issued Basic Military Requirement 4 for a V/STOL transport. Fiat's proposal, the G.222, combined two Rolls-Royce Dart turboprops with six to eight RB162 lift engines and a twin-boom tail. No NATO production contract followed, but the Italian Air Force, which needed a replacement for the Fairchild C-119, ordered two prototypes and a ground-test airframe in 1968. The aircraft was redesigned with two General Electric T64 turboprops, no lift engines and a single conventional tail, while the short-field capability was retained. The first prototype flew on 18 July 1970. The Italian Air Force began formal evaluation in December 1971 and ordered 44 aircraft; the first production aircraft flew in December 1975 and the type entered service in April 1978. Final assembly moved from Turin to Naples in December 1978. When Libya sought 20 aircraft in 1977 the United States vetoed the sale, as its embargo covered the T64; Aeritalia therefore developed the G.222T with Tyne engines and European equipment, first flown in May 1980, and Libya's aircraft were delivered from that year.

Design

The G.222 is a high-wing transport with a rear loading ramp, sliding side doors and landing gear whose height can be adjusted for loading. Double-slotted flaps, stacked brakes and reversible propellers allow landings in as little as 550 m (1,800 ft). It carries up to 9,000 kg (19,840 lb) of cargo, 53 troops, 32 paratroopers or 36 stretchers, with a crew of three plus a loadmaster. Two T64-GE-P4D turboprops of 2,535 kW (3,399 hp) each drive three-blade propellers. The aircraft is 22.7 m long with a span of 28.7 m; empty weight is 14,590 kg and maximum take-off weight 28,000 kg. Maximum speed is 540 km/h at 4,575 m, cruising speed 439 km/h and range 1,371 km with maximum payload; the service ceiling is 7,620 m. A 1996 Italian update added a night-vision-compatible cockpit, self-defence equipment and new communications and navigation systems.

Military service

The 46th Transport Air Wing was the first Italian unit to receive the G.222, in 1978. The Italian fleet eventually totalled 56 aircraft. Early export customers included Somalia, Argentina, Nigeria, Venezuela and Thailand; three Argentine Army G.222s were operational during the 1982 Falklands War, possibly in a logistics role. On 3 September 1992 an Italian G.222 on a United Nations relief flight was shot down by a surface-to-air missile on approach to Sarajevo, killing its four Italian crew and four French passengers; who fired the missile was not established.

In 1990 the US Air Force bought ten as the C-27A for intra-theatre airlift. Based at Howard AFB in Panama from 1990 to 1999, they were then disposed of; four went to the US Department of State for counter-narcotics support in Colombia. Italy ordered 12 new C-27Js in November 1999, traded 39 G.222s back to Alenia from 2002 and officially withdrew the type in September 2005, though at least one G.222VS was still flying in 2019. In September 2008 Alenia North America received a US Air Force contract to refurbish 18 aircraft for the Afghan Air Force; 16 had been delivered by December 2012, but serviceability was poor and in January 2013 the US Air Force declined to renew the support contract. In 2014 the 16 aircraft were sold for scrap for about $32,000, after the United States had spent $486 million on the programme. Other operators have included Nigeria, Libya, Thailand, Dubai, the Peruvian National Police and the Venezuelan Air Force and Army.

Variants

• G.222TCM: the two prototypes.
• G.222A: standard Italian Air Force transport; 44 built.
• G.222RM: radio and radar calibration aircraft; four.
• G.222SAA: firefighting version; four for the Italian Air Force.
• G.222VS: electronic countermeasures version; two.
• G.222T: Rolls-Royce Tyne-powered version for Libya; 20.
• C-27A Spartan: ten aircraft for the US Air Force.
• B.L.14: Thai designation.
• C-27J Spartan: successor developed from the G.222.