Spartan C-27J

The Spartan C-27 (shown above flying in a 2007 airshow) was on display at the recent Paris Air Show (June 2009), see this video to see what this aircraft can do, with narration (that includes some technical details) in both English and French.

For more information on this aircraft you might want to read this short article.

This aircraft has generated some interest for its great possibilities in aerial firefighting. However, any uses in aerial firefighting probably won't happen anytime soon. As I understand it, the aircraft is currently being produced for military use only.

The military use of these planes may preclude their use for aerial fire fighting. Moreover, the current MAFFS units are designed only for the C-130 so modifications to either the MAFFS unit and/or the airframe would be required for the C-27.

Even if the C-27 was available for non-military use, the price tag of a new plane is too costly for aerial fire fighting budgets. Obviously, I am not in the position to know specifics, but using a 2007 Dept. of Defense contract as a guide, the cost comes in at about $25 million each. I used figures referenced of $2 billion over 5 years for 78 planes referenced here.

Nonetheless, the C-27 puts in an awesome performance in the video from the 2009 Paris Air Show, it is worth looking at.