Programme calling for 128 new fixed-wing aircraft wins US Army panel vote, but must also get Pentagon approval
A top US Army panel has endorsed a requirements document calling for a new programme to buy 128 fixed-wing aircraft to replace its Shorts C-23 Sherpa fleet. Two candidates already in line to compete are the EADS Casa C-295 and the Alenia/Lockheed Martin C-27J.
The Army Requirements Oversight Council approved the proposal on 22 March, according to army and industry sources. Now the proposed Future Cargo Airplane (FCA) programme goes to the Pentagon-level Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC) in three months. There, the plan must clear potential opposition from the US Air Force, which has traditionally provided fixed-wing airlift support to army ground forces.
Inter-service sensitivities may be one reason why the army unveiled a proposal for only 25 fixed-wing cargo aircraft in late February as one of the elements in a sweeping army aviation restructuring plan.
The smaller number was listed even though an initial draft of an army requirements document completed months earlier had spelled out a need for 128 fixed-wing aircraft, almost tripling the existing fleet of 43 Sherpas.
The army is seeking an aircraft that is "smaller than the [Lockheed Martin] C-130 and larger than a C-23," says Lt Gen Richard Cody, the army's deputy chief of staff of operations.
A primary FCA mission would be to relieve the army's Boeing CH-47 Chinook transport helicopters of most long-haul duties. The fleet also would support the US Army National Guard's emerging role in homeland defence.
The army is looking to plant seed money for FCA in the fiscal year 2005 budget. The funds would be reallocated from the cancelled Boeing/Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche programme. The army is expected to include the FCA programme in its forthcoming amendment to its FY05 appropriations request.
Alenia and Lockheed Martin are working on an industrial plan for the C-27J that would ensure at least half of the aircraft's parts are made in the USA, says Lockheed Martin C-27J programme manager Bill Sarno. Casa North America executive Jose Morales, meanwhile, says the company is looking to pair up with a US-based final assembly partner if the army moves forward on an order for 128 aircraft.
STEPHEN TRIMBLE / NASHVILLE
Source: Flight International
