U.S. Special Forces To Get C-27Js

November 10, 2013. David Pugliese - Defence Watch

My Defense News/Navy Times colleague Aaron Mehta has details on the Pentagon’s decision to assign seven C-27J Spartans to U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM). The decision was made a couple of weeks ago. Three of the aircraft will be transferred to SOCOM by the end of November. Four more are in production and are scheduled for delivery directly to SOCOM between December and April 2014, Aaron writes.

The fate of the remaining C-27J aircraft has not been decided.

His article notes:

“The Air Force is maintaining those C-27s under “Type 1000” storage, which requires the planes be kept in near-active condition. The goal is that when a decision on their destination is made, they can be quickly spun up and delivered.

Altogether, the Air Force has paid for 21 C-27s. With the seven SOCOM planes assigned, 13 aircraft in inventory are destined for the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG), known as the “Boneyard,” at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. One more aircraft will end up there after undergoing work at an L-3 facility in Waco, Texas.”