Peru To Order Two C-27J Spartan Aircraft By Year-End, Eight Aircraft In Future

Peru will place an order two Alenia Aermacchi C-27J Spartan aircraft by the end 2014 and will add another eight in the future, according to local press reports.

Peru awarded an initial order for two aircraft in November 2013, worth about $122 million, and will now order another two for a similar price, according to Defense-Aerospace.com.

The order, which will be finalized before the end of the year, was announced by Peru’s Defense Minister, Pedro Cateriano Bellido, who is currently touring Europe, the report added. 

He added that Peru’s final goal is to replace its fleet of 12 obsolete Antonov An-32 twin turboprops, implying that it will buy a similar number of C-27Js for military as well as civil protection, anti-drug and casualty evacuation. 

Alenia Aermacchi’s CEO, Giuseppe Giordo, said the company would soon open an office in Lima, “given the size of Peru’s program,” to manage the contract, which he said “opens interesting market prospects throughout Latin America,” the only continent in which Alenia Aermacchi was not previously present.