The Air Force awarded L-3 Communications of Greenville, Tex., a $321 million foreign military sales contract for 10 C-27J transport aircraft and associated hardware and logistics support for Australia. The Pentagon announcement came on May 31, some five months after defense officials notified Congress of this proposed sale. The C-27s are meant to fill a hole in Australia’s mobility forces created by the retirement of 14 DHC-4 Caribou aircraft several years ago and the planned phase-out of 12 C-130Hs. The deal comes as the US Air Force is attempting to divest its own C-27J assets in Fiscal 2013.
As it develops new weapons to attack satellites, the U.S. Space Force is focused more on ground-based efforts where the technology is more mature, the service’s top general said April 3.