The Italian air force is readying its C-27J Spartan tactical airlifter for war duty with upgrades aimed at protecting ground troops from improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
The expansion into the counter-IED role is initially intended to aid Italian forces in western Afghanistan, but other regions eventually will be included, Italian military officials say.
Two systems are being developed for the new mission. One is effectively a jammer to disable IEDs that rely on a radio-frequency triggering mechanism. The technology was first tested two years ago during the Trial Imperial Hammer electronic warfare exercise in Sardinia. Since then, improvements have been added. The operational version is now in the final certification phase to fully verify compatibility with other aircraft as well as land-based and airborne electronic equipment.
The second system is a Thales Alenia Space ground-penetrating radar, which has been developed to detect IEDs hidden on or just below the surface. The radar’s active, electronically scanned array uses transmit/receive modules that are derived from Thales’swork on the Cosmo-SkyMed imaging satellites as well as on a foliage-penetration capability developed for Argentina’s new Earth-observation satellites.
The podded experimental version will soon begin operational testing, following extensive trials by the Italian air force test unit. The upcoming evaluations are intended to devise the optimal tactics and flying profiles to obtain the best target detection from the sensor. The air force is eager to deploy the new system in Afghanistan.
One of the benefits of packaging the counter-IED equipment on the C-27J is the long-endurance that the system can provide; the aircraft’s lower speed and operating altitude also can enable the service to optimally employ the radar.
The C-27J also will be used to support special forces and thereby see their activities expanded to night operations. However, endurance is somewhat limited by the fact that an airborne refueling capability has not yet been certified. The air force and Alenia Aeronautica have scheduled a test campaign for next spring, with an instrumented KC-130J serving as a tanker. But for now, the Spartans in Afghanistan will not be operationally cleared for aerial refueling.
Despite their new special-mission emphasis, the two C-27Js belonging to the Pisa-based 46th Aerobrigade set to deploy to Herat also will be required to perform basic logistics functions, which were the core of the transport’s activities during the prior two deployments (September 2008 to January 2009 and July-December 2009). At the time, the C-27Js operated from regular airfields; but this time, more austere operations are expected.
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