In 2007, the C-27J was selected as the Joint Cargo Aircraft (JCA) for the United States military these were produced in an international teaming arrangement under which L-3 Communications served as the prime contractor. In addition to the standard transport configuration, specialized variants of the C-27J have been developed for maritime patrol, search and rescue, C3 ISR (command, control, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance), fire support/ ground-attack and electronic warfare missions. service), equipped with the engines and various other systems also used on the larger Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules. It is an advanced derivative of Alenia Aeronautica's earlier G.222 (C-27A Spartan in U.S. The Alenia C-27J Spartan is a military transport aircraft developed and manufactured by Leonardo's Aircraft Division (formerly Alenia Aermacchi until 2016).
