The Romanian Air Force has received the first of seven C-27J Spartan aircraft from Alenia Aeronautica.

The delivery of the aircraft marks the end of a controversial contract, which drew complaint from EADS-CASA after Romania chose the Alenia C-27J over the EADS-CASA C.295M.

Discover B2B Marketing That Performs

Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.

Find out more

EADS complained that the country had chosen the opposition aircraft despite its higher price even though low cost had been specified as the most important criterion in the deal. Romania’s public procurement controlling authority initially upheld the complaint, but it was subsequently overturned by the court of appeals.

A €217m ($308m) contract was eventually signed with Alenia in December 2007.

The C-27Js will replace the nation’s aging communist-era transport fleet and will be operated by Romania’s 902nd Transport and Reconnaissance Squadron.

The 902nd squadron at present has four Antonov An-26s and one An-30 Clank open-skies photo-survey platform.

GlobalData Strategic Intelligence

US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?

Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.

By GlobalData

The Spartans will operate with the 901st squadron’s single C-130H and four C-130Bs.

Airforce Technology Excellence Awards - Nominations Closed

Nominations are now closed for the Airforce Technology Excellence Awards. A big thanks to all the organisations that entered – your response has been outstanding, showcasing exceptional innovation, leadership, and impact.


Excellence in Action
Discover how Virtualitics is transforming mission readiness with explainable AI, predictive maintenance, and data-driven decision intelligence across the U.S. Department of Defense through its AI-powered Integrated Readiness Optimization suite, for which it has won the Innovation and Business Expansion awards.

Discover the Impact