One Of Four Aircraft Vying For JCA Contract

More news from Farnborough 2006... as the C-27J Joint Cargo Aircraft Team announced this week it has chosen Cecil Field in Jacksonville, FL as the site for the production and final assembly of the C-27J aircraft for the US Army and US Air Force Joint Cargo Aircraft program, should the aircraft be chosen to fulfill that role in the US military.

In addition, the team will establish the Global Military Air Craft Systems (GMAS) in Mississippi. The GMAS Mississippi location will encompass a Center of Excellence for engineering, worldwide logistics and turn-key support for the C-27J JCA Program and future opportunities.

"Mississippi and Florida are ideal locations to establish the C-27J footprint in the United States," said Bob Drewes, President and Chief Operating Officer of L-3 Communications Integrated Systems, prime contractor for the JCA program. "We will add employees in Mississippi through our company Vertex, in Madison, and we will establish a GMAS Center of Excellence in Mississippi."

"Both Florida and Mississippi locations will encompass the excellent processes and performance excellence deployed by L-3 and our partners -- Alenia and Boeing -- in our C-27J offering and long-term program support," Drewes added.

"Cecil Field is an ideal location for final assembly of the C-27J," said Ron Marcotte, Vice President and General Manager for Boeing Global Mobility Systems. "The site has everything required in terms of infrastructure -- excellent road, rail, port and airport networks and facilities. We also have access to a highly-trained workforce already in the Jacksonville area as we further strengthen Boeing's presence in the region."

The JCA is a fixed wing airlift platform that will perform airlift missions in support of the Joint Forces Commander. The JCA program is essential to the US Army's ability to provide on-demand transport of time-sensitive/mission critical cargo and key personnel to forward deployed Army units.

The C-27J JCA Team has proposed the C-27J multi-mission cargo aircraft as the solution to fill current capability gap in joint aerial delivery based on its ability to transport critical cargo and personnel, self-deploy over strategic distances, land in austere locations, operate autonomously, and provide routine and combat aerial sustainment to the joint force.

As Aero-News reported, the C-27J is one of four aircraft participating in the competition.

FMI: www.c27J.com