Alenia Sees C-27J Deal with Boeing Signed SoonBy tom kington
Published: 12 Sep 12:24 EDT (16:24 GMT)
ROME - Alenia Aeronautica's long delayed deal with Boeing to jointly build the C-27J tactical transport aircraft for the U.S. Air Force and Army should be finalized by the end of November, an official said Sept. 12.
"The principal elements of the deal are in place, and we just need to finalize the legal details, which should be done by the end of November," said Alenia North America CEO Giuseppe Giordo.
Related Topics
An Alenia source reported at the end of this summer's Farnborough Air Show that the deal was completed, but both sides have fallen silent since.
Giordo said work on the planned production line for the aircraft in Jacksonville, Fla., would now commence, with Boeing joining after the signature.
"Boeing people are actually already teaming with Alenia staff on this," he said.
Boeing will join Alenia, the developer of the C-27J tactical transport, and prime contractor L-3 Communications in the deal to supply 78 aircraft to the U.S. Air Force and Army signed in June 2007.
Giordo confirmed the commitment to roll the first U.S.-assembled aircraft off the Jacksonville line in April 2010, with a production rate of 30 per year to be reached by 2014.
The first 13 aircraft to be delivered to the U.S. military will be built in Italy. The first is to be delivered this month to the U.S. Army, while the second will fly from Italy to L-3's facility in Waco, Texas, two weeks before delivery in November.
The United States is planning to offer the aircraft through the Foreign Military Sales program, and has already received 25 Letters of Request from foreign countries for the aircraft, Giordo said.
Alenia CEO Giovanni Bertolone said he is not concerned about overlapping sales efforts by Alenia and the U.S. government. "The way I see it, two sales structures are better than one," he said.
Source
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=3721742&c=AIR&s=EUR
Back to Index
Move to Top 
