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.