The Aeritalia G.222 (formerly Fiat Aviazione, later Alenia Aeronautica) is a medium-sized STOL military transport aircraft. It was developed to meet a NATO specification, but Italy was initially the only NATO member to adopt the type. The United States purchased a small number of G.222s, designating them the C-27A Spartan. A modernised variant, the Alenia C-27J Spartan, has been developed. While it retains many aspects of the original aircraft, the C-27J adopts the same engines and many of the systems used on the larger Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules. Development Origins In 1962, NATO issued a specification for a V/STOL transport aircraft (NATO Basic Military Requirement 4), capable of supporting dispersed V/STOL fighters. Fiat's design team, led by Giuseppe Gabrielli, produced a design to meet this requirement, designated G.222; it was to be powered by two Rolls-Royce Dart turboprop engines and with six to eight Rolls-Royce RB162 lift engines to give VTOL capability. According to Aeritalia, the G.222 designation is derived from the first letter of the aircraft's chief designer; the first '2' referring to the twin-engine arrangement, and the final '22' referring to the revised NATO Basic Military Requirement 22 to which it had been submitted. None of the submissions resulted in a production contract; however the Italian Air Force (AMI), who was at the time seeking a replacement for the Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar, felt that the Fiat Aviazione proposal had merit, and placed an order for two prototypes and a ground-test airframe in 1968. The G.222 was substantially redeveloped from the NATO submission, the V/STOL lift engines having been omitted completely and the conventional Dart engines replaced by a pair of General Electric T64s; the twin-boom tail featured on the V/STOL concept was also eliminated and replaced by a more conventional single tail configuration; subsequently the new aircraft had no V/STOL capability but retained considerable short take-off/landing (STOL) performance. On 18 July 1970, the first prototype performed the aircraft's maiden flight with test pilot Vittorio Sanseverino at the controls. By late April 1971, the prototype had reportedly conducted a total of 22 flights and accumulated 50 hours of flight time, during which its performance was claimed to have been highly close to predictions. In December 1971, the Italian Air Force, who had placed a provisional order for the developing type, formally began evaluating the G.222 and the performance of the two prototypes then in service. Following a