The 21 retired USAF C-27J Spartan transports have been divided up between the US Coast Guard and Army Special Operations Command, which will receive 14 and seven aircraft, respectively. Both entities pitched to receive all 21 of the airplanes. The Coast Guard will use its 14 Spartans for light transport and at-sea search and rescue missions, according to Adm. Robert J. Papp Jr., then the Commandant, who told defense reporters in April that getting the airplanes allows him to curtail a buy of HC-144s. This allows the Coast Guard to avoid "about half a billion dollars in acquisition costs." It's a good fit for the USCG, he said, because the C-27J "uses the same engines, the same avionics" as the C-130J the service is buying.
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