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ATK and Alenia Aermacchi have performed the first of a series of tests on an U.S. Air Force aircraft model developed to carry out both cargo handling and attack missions.
The companies integrated ATK’s GAU-23 cannon into Alenia’s C-27J Spartan airlifter to assess its weapons systems and firing configurations, the companies said Friday.
Bill Kasting, ATK vice president and general manager of defense electronic systems, said the companies are ready to move into the program’s second development and testing phase.
ATK and Alenia intend for the airlifter to have integrated mission system consoles, GAU-23 cannons, precision-guided weapon systems and architectures for command and control and ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance).
