Alenia MC27J Praetorian

[Il_Signor_Regio]

[Would you like to see this in-game?]

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Description: The Alenia MC27J is an Italian gunship developed from the base transport version of the C27J Spartan. Initially started as a private venture, this special version of the very well-known Spartan made its first flight in 2014, after various tests and agreements between the American company ATK and the Italian company Alenia. But before diving into the MC27J, it should be mentioned that this wasn’t the first program that aimed at the creation of a gunship based on the Spartan. Indeed, in 2008, the USA requested a C-27A to study the possibility of an armed version to replace the aging C-130 gunships. The initial plan was to get a total of 16 units, to be delivered from 2010 to 2015. The new gunship was supposed to be named AC27J Stinger II after the AC119 Stinger, and it would have featured a single 30 mm or 40 mm cannon and additional various PGMs such as the GBU44 Viper and the AGM176 Griffin. Unfortunately, due to budget cuts, the aircraft never materialized, and the C-130 fleet was kept and upgraded. Returning on the Praetorian, the initial goal was to test the ATK’s made GAU 23 pallet, which includes an internal fire and control station and the GAU 23, or better known as the Bushmaster, a 30 mm autocannon mainly used on Infantry Fighting Vehicles. The weapons chosen initially by America for the Stinger II project, like the Griffin and the Viper, were also reconsidered and are planned to be integrated in the last phase of the program. After the first flight, the aircraft underwent a series of different tests and trials for the Italian Air Force, who decided to convert 3 units in 2016. Even though the conversion happened some years ago, the units are not yet in the gunship configuration, and they are scheduled to finish the conversion by 2030. The aircraft is fitted with an advanced electro-optical turret (the L-3 Wescam MX-15Di) with advanced thermals, AESA radar, electronic support measures (ESM), countermeasures (flares and chaff), and a DIRCM. In the armament department, aside from the 30 mm Bushmaster, the aircraft was also tested with the 20 mm Vulcan rotary cannon and can also employ various precision-guided munitions, such as the laser/GPS-guided GBU44 Viper, the AGM176 Griffin, and the small Hatchet guided bomb, as previously mentioned.

Why it should be in game: while gunships will be difficoult to implement in wt, this one compared to the AC130 will be smaller, nimble and more survivable, thanks to sistmes like the DIRCM.

Specifications:

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Armaments

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Cannons:
1x GAU23 Bushmaster (30 mm)
1x Vulcan 20 mm
Bombs:
4x GBU44 Viper
4x Hatchet
Air to Ground missiles:
4x AGM176 Griffin

Sources

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https://aresdifesa.it/avviatp-il-programma-mc27j-praetorian-per-il-supporto-alle-operazioni-speciali/
C-27J Next Generation for tactical support
Alenia, AMI pronta ad acquisite il C-27J gunship?” – Aeropolis.it ( BLOG )
Completati con successo i test per l'MC-27J
Alenia C-27J Spartan - Wikipedia
Accordo Alenia e Aeronautica Militare per sviluppo MC-27J Praetorian

Pictures

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[LoSpilotoITA]

Cool plane! +1+1+1

[MuccoPazzino]

+1239870249871247829876, i can only dream of actually getting gunships in game

[foxtrot19673]

please tell me at least one of those guns are forward fixed

[JamesPond1200]

That’s generally not how gunships work. You have the guns aiming out the side and fly it in a wide bank turn to hit ground targets. Additionally, it seems as though the 20mm Vulcan and 30mm Bushmaster are an either/or thing, if I am reading this correctly.

Still, this is really cool! +1

[bbbdddaaa]

Cool
+1

[foxtrot19673]

Damn, -1

[MuccoPazzino]

oh

[JamesPond1200]

See, the problem with most gunships is that outside of the AC-130 family, very few carry guns which could effectively deal with heavily armored vehicles. The AC-47 is totally out of the question, only carrying 7.62mm M134 Miniguns or M1919 machine guns. The AC-119 might work, as it carries a pair of 20mm M167 Vulcan cannons. Obviously the AC-130 family has had a wide array of weapons over the years, all of which have the ability to damage armored targets. These smaller gunships usually don’t carry the kind of weaponry needed, which makes this one stand out thanks to its 30mm Bushmaster. Even so, that is only one single gun, and it is on a platform which would easily be shot down without proper air cover. Also, gunships are a western concept, with neither the USSR nor China ever developing one. Russia was reportedly working on a project for one based on the Antonov An-12, but no news has come about from that project in several years.

[foxtrot19673]

The main problem i have with this is also how you add it, you cant add it into a Tech tree because then the question is: how do you stock grind it?, it cant be a premium because no one woule buy it, you cant add it in the helicopter tree because its not a helicopter, add it the same way as drones? That might make sense but again you would be spawning on a plane that is meant to be used with air superiority. Literally you would have tanks firing at it with the main gun and actually killing it, at 600 km/h it would be sligtly slower than the a10 and thats not good bc even the a10 would be a better cas option.
Unironicaly, gunships and maritime patrol aircraft have no place in the game.
I mean, you could add them but they would not be good

Ik people might take the f117 excuse but that thing can at least evade stuff, a plane like this cannot evade much if at all

[JamesPond1200]

I think both MTP and gunships could be implemented, it would just take a radical rethinking of how they work.