Masterpiece of Italian military aviation

Alenia C-27J Spartan, the story of success or epic fail? Let's start from the beginning, the C-27J is a twin-prop, military transport aircraft, developed by Leonardo's Aircraft Division, previously known as Alenia Aermacchi. The aircraft is in active service with more than 14 air forces around the world. It has all the features that military aircraft should have, starting from air-to-air refueling capability and ending with paratrooper throwing and even possible to put inside VIP capsule, equipped with hi-class passenger interior! From the first flight in 1999, it was accompanied by rumors, that the producer struggles with the delivery of the spare parts, as well as a lot of childhood diseases, has been reported. Some countries even ordered more C-27J's than they need, just to avoid delays due to late parts delivery. But some years have passed and the manufacturer has improved, all the technical problems have been solved, regular parts delivery established as well. It is worth mentioning that to this day there are more than 2000 units produced, with orders for 87 more! Let's agree, these numbers show that this aircraft definitely is not the epic fail, as many say!