@ Salinas, CA
September 2018
A Coast Guard C-27J Spartan (still wearing an U.S. Air Force paint scheme) makes a photo pass during the 2018 California International Airshow Salinas. This military transport was developed and manufactured by Alenia Aermacchi of Italy and procured by the USAF in 2007. Budget cuts forced the Air Force to retire this type in 2012 at which point 14 were turned over to the Coast Guard in exchange for seven C-130s to be transferred to the U.S. Forest Service. CG Air Station Sacramento began operations with the type in 2016. Budget cuts under the current administration are forcing the Coast Guard to phase out the Spartan in 2028, replacing them with the HC-130J Super Hercules.