July 18 marks the 55th anniversary of the G.222 military transport aircraft

July 18 marked the 55th anniversary of the G.222 light military transport aircraft, which was developed by the Italian company Aeritalia. On that day in 1970, its first prototype took off in Turin.

The origins of the G.222 program can be traced back to a project for a vertical takeoff and landing transport aircraft that Fiat Aviazione began developing at the request of NATO in the early 1960s. However, the fashion for “verticals” quickly faded, and the design achievements were used to create a traditional airplane, which the Italian Air Force was interested in. In 1969, Fiat Aviazione merged with Aerfer to form Aeritalia, and it was Aeritalia that brought the project to a successful conclusion.

The production G.222 was equipped with two General Electric T64-GE-P4D turboprop engines with a capacity of 3400 hp each. The aircraft had a length of 22.7 m, a wingspan of 28.7 m, a maximum takeoff weight of 28 tons, a maximum speed of 540 km/h, and a range of over 4600 km. It could carry 9 tons of cargo or 53 fully equipped soldiers.

Serial production of the G.222 was completed in 1993. A total of 111 copies were built in six variants, including ground radio calibrators and firefighting aircraft. The Italian Air Force received 56 vehicles, while the rest were purchased by Argentina, Venezuela, Libya, the UAE, Peru, Somalia, and Thailand. In 2009, the United States bought 16 former Italian aircraft for Afghanistan. Nigeria purchased 5 more aircraft decommissioned in Italy. In this country, as of the end of 2024, the last aircraft of this type remained in operation.

Due to its fuselage with a larger cross-section, the G.222 had transportation advantages over such “classmates” as the Ukrainian An-32 or the Spanish-Indonesian CN-235. However, the Italian airplane proved to be quite difficult and expensive to operate. The program to extend its service life and deep modernization led to the creation of a virtually new machine called the C-27 Spartan, which is still in mass production.