Produced by Italian firm Alenia Aermacchi, part of the Italian Leonardo group,  the C-27J Spartan is a modern development of the earlier Aeritalia G222 twin-turboprop medium transport, featuring more advanced engines, avionics and systems. First flown in 1999, the Italian Air Force introduced the C-27J to service seven years later. Since then the Spartan has also come into operation with Australia Bulgaria, Greece, Lithuania, Morocco, Mexico, Peru, Romania and the United States. Lithuania has three such aircraft in use, the first having been delivered in December 2006.