Ghana has placed orders for four air force planes and other defence equipment worth $680 million from the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) says the Defence Industry Daily, a US publication.

Ghana is requesting for C-27J light tactical transports to be delivered with 10 Rolls Royce AE-2100 engines (8+2 spares), four of BAE’s AN/ALE-47 Countermeasures Dispensing Systems, four AN/ARC-210 VHF/UHF Multimode Integrated Communication Systems without COMSEC, four of Raytheon’s AN/APX-119 Identification Friend or Foe Digital Transponders with mode 1, 2, 3a, 3c; plus commercial GPS navigation.

The order, however, requires congressional approval to become a contract.

The US congress could block the order if it deems it necessary. If congress does not block the sale within 30 days of the order, negotiations may begin.

According to the publication, Ghana is requesting for the following in addition – a VIP module and observation windows, spare and repair parts, support and test equipment, publications and technical documentation, personnel training and training equipment, and U.S. Government and contractor engineering, technical and logistics support.

The four C-27Js would supplement or replace the country’s three aged Fokker F27 transports, whose production line closed in 1987.

The implementation of this proposed sale will, however require up to 14 U.S. government and contractor representatives to participate in bi-annual Program Management Reviews (PMR) in Ghana and the USA, the publication says.