The C-27A was eventually determined to be a U.S. owned asset utilized by the Afghan Air Force with intent to turn over the asset in the future. This determination assumed that the Italian embargo would at some point be lifted, or that enough supplies could be stock piled to take the aircraft through its expected 10-year service life, but that determination was not immediate. This caused a delay of contracted goods beyond the time frame of the initial contract through no fault of the contractor, and made it necessary for the U.S. government to enter into a second more costly maintenance contract with Alenia North America to get aircraft operational. Since the C-27A aircraft purchased still had Italian military air worthiness certificates controlled by the company, Alenia North America effectively monopolized the entire supply chain making fair competition non-existent. This second contract inflated the total program cost to over $600 million, and it would have cost over $1.2 billion had the U.S. opted to extend the contract up to 10 years.