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The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-use,
tiltrotor A tiltrotor is an aircraft that generates lift (force), lift and thrust, propulsion by way of one or more powered Helicopter rotor, rotors (sometimes called ''proprotors'') mounted on rotating shaft (mechanical engineering), shafts or nacelles ...
military transport and cargo aircraft with both vertical takeoff and landing (
VTOL A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is one that can takeoff and landing, take off and land vertically without relying on a runway. This classification can include a variety of types of aircraft including helicopters as well as thrust- ...
) and short takeoff and landing (
STOL A short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft is a fixed-wing aircraft that can takeoff/land on short runways. Many STOL-designed aircraft can operate on airstrips with harsh conditions (such as high altitude or ice). STOL aircraft, including tho ...
) capabilities. It is designed to combine the functionality of a conventional
helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...
with the long-range, high-speed cruise performance of a
turboprop A turboprop is a Gas turbine, gas turbine engine that drives an aircraft Propeller (aeronautics), propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction drive, reduction gearbox, gas compressor, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propellin ...
aircraft. The V-22 is operated by the United States and Japan, and is not only a new aircraft design, but a new type of aircraft that entered service in the 2000s, a tiltrotor compared to fixed wing and helicopter designs. The V-22 first flew in 1989 and after a long development was fielded in 2007. The design combines the vertical takeoff ability of a helicopter with the speed and range of a fixed-wing airplane. The failure of
Operation Eagle Claw Operation Eagle Claw ( Persian: عملیات پنجه عقاب) was a failed U.S. Department of Defense attempt to rescue 52 embassy staff held captive by Revolutionary Iran on 24 April 1980. It was ordered by US President Jimmy Carter afte ...
in 1980 during the
Iran hostage crisis The Iran hostage crisis () began on November 4, 1979, when 66 Americans, including diplomats and other civilian personnel, were taken hostage at the Embassy of the United States in Tehran, with 52 of them being held until January 20, 1981. Th ...
underscored that there were military roles for which neither conventional helicopters nor fixed-wing transport aircraft were well-suited. The
United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and superv ...
(DoD) initiated a program to develop an innovative transport aircraft with long-range, high-speed, and vertical-takeoff capabilities, and the Joint-service Vertical take-off/landing Experimental (JVX) program officially began in 1981. A partnership between
Bell Helicopter Bell Textron Inc. is an American aerospace manufacturer headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. A subsidiary of Textron, Bell manufactures military rotorcraft at facilities in Fort Worth, and Amarillo, Texas, United States as well as commercial heli ...
and
Boeing Helicopters Boeing Rotorcraft Systems (formerly Boeing Helicopters and before that Boeing Vertol) is the former name of an American aircraft manufacturer, now known as Vertical Lift division of Boeing Defense, Space & Security. The headquarters and main r ...
was awarded a development contract in 1983 for the V-22 tiltrotor aircraft. The Bell-Boeing team jointly produces the aircraft. The V-22 first flew in 1989 and began flight testing and design alterations; the complexity and difficulties of being the first tiltrotor for military service led to many years of development. The
United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...
(USMC) began crew training for the MV-22B Osprey in 2000 and fielded it in 2007; it supplemented and then replaced their
Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight The Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight is an American medium-lift tandem rotors, tandem-rotor transport helicopter powered by twin turboshaft aircraft engine, engines. It was designed by Piasecki Helicopter, Vertol and manufactured by Boeing Helico ...
s. The
U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its origins to 1 ...
(USAF) fielded its version of the tiltrotor, the CV-22B, in 2009. Since entering service with the Marine Corps and Air Force, the Osprey has been deployed in transportation and
medevac Medical evacuation, often shortened to medevac or medivac, is the timely and efficient movement and en route care provided by medical personnel to patients requiring evacuation or transport using medically equipped air ambulances, helicopters an ...
operations over Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and Kuwait. The
U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...
began using the CMV-22B for
carrier onboard delivery Carrier onboard delivery (COD) is the use of aircraft to ferry personnel, mail, supplies, and high-priority cargo, such as spare part, replacement parts, from shore bases to an aircraft carrier at sea. Several types of aircraft, including helico ...
duties in 2021.


Development


Origins

The failure of
Operation Eagle Claw Operation Eagle Claw ( Persian: عملیات پنجه عقاب) was a failed U.S. Department of Defense attempt to rescue 52 embassy staff held captive by Revolutionary Iran on 24 April 1980. It was ordered by US President Jimmy Carter afte ...
, the Iran hostage rescue mission, in 1980 demonstrated to the U.S. military a needKreisher, Otto. . ''
Air Force Magazine The Air & Space Forces Association (AFA) is an independent, 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) non-profit, professional military association for the United States Air Force and United States Space Force. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, it ...
'', February 2009.
for "a new type of aircraft, that could not only take off and land vertically but also could carry combat troops, and do so at speed."Mackenzie, Richard (writer)
"Flight of the V-22 Osprey" (Television production)
''Mackenzie Productions'' for ''
Military Channel The American Forces Network (AFN) is a government television and radio broadcast service the United States Armed Forces provides to soldiers stationed or assigned overseas, and is headquartered at Fort Meade in Maryland. AFN comprises two sub ...
'', 7 April 2008. Retrieved 29 March 2009.
Additionally, a concentrated force is vulnerable to a single
nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear exp ...
. Airborne solutions with high speed and range allow for their rapid dispersal to reduce this vulnerability. The U.S. Department of Defense began the JVX aircraft program in 1981, under U.S. Army leadership. The established tactical purpose of the USMC is to perform an
amphibious landing Amphibious warfare is a type of offensive military operation that today uses naval ships to project ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore at a designated landing beach. Through history the operations were conducted ...
, which the JVX program promised to facilitate. The USMC's primary helicopter model, the CH-46 Sea Knight, was aging, and no replacement had been accepted. Because the USMC's amphibious capability would be significantly reduced without the CH-46, USMC leadership believed a proposal to merge the Marine Corps with the Army was a credible threat. This potential merger was akin to a proposal by
President Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th Vice president of the United States, vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Frank ...
following
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. The
Office of the Secretary of Defense The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) is a headquarters-level staff of the United States Department of Defense. It is the principal civilian staff element of the U.S. Secretary of Defense, and it assists the Secretary in carrying out au ...
and Navy administration opposed the tiltrotor project, but pressure from Congress had a significant effect on the program's development. The Navy and USMC were given the lead in 1983.Norton 2004, p. 35.Moyers, Al (Director of History and Research)
"The Long Road: AFOTEC's Two-Plus Decades of V-22 Involvement"
''Headquarters Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center, United States Air Force'', 1 August 2007.
The JVX combined requirements from the USMC, USAF, Army and Navy.Norton 2004, pp. 22–30. A request for preliminary design proposals was issued in December 1982. Interest was expressed by
Aérospatiale Aérospatiale () was a major French state-owned aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and arms industry, defence corporation. It was founded in 1970 as () through the merger of three established state-owned companies: Sud Aviation, Nord Aviation ...
, Bell Helicopter, Boeing Vertol,
Grumman The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, later Grumman Aerospace Corporation, was a 20th century American producer of military and civilian aircraft. Founded on December 6, 1929, by Leroy Grumman and his business partners, it merged in 19 ...
, Lockheed, and Westland. Contractors were encouraged to form teams. Bell partnered with Boeing Vertol to submit a proposal for an enlarged version of the
Bell XV-15 The Bell XV-15 is an American tiltrotor VTOL aircraft. It was the second successful experimental tiltrotor aircraft and the first to demonstrate the concept's high speed performance relative to conventional helicopters. Development Early VTOL ...
prototype on 17 February 1983. Since this was the only proposal the JVX program received, a preliminary design contract was awarded on 26 April 1983.Norton 2004, pp. 31–33. The JVX aircraft was designated ''V-22 Osprey'' on 15 January 1985; by that March, the first six prototypes were being produced, and Boeing Vertol was expanded to handle the workload. Production work is split between Bell and Boeing. Bell Helicopter manufactures and integrates the wing, nacelles, rotors, drive system, tail surfaces, and aft ramp, as well as integrating the
Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...
engines and performing final assembly. Boeing Helicopters manufactures and integrates the fuselage, cockpit, avionics, and flight controls."V-22 Osprey Backgrounder"
''Boeing Defense, Space & Security'', February 2010.
"Military Aircraft: The Bell-Boeing V-22"
''Bell Helicopter'', 2007. Retrieved 30 December 2010.
The USMC variant received the MV-22 designation, and the USAF variant received CV-22; this was reversed from normal procedure to prevent USMC Ospreys from having a conflicting CV designation with
aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...
s.Norton 2004, p. 30. Full-scale development began in 1986.RL31384, "V-22 Osprey Tilt-Rotor Aircraft: Background and Issues for Congress"
''Congressional Research Service'', 22 December 2009.
On 3 May 1986, Bell Boeing was awarded a US$1.714 billion contract for the V-22 by the U.S. Navy. At this point, all four U.S. military services had acquisition plans for the V-22. The first V-22 was publicly rolled out in May 1988. That year, the U.S. Army left the program, citing a need to focus its budget on more immediate aviation programs. In 1989, the V-22 survived two separate
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
votes that could have resulted in cancellation. Despite the Senate's decision, the Department of Defense instructed the Navy not to spend more money on the V-22. As development cost projections greatly increased in 1988, Defense Secretary
Dick Cheney Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American former politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He has been called vice presidency o ...
tried to defund it from 1989 to 1992, but was overruled by
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
, which provided unrequested program funding.Norton 2004, p. 49. Multiple studies of alternatives found the V-22 provided more capability and effectiveness with similar operating costs.Norton 2004, p. 52. The
Clinton Administration Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following his victory over Republican in ...
was supportive of the V-22, helping it attain funding. Although the Army departed the program, it eventually developed and chose a tiltrotor to replace the
UH-60 Blackhawk The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is a four-blade, twin-engine, medium-lift military utility helicopter manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft. Sikorsky submitted a design for the United States Army's Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft System (UTTAS ...
in the 21st century, and as of the mid-2020s the Army is planning to field the
V-280 Valor The Bell V-280 Valor, officially designated MV-75, is a tiltrotor aircraft being developed by Bell Helicopter for the United States Army's Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program. The aircraft was officially unveiled at the 2013 Army Aviation Associa ...
tiltrotor.


Flight testing and design changes

The first of six prototypes first flew on 19 March 1989 in the helicopter mode and on 14 September 1989 in fixed-wing mode. The third and fourth prototypes successfully completed the first sea trials on in December 1990. The fourth and fifth prototypes crashed in 1991–92. From October 1992 to April 1993, the V-22 was redesigned to reduce empty weight, simplify manufacture, and reduce build costs; it was designated V-22B. Flights resumed in June 1993 after safety changes were made to the prototypes.Norton 2004, p. 55. Bell Boeing received a contract for the engineering manufacturing development (EMD) phase in June 1994.Norton 2004, pp. 52–54. The prototypes were also modified to resemble the V-22B standard. At this stage, testing focused on flight envelope expansion, measuring flight loads, and supporting the EMD redesign. Flight testing with the early V-22s continued into 1997.Norton 2004, pp. 55–57. Flight testing of four full-scale development V-22s began at the Naval Air Warfare Test Center,
Naval Air Station Patuxent River Naval Air Station Patuxent River , also known as NAS Pax River, is a United States naval air station in St. Mary’s County, Maryland on the Chesapeake Bay near the mouth of the Patuxent River. It is home to Headquarters, Naval Air Systems Comm ...
,
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. The first EMD flight took place on 5 February 1997. Testing soon fell behind schedule. The first of four
low rate initial production Low rate initial production (LRIP) is a term commonly used in military weapons projects and programs to designate the phase of initial, small-quantity production. The term is also applied in fields other than weapons production, most commonly in ...
aircraft, ordered on 28 April 1997, was delivered on 27 May 1999. The second sea trials were completed onboard in January 1999. During external load testing in April 1999, a V-22 transported the lightweight
M777 howitzer The M777 howitzer is a British towed 155 mm artillery piece in the howitzer class. It is used by the ground forces of Australia, Canada, Colombia, India, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, and the United States. It was first used in combat during the Wa ...
. In 2000, there were two fatal crashes, killing a total of 23 marines, and the V-22 was again grounded while the crashes' causes were investigated and various parts were redesigned.Berler, Ron
"Saving the Pentagon's Killer Chopper-Plane"
''Wired'' (CondéNet, Inc), Volume 13, Issue 7, July 2005.
In June 2005, the V-22 completed its final operational evaluation, including long-range deployments, high altitude, desert and shipboard operations; problems previously identified had reportedly been resolved. U.S. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) worked on software upgrades to increase the maximum speed from , increase helicopter mode altitude limit from or , and increase lift performance. By 2012, changes had been made to the hardware, software, and procedures in response to hydraulic fires in the nacelles, vortex ring state control issues, and opposed landings; reliability has improved accordingly. An MV-22 landed and refueled on board in an evaluation in October 2012. In 2013, cargo handling trials occurred on . In October 2015, NAVAIR tested rolling landings and takeoffs on a carrier, preparing for
carrier onboard delivery Carrier onboard delivery (COD) is the use of aircraft to ferry personnel, mail, supplies, and high-priority cargo, such as spare part, replacement parts, from shore bases to an aircraft carrier at sea. Several types of aircraft, including helico ...
.


Discussions

Development was protracted and controversial, partly because of large cost increases,Bryce, Robert
"Review of political forces that helped shape V-22 program"
''Texas Observer'', 17 June 2004.
some of which were caused by a requirement to fold wings and rotors to fit aboard ships.Whittle, Richard.
Half-airplane, half-helicopter, totally badass
NY Post, 24 May 2015
Archived
on 25 May 2015.
The development budget was first set at US$2.5 billion in 1986, increasing to a projected US$30 billion in 1988. By 2008, US$27 billion had been spent and another US$27.2 billion was required for planned production numbers. Between 2008 and 2011, the V-22's estimated lifetime cost grew by 61%, mostly for maintenance and support. In 2001, Lieutenant Colonel Odin Leberman, commander of the V-22 squadron at
Marine Corps Air Station New River Marine Corps Air Station New River is a United States Marine Corps helicopter and tilt-rotor base in Jacksonville, North Carolina, in the eastern part of the state. In 1972, the airfield was named McCutcheon Field for General Keith B. McCut ...
, was relieved of duty after allegations that he instructed his unit to falsify maintenance records to make it appear more reliable. Three officers were implicated for their roles in the falsification scandal. In October 2007, a ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' magazine article condemned the V-22 as unsafe, overpriced, and inadequate; the USMC responded that the article's data was partly obsolete, inaccurate, and held high expectations for any new field of aircraft.Hoellwarth, John
"Leaders, experts slam Time article on Osprey"
''
Marine Corps Times ''Marine Corps Times'' (ISSN 1522-0869) is a newspaper serving active, reserve and retired United States Marine Corps personnel and their families, providing news, information and analysis as well as community and lifestyle features, educational s ...
'' (Army Times Publishing Company), 16 October 2007.
In 2011, the controversial defense industry-supported
Lexington Institute The Lexington Institute is a center-right think tank headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, United States. It focuses mainly on defense and security policy. History, staff, and positions The Lexington Institute was founded in 1998 by former U.S. ...
reported that the average mishap rate per flight hour over the past 10 years was the lowest of any USMC rotorcraft, approximately half of the average fleet accident rate. In 2011, ''
Wired Wired may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Wired'' (Jeff Beck album), 1976 * ''Wired'' (Hugh Cornwell album), 1993 * ''Wired'' (Mallory Knox album), 2017 * "Wired", a song by Prism from their album '' Beat Street'' * "Wired ...
'' magazine reported that the safety record had excluded ground incidents; the USMC responded that MV-22 reporting used the same standards as other Navy aircraft. By 2012, the USMC reported fleetwide readiness rate had risen to 68%; however, the DOD's Inspector General later found 167 of 200 reports had "improperly recorded" information. Captain Richard Ulsh blamed errors on incompetence, saying that they were "not malicious" or deliberate. The required mission capable rate was 82%, but the average was 53% from June 2007 to May 2010.Shalal-Esa, Andrea
"U.S. eyes V-22 aircraft sales to Israel, Canada, UAE"
''
Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...
'', 26 February 2012.
In 2010,
Naval Air Systems Command The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) provides materiel support for aeronaval aircraft and airborne weapon systems for the United States Navy. It is one of the Echelon II Navy systems commands (SYSCOM), and was established in 1966 as the succe ...
aimed for an 85% reliability rate by 2018. From 2009 to 2014, readiness rates rose 25% to the "high 80s", while cost per flight hour had dropped 20% to $9,520 through a rigorous maintenance improvement program that focused on diagnosing problems before failures occur. , although the V-22 requires more maintenance and has lower availability (62%) than traditional helicopters, it also has a lower mishap rate. The average cost per flight hour is ,Whittle, Richard.
Osprey Shows Its Mettle
" pp. 23–26. ''
American Helicopter Society American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...
'' / Vertiflite May/June 2015, Vol. 61, No. 3.
whereas the
Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion The Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion is a heavy lift helicopter operated by the United States military. As the Sikorsky S-80, it was developed from the CH-53 Sea Stallion, mainly by adding a third engine, adding a seventh blade to the main rotor ...
cost about $20,000 (~$ in ) per flight hour in 2007.Whittle, Richard
USMC CH-53E Costs Rise With Op Tempo
''Rotor & Wing, Aviation Today'', January 2007. Quote: For every hour the Corps flies a −53E, it spends 44 maintenance hours fixing it. Every hour a Super Stallion flies it costs about $20,000.
V-22 ownership cost was $83,000 per hour in 2013.Magnuson, Stew.
Future of Tilt-Rotor Aircraft Uncertain Despite V-22's Successes
''National Defense Industrial Association'', July 2015
Archive
/ref> In 2022, the Pentagon evaluated its cost per flight hour at $23,941. While technically capable of
autorotation Autorotation is a state of flight in which the main rotor system of a helicopter or other rotary-wing aircraft turns by the action of air moving up through the rotor, as with an autogyro, rather than engine power driving the rotor. Bensen, Igor ...
if both engines fail in helicopter mode, a safe landing is difficult. In 2005, a director of the Pentagon's testing office stated that in a loss of power while hovering below , emergency landings "are not likely to be survivable." V-22 pilot Captain Justin "Moon" McKinney stated that: "We can turn it into a plane and glide it down, just like a
C-130 The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 w ...
."Thompson, Mark
"V-22 Osprey: A Flying Shame"
''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'', 26 September 2007. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
A complete loss of power requires both engines to fail, as one engine can power both proprotors via interconnected drive shafts. Though
vortex ring state The vortex ring state (VRS) is a dangerous aerodynamic condition that may arise in helicopter flight, when a vortex ring system engulfs the rotor, causing severe loss of lift. Often the term settling with power is used as a synonym, e.g., in Au ...
(VRS) contributed to a deadly V-22 accident, flight testing found it to be less susceptible to VRS than conventional helicopters. A GAO report stated that the V-22 is "less forgiving than conventional helicopters" during VRS. Several test flights to explore VRS characteristics were canceled. The USMC trains pilots in the recognition of and recovery from VRS, and has instituted operational envelope limits and instrumentation to help avoid VRS conditions.Gross, Kevin, Lt. Col. U.S. Marine Corps and Tom Macdonald, MV-22 test pilot and Ray Dagenhart, MV-22 lead government engineer
NI_Myth_0904,00.html "Dispelling the Myth of the MV-22"
. ''Proceedings: The Naval Institute''. September 2004.


Production

On 28 September 2005,
the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...
formally approved full-rate production, increasing from 11 V-22s per year to between 24 and 48 per year by 2012. Of the 458 total planned, 360 are for the USMC, 50 for the USAF, and 48 for the Navy at an average cost of $110 million per aircraft, including development costs. The V-22 had an incremental flyaway cost of $67 million per aircraft in 2008,"FY 2009 Budget Estimates"
p. 133. ''
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
'', February 2008.
The Navy had hoped to shave about $10 million off that cost via a five-year production contract in 2013. Each CV-22 cost $73 million (~$ in ) in the FY 2014 budget. On 15 April 2010, the Naval Air Systems Command awarded Bell Boeing a $42.1 million (~$ in ) contract to design an integrated processor in response to avionics obsolescence and add new network capabilities. By 2014,
Raytheon Raytheon is a business unit of RTX Corporation and is a major U.S. defense contractor and industrial corporation with manufacturing concentrations in weapons and military and commercial electronics. Founded in 1922, it merged in 2020 with Unite ...
began providing an avionics upgrade that includes
situational awareness Situational awareness or situation awareness, often abbreviated as SA is the understanding of an environment, its elements, and how it changes with respect to time or other factors. It is also defined as the perception of the elements in the envi ...
and blue force tracking. In 2009, a contract for Block C upgrades was awarded to Bell Boeing. In February 2012, the USMC received the first V-22C, featuring a new radar, additional mission management and electronic warfare equipment. In 2015, options for upgrading all aircraft to the V-22C standard were examined. On 12 June 2013, the U.S. DoD awarded a $4.9 billion contract for 99 V-22s in production Lots 17 and 18, including 92 MV-22s for the USMC, for completion in September 2019.Bell-Boeing award V-22 multi-year contract
– Flightglobal.com, 12 June 2013
A provision gives NAVAIR the option to order 23 more Ospreys. As of June 2013, the combined value of all contracts placed totaled $6.5 billion. In 2013, Bell laid off production staff following the US's order being cut to about half of the planned number.Berard, Yamil.

. ''
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'', 5 May 2014. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
Production rate went from 40 in 2012 to 22 planned for 2015. Manufacturing robots have replaced older automated machines for increased accuracy and efficiency; large parts are held in place by suction cups and measured electronically. In March 2014,
Air Force Special Operations Command Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), headquartered at Hurlburt Field, Florida, is the special operations component of the United States Air Force. An Air Force major command (MAJCOM), AFSOC is also the U.S. Air Force component command ...
issued a Combat Mission Need Statement for armor to protect V-22 passengers. NAVAIR worked with a Florida-based composite armor company and the Army Aviation Development Directorate to develop and deliver the advanced ballistic stopping system (ABSS) by October 2014. Costing $270,000, the ABSS consists of 66 plates fitting along interior bulkheads and deck, adding to the aircraft's weight, affecting payload and range. The ABSS can be installed or removed when needed in hours and partially assembled in pieces for partial protection of specific areas. As of May 2015, 16 kits had been delivered to the USAF.Air Force special ops looks to add armor, firepower to Ospreys
– ''Air Force Times'', 17 September 2014
Whittle, Richard.
AFSOC Ospreys Armor Up After Painful Lessons Learned In South Sudan
''Breaking Defense'', 15 May 2015
Archive
/ref> In 2015, Bell Boeing set up the V-22 Readiness Operations Center at Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, to gather information from each aircraft to improve fleet performance in a similar manner as the F-35's Autonomic Logistics Information System. Two programs, the ''V-22 Cockpit Technology Replacement'' (VeCToR) and ''Renewed V-22 Aircraft Modernization Program'' (ReVAMP), are being studied to upgrade the aircraft and extend its life. VeCToR would upgrade the cockpit with more modern electronics in the 2030s and 40s, and ReVAMP would be a fuselage life extension program to extend the V-22's service beyond the 2060s.


Design


Overview

The Osprey is the world's first production
tiltrotor A tiltrotor is an aircraft that generates lift (force), lift and thrust, propulsion by way of one or more powered Helicopter rotor, rotors (sometimes called ''proprotors'') mounted on rotating shaft (mechanical engineering), shafts or nacelles ...
aircraft, with one three-bladed
proprotor A proprotor is a spinning airfoil that function as both an airplane-style propeller and a helicopter-style rotor. Several proprotor-equipped convertiplanes, such as the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor, are capable of switching back and forth b ...
, turboshaft engine, and transmission
nacelle A nacelle ( ) is a streamlined container for aircraft parts such as Aircraft engine, engines, fuel or equipment. When attached entirely outside the airframe, it is sometimes called a pod, in which case it is attached with a Hardpoint#Pylon, pylo ...
mounted on each wingtip.Croft, John
"Tilters"

Alternate link
''
Air & Space/Smithsonian ''Air & Space/Smithsonian'' was a quarterly magazine published by the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city an ...
'', 1 September 2007. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
It is classified as a
powered lift A powered lift aircraft VTOL, takes off and lands vertically under engine power but uses a fixed-wing aircraft, fixed wing for horizontal flight. Like helicopters, these aircraft do not need a long runway to take off and land, but they have a sp ...
aircraft by the
Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...
. For takeoff and landing, it typically operates as a helicopter with the nacelles vertical and rotors horizontal. Once airborne, the nacelles rotate forward 90° in as little as 12 seconds for horizontal flight, converting the V-22 to a more fuel-efficient, higher-speed aircraft, like a turboprop aircraft.
STOL A short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft is a fixed-wing aircraft that can takeoff/land on short runways. Many STOL-designed aircraft can operate on airstrips with harsh conditions (such as high altitude or ice). STOL aircraft, including tho ...
rolling-takeoff and landing capability is achieved by having the nacelles tilted forward up to 45°."V-22 Osprey Guidebook, 2013/2014"
''Bell-Boeing'', 2013. Retrieved 6 February 2014
Archived
in 2014.
Other orientations are possible. Pilots describe the V-22 in airplane mode as comparable to the C-130 in feel and speed. It has a ferry range of over 2,100 nmi. Its operational range is 1,100 nmi.
Composite material A composite or composite material (also composition material) is a material which is produced from two or more constituent materials. These constituent materials have notably dissimilar chemical or physical properties and are merged to create a ...
s make up 43% of the
airframe The mechanical structure of an aircraft is known as the airframe. This structure is typically considered to include the fuselage, undercarriage, empennage and wings, and excludes the propulsion system. Airframe design is a field of aeros ...
, and the proprotor blades also use composites. For storage, the V-22's rotors fold in 90 seconds and its wing rotates to align, front-to-back, with the fuselage.Currie, Major Tom P. Jr., USAF
"A Research Report Submitted to the Faculty, In Partial Fulfillment of the Graduation Requirements: The CV-22 'Osprey' and the Impact on Air Force Combat Search and Rescue"
''Air Command and Staff College'', April 1999.
Because of the requirement for folding rotors, their diameter is less than would be optimal for an aircraft of this size to conduct vertical takeoff, resulting in high
disk loading In fluid dynamics, disk loading or disc loading is the average pressure change across an actuator disk, such as an airscrew. Airscrews with a relatively low disk loading are typically called rotors, including helicopter Helicopter rotor, main ro ...
.Whittle, Richard.
Flying The Osprey Is Not Dangerous, Just Different: Veteran Pilots
" '' defense.aol.com'', 5 September 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2012
Archived
on 3 October 2013.
Most missions use fixed wing flight 75% or more of the time, reducing wear and tear and operational costs. This fixed wing flight is higher than typical helicopter missions allowing longer range line-of-sight communications for improved command and control. Exhaust heat from the V-22's engines can potentially damage ships' flight decks and coatings. NAVAIR devised a temporary fix of portable heat shields placed under the engines and determined that a long-term solution would require redesigning decks with heat resistant coating, passive thermal barriers, and ship structure changes. Similar changes are required for
F-35B The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, supersonic stealth strike fighters. A multirole combat aircraft designed for both air superiority and strike missions, it also has electronic warf ...
operations. In 2009,
DARPA The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a research and development agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military. Originally known as the Adva ...
requested solutions for installing robust flight deck cooling.Lazarus, Aaron
DARPA-BAA 10-10, Thermal Management System (TMS)
''
DARPA The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a research and development agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military. Originally known as the Adva ...
'', 16 November 2009. Retrieved 18 March 2012. Quote: "MV-22 Osprey has resulted in ship flight deck buckling that has been attributed to the excessive heat impact from engine exhaust plumes. Navy studies have indicated that repeated deck buckling will likely cause deck failure before planned ship life."
A heat-resistant anti-skid metal spray named Thermion has been tested on USS ''Wasp''.


Propulsion

The V-22's two Rolls-Royce AE 1107C engines are connected by
drive shaft A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power (physics), power, torque, and rotation, usually ...
s to a common central
gearbox A transmission (also called a gearbox) is a mechanical device invented by Louis Renault (who founded Renault) which uses a gear set—two or more gears working together—to change the speed, direction of rotation, or torque multiplication/r ...
so that one engine can power both proprotors if an engine failure occurs.Norton 2004, pp. 98–99. Either engine can power both proprotors through the wing driveshaft. However, the V-22 is generally not capable of hovering on one engine. If a proprotor gearbox fails, that proprotor cannot be feathered, and both engines must be stopped before an
emergency landing An emergency landing is a premature landing made by an aircraft in response to an emergency involving an imminent or ongoing threat to the safety and operation of the aircraft, or involving a sudden need for a passenger or crew on board to term ...
. The autorotation characteristics are poor because of the rotors' low
inertia Inertia is the natural tendency of objects in motion to stay in motion and objects at rest to stay at rest, unless a force causes the velocity to change. It is one of the fundamental principles in classical physics, and described by Isaac Newto ...
. The AE 1107C engine has a two-shaft axial design with a 14-stage compressor, an effusion-cooled annular combustor, a two-stage gas generator turbine, and two-stage power turbine. In September 2013, Rolls-Royce announced that it had increased the AE-1107C engine's power by 17% via the adoption of a new Block 3 turbine, increased fuel valve flow capacity, and software updates; it should also improve reliability in high-altitude, high-heat conditions and boost maximum payload limitations from . A Block 4 upgrade is reportedly being examined, which may increase power by up to 26%, producing close to , and improve fuel consumption. In August 2014, the U.S. military issued a
request for information A request for information (RFI) is a common business process whose purpose is to collect written information about the capabilities of various suppliers. Normally it follows a format that can be used for comparative purposes. An RFI is primarily ...
for a potential drop-in replacement for the AE-1107C engines. Submissions must have a power rating of no less than at 15,000 rpm, operate at up to at up to , and fit into the existing wing nacelles with minimal structural or external modifications. In September 2014, the U.S. Navy, who already purchase engines separately to airframes, was reportedly considering an alternative engine supplier to reduce costs. The
General Electric GE38 The General Electric GE38 is a gas turbine developed by GE Aviation for turboprop and turboshaft applications. It powers the Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion as the T408. Design and development The GE27 was developed in the early 1980s under the ...
is one option, giving commonality with the
Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion The Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion (Sikorsky S-95) is a heavy transport helicopter designed and produced by Sikorsky Aircraft. The King Stallion is an evolution of the long running CH-53 series of helicopters which has been in continuous servi ...
. The V-22 has a maximum rotor
downwash In aeronautics, downwash is the change in direction of air deflected by the aerodynamic action of an airfoil, wing, or helicopter rotor blade in motion, as part of the process of producing lift.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, thi ...
speed of over , more than the lower limit of a
hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...
.John Gordon IV et al
Assessment of Navy Heavy-Lift Aircraft Options
p39. ''
RAND Corporation The RAND Corporation, doing business as RAND, is an American nonprofit global policy think tank, research institute, and public sector consulting firm. RAND engages in research and development (R&D) in several fields and industries. Since the ...
'', 2005. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
Archived
in 2011.
"Hurricanes... Unleashing Nature's Fury: A Preparedness Guide"
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with Weather forecasting, forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, Hydrography, charting the seas, ...
,
National Weather Service The National Weather Service (NWS) is an Government agency, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weathe ...
, September 2006.
The rotorwash usually prevents the starboard door's usage in hover; the rear ramp is used for rappelling and hoisting instead.McKinney, Mike
"Flying the V-22"
'' Vertical'', 28 March 2012
Archived
on 30 April 2014.
Waters, USMC Cpl. Lana D
V-22 Osprey Fast rope 1
''
USMC The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionary ...
'', 6 November 2004
Archived
on 21 March 2005.
The V-22 loses 10% of its vertical lift over a
tiltwing A tiltwing aircraft features a wing that is horizontal for conventional forward flight and rotates up for vertical takeoff and landing. It is similar to the tiltrotor design where only the propeller and engine rotate. Tiltwing aircraft are typic ...
design when operating in helicopter mode because of the wings' airflow resistance, while the tiltrotor design has better short takeoff and landing performance. V-22s must keep at least of vertical separation between each other to avoid each other's rotor wake, which causes turbulence and potentially control loss. The extreme rotor downwash of the V-22 has caused incidents when rappelling or fast roping from the aircraft, including a soldier being blown 3 meters away from his intended dismount point by the force of the downwash. The downwash is strong enough to destroy unstrengthened helipads and can create flying debris in the landing zone that can injure bystanders or potentially damage the aircraft; an incident involving a Marine Corps Osprey in 2010 resulted in 10 bystanders suffering downwash-related injuries.


Avionics

The V-22 is equipped with a
glass cockpit A glass cockpit is an aircraft cockpit that features an array of electronic (digital) flight instrument display device, displays, typically large liquid-crystal display, LCD screens, rather than traditional Analog device, analog dials and gauges ...
, which incorporates four
multi-function display A multifunction display (MFD) is a small-screen (CRT or LCD) surrounded by multiple soft keys (configurable buttons) that can be used to display information to the user in numerous configurable ways. MFDs originated in aviation, first in mili ...
s (MFDs, compatible with
night-vision goggles A night-vision device (NVD), also known as a night optical/observation device (NOD) or night-vision goggle (NVG), is an optoelectronic device that allows visualization of images in low levels of light, improving the user's night vision. The ...
) and one shared central display unit, to display various images including: digimaps, imagery from the Turreted
forward-looking infrared Forward-looking infrared (FLIR) cameras, typically used on military and civilian aircraft, use a thermographic camera that senses infrared radiation. The sensors installed in forward-looking infrared cameras, as well as those of other therma ...
system primary flight instruments, navigation (
TACAN A tactical air navigation system, commonly referred to by the acronym TACAN, is a navigation system initially designed for naval aircraft to acquire moving landing platforms (i.e., ships) and later expanded for use by other military aircraft. It p ...
, VOR, ILS,
GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based hyperbolic navigation system owned by the United States Space Force and operated by Mission Delta 31. It is one of the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) that provide geol ...
,
INS INS or Ins may refer to: Places * Ins, Switzerland, a municipality * Creech Air Force Base (IATA airport code INS) * Indonesia, ITF and UNDP code INS * INS Park, an entertainment complex in China Biology *'' Ins'', a New World genus of bee flie ...
), and system status. The flight director panel of the cockpit management system allows for fully coupled (autopilot) functions that take the aircraft from forward flight into a hover with no pilot interaction other than programming the system.Ringenbach, Daniel P. and Scott Brick
"Hardware-in-the-loop testing for development and integration of the V-22 autopilot system, pp. 28–36"
''Technical Papers (A95-39235 10–01): AIAA Flight Simulation Technologies Conference Technical Papers'', Baltimore, MD, 3 August 2008.
The fuselage is not
pressurized Pressurization or pressurisation is the application of pressure in a given situation or environment. Examples Industrial Industrial equipment is often maintained at pressures above or below atmospheric. Atmospheric This is the process by which a ...
, and personnel must wear on-board
oxygen mask An oxygen mask is a mask that provides a method to transfer breathing gas, breathing oxygen gas from a storage tank to the lungs. Oxygen masks may cover only the nose and mouth (oral nasal mask) or the entire face (full-face mask). They may be ma ...
s above 10,000 feet. The V-22 has triple-redundant
fly-by-wire Fly-by-wire (FBW) is a system that replaces the conventional aircraft flight control system#Hydro-mechanical, manual flight controls of an aircraft with an electronic interface. The movements of flight controls are converted to electronic sig ...
flight control systems; these have computerized damage control to automatically isolate damaged areas. With the nacelles pointing straight up in conversion mode at 90° the flight computers command it to fly like a helicopter, cyclic forces being applied to a conventional
swashplate A swashplate, also known as slant disk, is a mechanical engineering device used to translate the motion of a rotating shaft into reciprocating motion, or vice versa. The working principle is similar to crankshaft, Scotch yoke, or wobble, nutat ...
at the rotor hub. With the nacelles in airplane mode (0°) the
flaperon A flaperon (a portmanteau of '' flap'' and ''aileron'') on an aircraft's wing is a type of control surface that combines the functions of both flaps and ailerons. Some smaller kitplanes have flaperons for reasons of simplicity of manufactur ...
s, rudder, and elevator fly similar to an airplane. This is a gradual transition, occurring over the nacelles' rotation range; the lower the nacelles, the greater effect of the airplane-mode control surfaces.Norton 2004, pp. 6–9, 95–96. The nacelles can rotate past vertical to 97.5° for rearward flight.Markman and Holder 2000, p. 58.Norton 2004, p. 97. The V-22 can use the "80 Jump" orientation with the nacelles at 80° for takeoff to quickly achieve high altitude and speed. The controls automate to the extent that it can hover in low wind without hands on the controls. New USMC V-22 pilots learn to fly helicopter and multiengine fixed-wing aircraft before the tiltrotor. Some V-22 pilots believe that former fixed-wing pilots may be preferable over helicopter users, as they are not trained to constantly adjust the controls in hover. Others say that experience with helicopters' hovering and precision is most important. the US military does not track whether fixed-wing or helicopter pilots transition more easily to the V-22, according to USMC Colonel Matthew Kelly, V-22 project manager. He said that fixed-wing pilots are more experienced at instrument flying, while helicopter pilots are more experienced at scanning outside when the aircraft is moving slowly.


Armament

The V-22 can be armed with one
7.62×51mm NATO The 7.62×51mm NATO (official NATO nomenclature 7.62 NATO) is a rimless, straight walled, bottlenecked, centerfire rifle cartridge. It is a standard for small arms among NATO countries. First developed in the 1950s, the cartridge had first be ...
(
.308 The .308 Winchester is a smokeless powder rimless bottlenecked rifle cartridge widely used for hunting, target shooting, police, military, and personal protection applications globally. It is similar, but not identical, to the 7.62×51mm NATO ...
 in
caliber In guns, particularly firearms, but not #As a measurement of length, artillery, where a different definition may apply, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel Gauge ( ...
)
M240 machine gun The M240 machine gun, officially the Machine Gun, 7.62 mm, M240, is the U.S. military designation for the FN MAG, a family of Belt (firearms), belt-fed, gas-operated reloading, gas-operated medium machine guns that chamber the 7.62×51mm NA ...
or .50 in caliber (12.7 mm) M2 machine gun on the rear loading ramp. A 12.7 mm (.50 in)
GAU-19 The GAU-19/A (GECAL 50) is an electrically driven, three-barrel rotary heavy machine gun that fires the .50 BMG (12.7×99mm NATO) cartridge. Technical specifications The GAU-19/A is designed to accept standard NATO .50 caliber M9-linked ammuni ...
three-barrel Gatling gun mounted below the nose was studied.
BAE Systems BAE Systems plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Aerospace industry, aerospace, military technology, military and information security company, based in London. It is the largest manufacturer in Britain as of 2017. It is ...
developed a belly-mounted, remotely operated
gun turret A gun turret (or simply turret) is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that houses the crew or mechanis ...
system,"BAE Systems Launches New V-22 Defensive Weapon System, Begins On-The-Move Testing"
''BAE Systems'', 2 October 2007.
the Interim Defense Weapon System (IDWS);McCullough, Amy. "Ospreys, with boost in firepower, enter Afghanistan". ''
Marine Corps Times ''Marine Corps Times'' (ISSN 1522-0869) is a newspaper serving active, reserve and retired United States Marine Corps personnel and their families, providing news, information and analysis as well as community and lifestyle features, educational s ...
'', 7 December 2009, p. 24.
it is remotely operated by a gunner, targets are acquired via a separate pod using color television and forward looking infrared imagery.Whittle, Richard
"BAE Remote Guardians Join Osprey Fleet"
''Rotor & Wing'', 1 January 2010.
The IDWS was installed on half of the V-22s deployed to Afghanistan in 2009; it found limited use because of its weight and restrictive rules of engagement. There were 32 IDWSs available to the USMC in June 2012; V-22s often flew without it as the added weight reduced cargo capacity. The V-22's speed allows it to outrun conventional support helicopters, thus a self-defense capability was required on long-range independent operations. The infrared gun camera proved useful for reconnaissance and surveillance. Other weapons were studied to provide all-quadrant fire, including nose guns, door guns, and non-lethal countermeasures to work with the current ramp-mounted machine gun and the IDWS. In 2014, the USMC studied new weapons with "all-axis, stand-off, and precision capabilities", akin to the
AGM-114 Hellfire The AGM-114 Hellfire is an American missile developed for anti-armor use, later developed for precision drone strikes against other target types, especially high-value targets. It was originally developed under the name " Heliborne laser, fi ...
,
AGM-176 Griffin The AGM-176 Griffin is a lightweight, precision-guided munition developed by Raytheon. It can be launched from the ground or air as a rocket-powered missile or dropped from the air as a guided bomb. It carries a relatively small warhead, and was ...
, Joint Air-to-Ground Missile, and GBU-53/B SDB II. In November 2014, Bell Boeing conducted self-funded weapons tests, equipping a V-22 with a pylon on the front fuselage and replacing the AN/AAQ-27A EO camera with an L-3 Wescam MX-15 sensor/
laser designator A laser designator is a laser light source which is used to designate a target. Laser designators provide targeting for laser-guided bombs, missiles, or precision artillery munitions, such as the Paveway series of bombs, AGM-114 Hellfire ...
. 26 unguided
Hydra 70 The Hydra 70 rocket (weapon), rocket is an American made diameter fin-stabilized unguided rocket used primarily in the air-to-ground role. It can be equipped with a variety of warheads, and in more recent versions, guidance systems for point att ...
rockets, two guided
APKWS The AGR-20 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) is a design conversion of Hydra 70 unguided rockets with a laser guidance kit to turn them into precision-guided munitions (PGMs). APKWS is approximately one-third the cost and one-third th ...
rockets, and two Griffin B missiles were fired over five flights. The USMC and USAF sought a traversable nose-mounted weapon connected to a helmet-mounted sight;
recoil Recoil (often called knockback, kickback or simply kick) is the rearward thrust generated when a gun is being discharged. In technical terms, the recoil is a result of conservation of momentum, for according to Newton's third law the force requ ...
complicated integrating a forward-facing gun. A pylon could carry of munitions. However, by 2019, the USMC opted for IDWS upgrades over adopting new weapons.


Refueling capability

Boeing is developing a roll-on/roll-off
aerial refueling Aerial refueling ( en-us), or aerial refuelling ( en-gb), also referred to as air refueling, in-flight refueling (IFR), air-to-air refueling (AAR), and tanking, is the process of transferring aviation fuel from one aircraft (the tanker) to an ...
kit, which would give the V-22 the ability to refuel other aircraft. Having an aerial refueling capability that can be based on
Wasp-class amphibious assault ship The ''Wasp''-class is a class of landing helicopter dock (LHD) amphibious assault ships operated by the United States Navy. Based on the , with modifications to operate more advanced aircraft and landing craft, the ''Wasp''-class is capable of ...
s would increase the F-35B's strike power, removing reliance on refueling assets solely based on large ''Nimitz''-class aircraft carriers or land bases. The roll-on/roll-off kit can also be applicable to
intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance ISTAR stands for Military intelligence, intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance. In its macroscopic sense, #ISTAR, ISTAR is a practice that links several battlefield functions together to assist a combat force in employ ...
(ISR) functions. Boeing funded a non-functional demonstration on a VMX-22 aircraft; a prototype kit was successfully tested with an F/A-18 on 5 September 2013. The high-speed version of the hose/drogue refueling system can be deployed at and function at up to . A mix of tanks and a roll-on/roll-off bladder house up to of fuel. The ramp must open to extend the hose, then raised once extended. It can refuel rotorcraft, needing a separate drogue used specifically by helicopters and a converted nacelle. Many USMC ground vehicles can run on aviation fuel; a refueling V-22 could service these. In late 2014, it was stated that V-22 tankers could be in use by 2017, but contract delays pushed IOC to late 2019. As part of a 26 May 2016 contract award to Boeing, Cobham was contracted to adapt their FR-300 hose drum unit as used by the KC-130 in October 2016. In May 2025, the Navy confirmed that V-22s were not training for aerial refueling missions, and that neither NAVAIR nor the V-22 program office intends to pursue such a capability as there was no interest from the fleet.


Operational history

In October 2019, the fleet of 375 V-22s operated by the U.S. Armed Forces surpassed the 500,000 flight hour mark. A fatal accident in December 2023, led the fleet being grounded until March 2024 by the US and Japan.


U.S. Marine Corps

Since March 2000, VMMT-204 has conducted training for the type. In December 2005, Lieutenant General James Amos, commander of
II Marine Expeditionary Force The II Marine Expeditionary Force (II MEF) is a Marine Air-Ground Task Force consisting of ground, air and logistics forces capable of projecting offensive combat power ashore while sustaining itself in combat without external assistance for a ...
, accepted delivery of the first batch of MV-22s. The unit reactivated in March 2006 as the first MV-22 squadron, redesignated as
VMM-263 Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263 (VMM-263) is a United States Marine Corps tiltrotor squadron consisting of V-22 Osprey, MV-22B Osprey transport aircraft. The squadron, known as the "Thunder Chickens", is based at Marine Corps Air Station Ne ...
. In 2007, HMM-266 became Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 266 ( VMM-266)"Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 266 History"
''U.S. Marine Corps''. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
and reached
initial operational capability Initial operating capability or initial operational capability (IOC) is the state achieved when a capability is available in its minimum usefully deployable form. The term is often used in government or military procurement. The United States D ...
. The MV-22 started replacing the CH-46 Sea Knight in 2007; the CH-46 was retired in October 2014.Carter, Chelsea J
"Miramar Base to Get Osprey Squadrons"
''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...
'' (Associated Press), 18 March 2008.
On 13 April 2007, the USMC announced the first V-22 combat deployment at
Al Asad Airbase Al-Asad Airbase is an Iraqi airbase located in al-Anbar Governorate of western Iraq. It was originally known as Qadisiyah Airbase. It was the second largest US military airbase in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Until January 2010, it was ...
, Iraq.Mount, Mike
"Marines to deploy tilt-rotor aircraft to Iraq"
CNN, 14 April 2007.
"Controversial Osprey aircraft heading to Iraq; Marines bullish on hybrid helicopter-plane despite past accidents"
. MSNBC, 13 April 2007.
V-22s in Iraq's
Anbar province Al Anbar Governorate (; ''muḥāfaẓat al-’Anbār''), or Anbar Province, is the largest governorate in Iraq by area. Encompassing much of the country's western territory, it shares borders with Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. The population ...
were used for transport and scout missions. General
David Petraeus David Howell Petraeus (; born 7 November 1952) is a retired United States Army General (United States), general who served as the fourth director of the Central Intelligence Agency from September 2011 until his resignation in November 2012. Pri ...
, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, used one to visit troops on Christmas Day 2007;Mount, Mike
"Maligned aircraft finds redemption in Iraq, military says"
CNN, 8 February 2008.
as did
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
during his 2008 presidential campaign tour in Iraq.Hambling, David
"Osprey's 'Excellent Photo Op
''Wired'' (CondéNet, Inc.), 31 July 2008.
USMC Col. Kelly recalled how visitors were reluctant to fly on the unfamiliar aircraft, but after seeing its speed and ability to fly above ground fire, "All of a sudden, the entire flight schedule was booked. No senior officer wanted to go anywhere unless they could fly on the V-22". Obtaining spares proved problematic.Warwick, Graham

''Flightglobal'', 7 February 2008.
By July 2008, the V-22 had flown 3,000 sorties totaling 5,200 hours in Iraq. General George J. Trautman III praised its greater speed and range over legacy helicopters, saying "it turned his battle space from the size of Texas into the size of Rhode Island." Despite attacks by
man-portable air-defense system Man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS or MPADS) are portable Shoulder-launched missile, shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles. They are guided missile, guided weapons and are a threat to low-flying aircraft, especially helicopters and ...
s and small arms, none were lost to enemy fire by late 2009.Gertler, Jeremiah. (quoting USMC Karsten Heckl
"V-22 Osprey Tilt-Rotor Aircraft: Background and Issues for Congress"
, p. 30. ''
Congressional Research Service reports The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a public policy research institute of the United States Congress. Operating within the Library of Congress, it works primarily and directly for members of Congress and their committees and staff on a co ...
'', 22 December 2009.
A
Government Accountability Office The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent, nonpartisan government agency within the legislative branch that provides auditing, evaluative, and investigative services for the United States Congress. It is the s ...
study stated that by January 2009, the 12 MV-22s in Iraq had completed all assigned missions; mission capable rates averaged 57% to 68%, and an overall full mission capable rate of 6%. It also noted weaknesses in situational awareness, maintenance, shipboard operations and transport capability."GAO-09-482: Defense Acquisitions, Assessments Needed to Address V-22 Aircraft Operational and Cost Concerns to Define Future Investments" (summary)
Government Accountability Office. Retrieved: 30 December 2010.
The report concluded: "deployments confirmed that the V-22's enhanced speed and range enable personnel and internal cargo to be transported faster and farther than is possible with the legacy helicopters". MV-22s deployed to
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
in November 2009 with
VMM-261 Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 261 (VMM-261) is a United States Marine Corps tiltrotor squadron consisting of MV-22 Osprey transport aircraft. The squadron, known as the "Raging Bulls", is based at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) New River, Nor ...
;McLeary, Paul
"Trial By Fire"
''
Aviation Week ''Aviation Week & Space Technology'', often abbreviated ''Aviation Week'' or ''AW&ST'', is the flagship magazine of the Aviation Week Network, a division of Informa. The weekly magazine is available in print and online, reporting on the aeros ...
'', 15 March 2010.
it saw its first offensive combat mission, Operation Cobra's Anger, on 4 December 2009. V-22s assisted in inserting 1,000 USMC and 150 Afghan troops into the Now Zad Valley of
Helmand Province Helmand (Pashto language, Pashto/Dari language, Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering ...
in southern Afghanistan to disrupt
Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...
operations. General James Amos stated that Afghanistan's MV-22s had surpassed 100,000 flight hours, calling it "the safest airplane, or close to the safest airplane" in the USMC inventory. The V-22's Afghan deployment was set to end in late 2013 with the drawdown of combat operations; however, VMM-261 was directed to extend operations for
casualty evacuation Casualty evacuation, also known as CASEVAC or by the callsign Dustoff or colloquially Dust Off, is a military term for the emergency patient evacuation of casualty (person), casualties from a combat zone. Casevac can be done by both ground and ...
, being quicker than helicopters enabled more casualties to reach a hospital within the ' golden hour'; they were fitted with medical equipment such as heart monitors and triage supplies. In January 2010, the MV-22 was sent to Haiti as part of
Operation Unified Response Operation Unified Response was the United States military's response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake. It was conducted by Joint Task Force Haiti and commanded by United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) Military Deputy Commander Lieutenant Gen ...
relief efforts after an earthquake, the type's first humanitarian mission.Talton, Trista
"24th MEU joining Haiti relief effort"
''Marine Corps Times'', 20 January 2010. Retrieved 21 January 2010.
In March 2011, two MV-22s from helped rescue a downed USAF
F-15E The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F-15E Strike Eagle is an American all-weather multirole strike fighter derived from the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle. Intended for the Dual-Role Fighter (DRF) program (initially called Enhanced Tactical Fi ...
crew member during
Operation Odyssey Dawn Operation Odyssey Dawn was the U.S. code name for the American role in the international military operation in Libya to enforce United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 during the initial period of 19–31 March 2011, which continued aft ...
. On 2 May 2011, following
Operation Neptune's Spear On 2 May 2011, the United States conducted Operation Neptune Spear, in which SEAL Team Six shot and killed Osama bin Laden at his " Waziristan Haveli" in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Bin Laden, who founded al-Qaeda and orchestrated the September 1 ...
, the body of
Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...
, founder of the
al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...
terrorist group, was flown by an MV-22 to the aircraft carrier in the
Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea () is a region of sea in the northern Indian Ocean, bounded on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, Gulf of Aden and Guardafui Channel, on the northwest by Gulf of Oman and Iran, on the north by Pakistan, on the east by India, and ...
, prior to his
burial at sea Burial at sea is the disposal of Cadaver, human remains in the ocean, normally from a ship, boat or aircraft. It is regularly performed by navies, and is done by private citizens in many countries. Burial-at-sea services are conducted at many di ...
. In 2013, several MV-22s received communications and seating modifications to support the
Marine One Marine One is the call sign of any United States Marine Corps aircraft carrying the president of the United States. As of 2024, it is most frequently applied to a presidential transport helicopter operated by Marine Helicopter Squadron One (HMX ...
presidential transport squadron because of the urgent need for CH-53Es in Afghanistan. In May 2010, Boeing announced plans to submit the V-22 for the
VXX VXX, officially the Presidential Helicopter Replacement Program, is a procurement program to replace aging Marine One helicopters that transport the President of the United States. The current Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King#US military, VH-3 helico ...
presidential transport replacement.Reed, John
"Boeing to make new multiyear Osprey offer"
''
Marine Corps Times ''Marine Corps Times'' (ISSN 1522-0869) is a newspaper serving active, reserve and retired United States Marine Corps personnel and their families, providing news, information and analysis as well as community and lifestyle features, educational s ...
'', 5 May 2010. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
From 2 to 5 August 2013, two MV-22s completed the longest distance Osprey tanking mission to date. Flying from
Marine Corps Air Station Futenma is a United States Marine Corps base located in Ginowan, Okinawa, Japan, northeast of Naha, on the island of Okinawa. It is home to approximately 3,000 Marines of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing and other units, and has been a U.S. military a ...
in Okinawa alongside two KC-130J tankers, they flew to
Clark Air Base Clark Air Base is a Philippine Air Force base in Luzon, located west of Angeles City, and about northwest of Metro Manila. It was previously operated by the U.S. Air Force and, before that, the U.S. Army, from 1903 to 1991. The base cov ...
in the
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
on 2 August; then to
Darwin, Australia Darwin (Laragiya language, Larrakia: ') is the List of Australian capital cities, capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. The city has nearly 53% of the Northern Territory's population, with 139,902 at the 2021 Australian census, ...
, on 3 August; to
Townsville, Australia The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...
, on 4 August; and finally rendezvoused with on 5 August. In 2013, the USMC formed an intercontinental response force, the Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force – Crisis Response – Africa, using V-22s outfitted with specialized communications gear. In 2013, following
Typhoon Haiyan Typhoon Haiyan, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Yolanda, was an extremely powerful and catastrophic tropical cyclone that is among List of the most intense tropical cyclones, the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded. Upon ...
, 12 MV-22s of the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade were deployed to the Philippines for disaster relief operations;Hoyle, Craig

''
Flight International ''Flight International'', formerly ''Flight'', is a monthly magazine focused on aerospace. Published in the United Kingdom and founded in 1909 as "A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport", i ...
'', 20 November 2013.
its abilities were described as "uniquely relevant", flying faster and with greater payloads while moving supplies throughout the island archipelago. On 9 October 2024, the last operational Marine Corps CH-46 squadron, HMM-364, re-designated as
VMM-364 Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 364 (VMM-364) is a United States Marine Corps medium-lift tiltrotor squadron consisting of MV-22B Ospreys. The squadron, known as the "Purple Foxes", is based at Marine Corps Air Station Camp Pendleton, Califor ...
. On 1 August 2015, the Marine Corps retired its final CH-46 and completed its transition from CH-46 Sea Knight to the MV-22 Osprey.


U.S. Air Force

The USAF's first operational CV-22 was delivered to the
58th Special Operations Wing The 58th Special Operations Wing (58 SOW) is a combat unit of the United States Air Force stationed at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. The 58 SOW is part of the Air Education and Training Command (AETC) Nineteenth Air Force. The 58 SOW ...
(58th SOW) at
Kirtland Air Force Base Kirtland Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base. It is located in the southeast quadrant of the Albuquerque, New Mexico, urban area, adjacent to the Albuquerque International Sunport. The base was named for the early Army aviator C ...
,
New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
, in March 2006. Early aircraft were delivered to the 58th SOW and used for training personnel for special operations use."CV-22 delivered to Air Force"
''Air Force Special Operations Command News Service'' via ''Air Force Link (United States Air Force)'', 21 March 2006. Retrieved 3 August 2008.
On 16 November 2006, the USAF officially accepted the CV-22 in a ceremony conducted at
Hurlburt Field Hurlburt Field is a United States Air Force installation located in Okaloosa County, Florida, immediately west of the town of Mary Esther. It is part of the greater Eglin Air Force Base reservation and is home to Headquarters Air Force S ...
, Florida."CV-22 arrival"
''Hulbert Field, United States Air Force'', 20 April 2006. Retrieved 20 November 2006.
The USAF's first operational deployment sent four CV-22s to
Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...
in November 2008 in support of Exercise Flintlock. The CV-22s flew nonstop from Hurlburt Field, Florida, with in-flight refueling. AFSOC declared that the
8th Special Operations Squadron The 8th Special Operations Squadron is a squadron of the United States Air Force. It is assigned to the 1st Special Operations Wing, Air Force Special Operations Command, stationed at Hurlburt Field, Florida. The squadron is equipped with the B ...
reached Initial Operational Capability in March 2009, with six CV-22s in service.Sirak, Michael. . ''Air Force Magazine'', Volume 92, Issue 5, May 2009, pp. 11–12. Retrieved 10 May 2009. In December 2013, three CV-22s came under small arms fire while trying to evacuate American civilians in
Bor, South Sudan Bor is a historic city in the Bor region of Jonglei State, located in the central region of South Sudan. It has also served as the headquarters of Jonglei state. The city is situated on the east side of the White Nile ( Bahr al Jabal River) at th ...
, during the 2013 South Sudanese political crisis; the aircraft flew to Entebbe, Uganda, after the mission was aborted. South Sudanese officials stated that the attackers were rebels. The CV-22s had flown to Bor over three countries across . The formation was hit 119 times, wounding four crew and causing flight control failures and hydraulic and fuel leaks on all three aircraft. Fuel leaks resulted in multiple air-to-air refuelings en route. After the incident, AFSOC developed optional armor floor panels. The USAF found that "CV-22 wake modeling is inadequate for a trailing aircraft to make accurate estimations of safe separation istancefrom the preceding aircraft." In 2015, the USAF sought to configure the CV-22 to perform
combat search and rescue Combat search and rescue (CSAR) are search and rescue operations that are carried out during war that are within or near combat zones. A CSAR mission may be carried out by a task force of helicopters, ground-attack aircraft, aerial refueling ta ...
in addition to its long-range special operations transport mission. It would complement the
HH-60G Pave Hawk The Sikorsky MH-60/HH-60 Pave Hawk is a four-blade, twin-engine, medium-lift utility military helicopter manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft. The HH-60 Pave Hawk and its successor the HH-60W Jolly Green II are combat rescue helicopters, though i ...
and planned HH-60W rescue helicopters, being employed in scenarios where high speed is better suited to search and rescue than more nimble but slower helicopters. In 2019, a plan was formulated for the USAF V-22 to use the AN/APQ-187 Silent Knight terrain avoidance radar, which was tested on the CV-22 at
Eglin Air Force base Eglin Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base in the western Florida panhandle, located about southwest of Valparaiso, Florida, Valparaiso in Okaloosa County, Florida, Okaloosa County. The host unit at Eglin is the 96th Test ...
by 2020. This radar is used on many Air Force aircraft, such as C-130 Hercules transport aircraft and MH-47 Chinook helicopters. On 29 November 2023, a CV-22B assigned to the US Air Force's
353rd Special Operations Wing The 353rd Special Operations Wing is an operational unit of the United States Air Force Special Operations Command, stationed at Kadena Air Base, Japan. The group (military aviation unit), Wing's first predecessor was activated in 1944 as the ...
crashed into the
East China Sea The East China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean, located directly offshore from East China. China names the body of water along its eastern coast as "East Sea" (, ) due to direction, the name of "East China Sea" is otherwise ...
off
Yakushima is one of the Ōsumi Islands in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The island, in area, has a population of 13,178. It is accessible by hydrofoil ferry, car ferry, or by air to Yakushima Airport. Administratively, the island consists of the town ...
Island,
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
, killing all eight airmen aboard. The Osprey, based at
Yokota Air Base , is a Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) and United States Air Force (USAF) base in the Tama Area, or Western Tokyo. It occupies portions of Akishima, Fussa, Hamura, Mizuho, Musashimurayama, and Tachikawa. The base houses 14,000 pers ...
, was flying from
Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni is a joint Japan Maritime Self-Defense Forces and United States Marine Corps air station located in the Nishiki River, Nishiki river delta, southeast of Iwakuni Station in the Municipality of Japan, city of Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan ...
to
Kadena Air Base (International Air Transport Association airport code, IATA: DNA, International Civil Aviation Organization airport code, ICAO: RODN) is a United States Air Force base in the towns of Kadena, Okinawa, Kadena and Chatan, Okinawa, Chatan and the ...
on
Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...
Island in clear weather and light winds. An Air Force investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing. A preliminary investigation has revealed a "potential materiel failure" could have caused the accident. On 6 December 2023, the U.S. Navy (
NAVAIR The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) provides materiel support for aeronaval aircraft and airborne weapon systems for the United States Navy. It is one of the Echelon II Navy systems commands (SYSCOM), and was established in 1966 as the succe ...
) and the Air Force ( AFSOC) grounded their V-22 fleets. Japan (
Maritime Self Defense Force The , abbreviated , also simply known as the Japanese Navy, is the maritime warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. The JMSDF was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy ( ...
) also has grounded their fleet. In early March the US and Japan resumed flights of the V-22 with revised maintenance and pilot training focuses but no changes to the aircraft. The V-22 was returned to flight with no changes; the part that failed was identified and how it failed determined, although the accident was still under scrutiny. A near crash in December 2024 led to another operation pause, over concerns about metal fatigue.


U.S. Navy

The V-22 program originally included Navy 48 HV-22s, but none were ordered. In 2009, it was proposed that it replace the
C-2 Greyhound The Grumman C-2 Greyhound is a twin-engine, high-wing cargo aircraft designed to carry supplies, mail, and passengers to and from List of United States Navy aircraft carriers, aircraft carriers of the United States Navy. Its primary mission is ...
for carrier onboard delivery (COD) duties. One advantage of the V-22 is the ability to deliver supplies and people between non-carrier ships beyond helicopter range. Proponents said that it is capable of similar speed, payload capacity, and lift performance to the C-2, and can carry greater payloads over short ranges, up to 20,000 lb, including suspended external loads. The C-2 can only deliver cargo to carriers, requiring further distribution to smaller vessels via helicopters, while the V-22 is certified for operating upon amphibious ships, aircraft carriers, and logistics ships. It could also take some helicopter roles by fitting a 600 lb hoist to the ramp and a cabin configuration for 12 non-ambulatory patients and 5 seats for medical attendants. Bell and P&W designed a frame for the V-22 to transport the
Pratt & Whitney F135 The Pratt & Whitney F135 is an afterburning turbofan developed for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, a single-engine strike fighter. It has two variants; a Conventional Take-Off and Landing ( CTOL) variant used in the F-35A and F-35C, and a ...
engine of the F-35.Israel could double V-22 order size, Bell says
– Flightglobal.com, 25 February 2014
On 5 January 2015, the Navy and USMC signed a memorandum of understanding to buy the V-22 for the COD mission. Initially designated HV-22, four aircraft were bought each year from 2018 to 2020. It incorporates an extended-range fuel system for an unrefueled range, a high-frequency radio for over-the-horizon communications, and a public address system to communicate with passengers; the range increase comes from extra fuel bladders in larger external
sponson Sponsons are projections extending from the sides of land vehicles, aircraft or watercraft to provide protection, Instantaneous stability, stability, storage locations, mounting points for weapons or other devices, or equipment housing. Watercra ...
s, the only external difference from other variants. Its primary mission is long-range logistics; other conceivable missions include personnel recovery and special warfare. In February 2016, the Navy officially designated it the ''CMV-22B''.V-22 Navy variant receives official designation
– United States Navy, 3 February 2016
The Navy's
Program of Record In the United States, the processes of government procurement enable federal, state and local government bodies in the country to acquire goods, services (including construction), and interests in real property. Contracting with the federal gove ...
originally called for 48 aircraft, but it was later determined that only 44 were required. Production began in FY 2018, and deliveries started in 2020.US Navy reveals CMV-22B as long-range Osprey designation
– Flightglobal.com, 4 February 2016.
Navy's Osprey Will Be Called CMV-22B; Procurement To Begin In FY 2018
– News.USNI.org, 5 February 2016.
The Navy ordered the first 39 CMV-22Bs in June 2018; initial operating capability was achieved in 2021, with fielding to the fleet by the mid-2020s. The first CMV-22B made its initial flight in December 2019. The first deployment began in summer 2021 aboard USS ''Carl Vinson''. The Navy is planning an upgraded gearbox for their CMV-22B.


Japan Self-Defense Forces

Japan bought the V-22 and they entered defense service in 2020, becoming the first international customer for the tiltrotor. In 2012, then-Defense Minister
Satoshi Morimoto is a Japanese politician, scholar and critic specializing in international politics and national security. He was Minister of Defense from July to December 2012, and is professor at Takushoku University and member of the Congressional Forum for ...
ordered an investigation of the costs of V-22 operations. The V-22's capabilities exceeded current
Japan Self-Defense Forces The are the military forces of Japan. Established in 1954, the JSDF comprises the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. They are controlled by the Ministry of Defense ...
helicopters in terms of range, speed and payload. The ministry anticipated deployments to the
Nansei Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ryukyu Islands are divided into the Satsunan Islands ( Ōsumi, Tokara and Amami) and Okinawa Prefecture ( Daitō, Miyako, Y ...
and the
Senkaku Islands The Senkaku Islands, known as the Diaoyu Islands in China and the Tiaoyutai Islands in Taiwan, are a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, administered by Japan. They were historically known in the Western world as the Pinnacle ...
, as well as in multinational cooperation with the U.S. In November 2014, the
Japanese Ministry of Defense The is an executive department of the Government of Japan responsible for preserving the peace and independence of Japan, and maintaining the country's national security and the Japan Self-Defense Forces. The ministry is headed by the Minist ...
decided to procure 17 V-22s. The first V-22 for Japan undertook its first flight in August 2017 and the aircraft began delivery to the Japanese military in 2020. In September 2018, the Japanese Ministry of Defense decided to delay the deployment of the first five MV-22Bs it had received amid opposition and ongoing negotiations in the
Saga Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu. Saga Prefecture has a population of roughly 780,000 and has a geographic area of . Saga Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northeast and Nagasaki Prefect ...
, where the aircraft are to be based. On 8 May 2020, the first two of the five aircraft were delivered to the JGSDF at
Kisarazu Air Field is a military aerodrome of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force . It is located north northwest of Kisarazu in the Chiba Prefecture, Japan. Operations JGSDF Kisarazu is home to the JGSDF 1st Helicopter Brigade, which is attached to the Central ...
after failing to reach an agreement with Saga prefecture residents. It is planned to eventually station some V-22s on board the s. In September 2023, the first V-22 landings were conducted on the helicopter carrier . The aircraft are planned to be based at
Saga Airport is an airport in the Kawasoe, Saga, Kawasoe area of Saga, Saga, Saga, Saga Prefecture, Japan. It also uses the unofficial name . Saga Airport is located on the edge of the Ariake Sea, in what is effectively a polder, 35 minutes from JR Saga Sta ...
in
Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...
starting in 2025 where the V-22s will be deployed together with Sikorsky Black Hawk and Apache Longbow helicopters in order to better defend Japan's southern
Nansei Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ryukyu Islands are divided into the Satsunan Islands ( Ōsumi, Tokara and Amami) and Okinawa Prefecture ( Daitō, Miyako, Y ...
. Following the fatal crash of a US Air Force CV-22 off Yakushima on 29 November 2023, Japan suspended flights of its 14 MV-22s. In early 2024 it was reported that the Japanese would resume flights of the V-22, and in March 2024 flights resumed.


Potential operators

The V-22 can carry a power-module of certain fighter jets such as the F-35, and also is noted it could be useful to nations with island chains or carriers. One question was why the U.S. Army did not procure the V-22 Osprey, and it was actually in the project at the start, but ended up heavily investing in traditional rotor craft such as the UH-60 Black Hawk and CH-47 Chinook. The V-22 production line is planned to be open to around 2026 to complete the orders for the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corp. Early on in the 2010s, some of the possible export buyers included Canada, Japan, United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. Other potential interest came from India and Indonesia. In Europe, there was some interest on the continent from France, Spain, and Italy also. Canada is thought to have considered the V-22 for the Fixed Wing Search and Rescue (FWSAR), but it was not entered as the overall goals prioritized conventional aircraft; that program was won by the
C-295 The Airbus C295 (previously CASA C-295) is a medium tactical transport aircraft that was designed and initially manufactured by the Spanish aerospace company CASA, which is now part of the European multinational Airbus Defence and Space divis ...
, a fixed-wing medium transport. The Air Force is also considering some additional V-22 for search and rescue, to supplement the HH-60W with a longer range aircraft, especially in the Indo-Pacific region where longer range is typically needed.


France

France showed some interest in the V-22 especially for naval operations. It tested the V-22 in operations on their ships, and also their aircraft carrier . The French had a two-year-long program to insure that the V-22 could operate from their ''Mistral''-class vessels working with USMC V-22.


India

In 2015, the Indian Aviation Research Centre showed interest in acquiring four V-22s for personnel evacuation in hostile conditions, logistic supplies, and deployment of the
Special Frontier Force The Special Frontier Force (SFF) is a paramilitary Indian special forces unit composed primarily of Tibetan refugees and Gurkhas in India. It was established after the Sino-Indian War of 1962 to primarily conduct covert operations behind the ...
in border areas. US V-22s performed relief operations after the
April 2015 Nepal earthquake The April 2015 Nepal earthquake (also known as the Gorkha earthquake) killed 8,962 people and injured 21,952 across the countries of Nepal, India, China and Bangladesh. It occurred at on Saturday 25 April 2015, with a magnitude of Moment magni ...
. The Indian Navy also studied the V-22 rather than the E-2D for airborne early warning and control to replace the short-range
Kamov Ka-31 The Kamov Ka-31 (NATO reporting name Helix) is a military helicopter originally developed for the Soviet Navy and currently in service in Russia, China, and India in the naval airborne early warning and control role. As with all Kamov helicop ...
. India is interested in purchasing six attack version V-22s for rapid troop insertion in border areas.


Indonesia

On 6 July 2020, the U.S. State Department announced that they had approved a possible Foreign Military Sale to Indonesia of eight Block C MV-22s and related equipment for an estimated cost of $2 billion (~$ in ). The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of this possible sale. The sale was approved, but in the end Indonesia decided against the purchase at that time due to the cost. It was noted that the V-22 could provide a unique logistical support to the island chain nation, but the concerns about purchase and maintenance costs were an issue.


Israel

On 22 April 2013, an agreement was signed to sell six V-22 to the
Israeli Air Force The Israeli Air Force (IAF; , commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial and space warfare branch of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Indep ...
. By the end of 2016, Israel had not ordered the V-22 and was instead interested in buying the
CH-47 Chinook The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is a tandem-rotor helicopter originally developed by American rotorcraft company Piasecki Helicopter, Vertol and now manufactured by Boeing Defense, Space & Security. The Chinook is a Military transport helicopter, heav ...
helicopter or the CH-53K helicopter. As of 2017, Israel had frozen its evaluation of the V-22, "with a senior defence source indicating that the tiltrotor is unable to perform some missions currently conducted using its Sikorsky CH-53 transport helicopters."


United Kingdom

The U.K. has had a watchful eye on V-22 program, and a combined UK/US study evaluated possible use. One of the more serious evaluations, came in the late 2010s when it was considered to use them on the new carriers. In the 2020s, it was thought to be one of the possible aircraft for the U.K.'s
New Medium Helicopter The New Medium Helicopter (NMH) is a British military programme to procure up to 44 medium-lift support helicopters to replace the Westland Puma HC2 and initially, the Bell 412 Griffin operated by the Royal Air Force; and the Bell 212 and Air ...
program but was not a finalist, a program that is seeking to replace the Westland Puma medium helicopter fleet. The V-22 has been used on training exercises in the U.K. which has helped identify some issues, such as that the downwash can disrupt landing mats.


Variants

The preproduction model was called the V-22. USMC operates the MV-22B including the VIP V-22s, the USAF the CV-22B, and the Navy CMV-22B. ;V-22 ("V-22A"): Pre-production full-scale development aircraft used for flight testing. These are unofficially considered A-variants after the 1993 redesign.Norton 2004, p. 54. ;CV-22B: U.S. Air Force variant for the U.S. Special Operations Command. It conducts long-range special operations missions and is equipped with extra wing fuel tanks, an AN/APQ-186
terrain-following radar Terrain-following radar (TFR) is a military aerospace technology that allows a very-low-flying aircraft to automatically maintain a relatively constant altitude above ground level and therefore make detection by enemy radar more difficult. It is ...
, and other equipment such as the AN/ALQ-211,"CV-22 Osprey Fact Sheet"
United States Air Force, 7 July 2006. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
Norton 2004, pp. 71–72. and AN/AAQ-24 Nemesis
Directional Infrared Counter Measures Directional Infrared Counter Measures (DIRCM) are a class of anti-missile systems produced to protect aircraft from infrared homing missiles, primarily Man-portable air-defense system, MANPADS and similar simple systems. Earlier infrared count ...
. The fuel capacity is increased by 588 gallons (2,230 L) with two inboard wing tanks; three auxiliary tanks (200 or 430 gal; 760 or 1,630 L) can also be added in the cabin.Norton 2004, pp. 100–01. The CV-22 replaced the
MH-53 Pave Low The Sikorsky MH-53 Pave Low series is a retired long-range special operations and combat search and rescue (CSAR) helicopter for the United States Air Force. The series was upgraded from the HH-53B/C, variants of the Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stal ...
. ;MV-22B: U.S. Marine Corps variant. The Marine Corps is the lead service in the V-22's development. The Marine Corps variant is an assault transport for troops, equipment and supplies, capable of operating from ships or expeditionary airfields ashore. It replaced the Marine Corps' CH-46E and CH-53D fleets.Norton 2004, p. 77. ;CMV-22B: U.S. Navy variant for the carrier onboard delivery role, replacing the C-2. Similar to the MV-22B but includes an extended-range fuel system, a high-frequency radio, and a public address system. ;EV-22: Proposed
airborne early warning and control An airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) system is an airborne radar early warning system designed to detect aircraft, ships, vehicles, missiles and other incoming projectiles at long ranges, as well as performing command and control of the ...
variant. The
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
studied this variant as a replacement for its fleet of carrier-based Sea King ASaC.7 helicopters. ;HV-22: The U.S. Navy considered an HV-22 to provide
combat search and rescue Combat search and rescue (CSAR) are search and rescue operations that are carried out during war that are within or near combat zones. A CSAR mission may be carried out by a task force of helicopters, ground-attack aircraft, aerial refueling ta ...
, delivery and retrieval of special warfare teams along with fleet logistic support transport. It chose the MH-60S for this role in 2001.Norton 2004, pp. 26–28, 48, 83–84."V-22 Osprey Guidebook"
''Naval Air Systems Command, United States Navy'', 2011/2012, p. 5.
;SV-22: Proposed
anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in the older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations ar ...
variant. The U.S. Navy studied the SV-22 in the 1980s to replace S-3 and SH-2 aircraft.Norton 2004, pp. 28–30, 35, 48.


Operators

; *
Japan Ground Self-Defense Force The , , also referred to as the Japanese Army, is the land warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Created on July 1, 1954, it is the largest of the three service branches. New military guidelines, announced in December 2010, direct ...
(14 delivered, 3 on order as of Dec 2023) ; *
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
World Air Forces 2014, ''
FlightGlobal FlightGlobal is an online news and information website which covers the aviation and aerospace industries. The website was established in February 2006 as the website of ''Flight International'' magazine, ''Airline Business'', ''ACAS'', ''Air ...
'', January 2014.
**
7th Special Operations Squadron The 7th Special Operations Squadron is an active flying unit of the United States Air Force. It is a component of the 752d Special Operations Group (752 SOG), United States Special Operations Command, and is currently based at Royal Air Force ...
**
8th Special Operations Squadron The 8th Special Operations Squadron is a squadron of the United States Air Force. It is assigned to the 1st Special Operations Wing, Air Force Special Operations Command, stationed at Hurlburt Field, Florida. The squadron is equipped with the B ...
**
20th Special Operations Squadron The 20th Special Operations Squadron is part of the 27th Special Operations Wing at Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico. It operates Bell Boeing CV-22 Ospreys on special operations missions. It traces its history back to the activation of the 20th ...
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21st Special Operations Squadron The 21st Special Operations Squadron is a unit within the 353rd Special Operations Wing, United States Air Force based at Yokota Air Base, Japan. The unit has been activated and inactivated a number of times in its history. Prior to October 20 ...
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71st Special Operations Squadron The 71st Special Operations Squadron is part of the 58th Special Operations Wing at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. It operates Bell Boeing CV-22 Osprey conducting special operations flying training. Mission Provide Combat Ready CV-22 Air ...
** 249th Special Operations Squadron -
Florida Air National Guard The Florida Air National Guard (FL ANG) is the aerial militia of the United States, U.S. state of Florida. It is a reserve component of the United States Air Force and along with the Florida Army National Guard (FL ARNG), an element of the Flori ...
associate unit to
1st Special Operations Wing The 1st Special Operations Wing (1 SOW) at Hurlburt Field, Florida is one of three United States Air Force active duty Special Operations wings and falls under the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC). The 1st Special Operations Wing ...
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418th Flight Test Squadron The 418th Flight Test Squadron is a United States Air Force squadron. It is assigned to the 412th Operations Group, Air Force Materiel Command, stationed at Edwards Air Force Base, California. The first predecessor of the squadron, the 418 ...
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United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...
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HMX-1 Marine Helicopter Squadron One (HMX-1) is a United States Marine Corps helicopter squadron responsible for the transportation of the president and vice president of the United States, heads of state, Department of Defense officials, and other ...
** VMX-1 (formerly VMX-22) **
VMM-161 Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 161 (VMM-161) is a United States Marine Corps tiltrotor squadron that operates the MV-22 Osprey. The squadron, known as the "Greyhawks", is based at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California and falls under th ...
** VMM-162 **
VMM-163 Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 163 (VMM-163) is a United States Marine Corps helicopter squadron consisting of MV-22 Osprey transport tiltrotors. The squadron, known as "Evil Eyes", is based at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California and ...
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VMM-165 Marine Medium Tilt Rotor Squadron 165 (VMM-165) is a United States Marine Corps Tilt-rotor squadron consisting of MV-22B Osprey transport aircraft. The squadron, known as the "White Knights", is based at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Califor ...
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VMM-166 Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 166 (VMM-166) was a United States Marine Corps tiltrotor squadron consisting of MV-22 Osprey transport aircraft. The squadron, known as the "SeaElk", was last based at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Californi ...
** VMMT-204 **
VMM-261 Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 261 (VMM-261) is a United States Marine Corps tiltrotor squadron consisting of MV-22 Osprey transport aircraft. The squadron, known as the "Raging Bulls", is based at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) New River, Nor ...
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VMM-263 Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263 (VMM-263) is a United States Marine Corps tiltrotor squadron consisting of V-22 Osprey, MV-22B Osprey transport aircraft. The squadron, known as the "Thunder Chickens", is based at Marine Corps Air Station Ne ...
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VMM-264 Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 264 (VMM-264) was a United States Marine Corps tiltrotor squadron consisting of MV-22 Osprey transport aircraft. The squadron, known as the "Black Knights", was based at Marine Corps Air Station New River, North ...
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VMM-265 Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 265 (VMM-265) is a United States Marine Corps assault support transport squadron consisting of MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft. The squadron, known as the "Dragons", is based at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma ...
** VMM-266 **
VMM-268 Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 268 (VMM-268) is a United States Marine Corps helicopter squadron consisting of MV-22 transport. The squadron, known as the "Red Dragons", is based at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe, Hawaii and falls under t ...
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VMM-362 Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 362 (VMM-362) is a United States Marine Corps squadron that operates MV-22 Osprey. The squadron, known as the "Ugly Angels", was reactivated on 17 August 2018 at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California. Mis ...
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VMM-363 Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 363 (VMM-363) is a United States Marine Corps tiltrotor squadron consisting of MV-22 Osprey, MV-22B Ospreys. The squadron, known as the "Lucky Red Lions", is based at Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay, MCB Hawa ...
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VMM-365 Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 365 (VMM-365) is a United States Marine Corps tiltrotor squadron consisting of MV-22B Osprey transport aircraft. The squadron, known as the "Blue Knights", is based at Marine Corps Air Station New River, North C ...
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VMM-561 Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 561 (VMM-561) was a medium-lift squadron of the United States Marine Corps flying the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey. Known as the "Pale horse (Bible), Pale Horse", it was part of Marine Aircraft Group 16 and based out ...
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VMM-764 Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 764 (VMM-764) is a United States Marine Corps Reserve squadron consisting of MV-22B Ospreys. The squadron, known as "Moonlight," is based at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, CA and falls under the co ...
- Marine Air Reserve ** VMM-774 - Marine Air Reserve *
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
– 44 CMV-22Bs ordered, with deliveries started in 2020. **
HX-21 Air Test and Evaluation Squadron TWO ONE (HX-21) "Blackjack" is a U.S. Navy aircraft squadron located at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland on the Chesapeake Bay. As part of the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWC-AD), Naval ...
** VRM-30 ** VRM-40 ** VRM-50


Accidents

The V-22 Osprey has had 16 hull-loss accidents with a total of 62 fatalities . During testing from 1991 to 2000, there were four crashes causing 30 fatalities. , the V-22 has had 13 crashes which caused 32 fatalities since becoming operational in 2007. The aircraft's accident history has generated controversy over its perceived safety issues. Following the November 2023 crash in Japan, the Osprey was grounded for three months.


Aircraft on display

* 163911 – MV-22B on display at the Aviation Memorial at
Marine Corps Air Station New River Marine Corps Air Station New River is a United States Marine Corps helicopter and tilt-rotor base in Jacksonville, North Carolina, in the eastern part of the state. In 1972, the airfield was named McCutcheon Field for General Keith B. McCut ...
in
Jacksonville, North Carolina Jacksonville is a city in Onslow County, North Carolina. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 72,723, which makes Jacksonville the List of municipalities in North Carolina, 14th-most populous city in North Caroli ...
. * 163913 – V-22A on display at the
American Helicopter Museum & Education Center The American Helicopter Museum & Education Center (AHMEC) is located at 1220 American Boulevard, West Chester, Pennsylvania, United States. The transport museum focuses on the history, science and technology of rotary wing aviation. The collect ...
in
West Chester, Pennsylvania West Chester is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough and the county seat of Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located in the Delaware Valley, Philadelphia metropolitan area, the borough had a population of 18,671 at the 2020 census. West ...
. * 99-0021 (formerly 164939) – CV-22B on display at the
National Museum of the United States Air Force The National Museum of the United States Air Force (formerly the United States Air Force Museum) is the official museum of the United States Air Force located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, northeast of Dayton, Ohio. The NMUSAF is ...
at
Wright-Patterson AFB Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place just east of Dayton, Ohio, in Greene and Montgomery counties. It includes both Wright and Patterson Fields, which were originally Wilbur Wr ...
in
Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...
. * 164940 – MV-22B on display at the
Patuxent River Naval Air Museum The Patuxent River Naval Air Museum is a museum at Lexington Park, Maryland, first opened in 1978, which preserves and interprets the Naval Air Station Patuxent River history and heritage of advancing US naval aviation technology with artifacts, p ...
in
Lexington Park, Maryland Lexington Park is a census-designated place (CDP) in St. Mary's County, Maryland, United States, and the principal community of the Lexington Park, Maryland United States micropolitan area, Micropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 11,626 ...
.


Specifications (MV-22B)


Notable appearances in media


See also


References


Bibliography

* Markman, Steve and Bill Holder. "Bell/Boeing V-22 Osprey Tilt-Engine VTOL Transport (U.S.A.)". ''Straight Up: A History of Vertical Flight''. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing, 2000. . * Norton, Bill. ''Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey, Tiltrotor Tactical Transport''. Earl Shilton, Leicester, UK: Midland Publishing, 2004. . * O'Hanlon, Michael E
''Defense Policy Choices for the Bush Administration''
. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2002. . * Schinasi, Katherine V
''Defense Acquisitions: Readiness of the Marine Corps' V-22 Aircraft for Full-Rate Production''
. Darby, Pennsylvania: Diane Publishing, 2008. . * Whittle, Richard
''The Dream Machine: The Untold History of the Notorious V-22 Osprey''
. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010. .


External links


Official Bell V-22 page

Official Boeing V-22 page
{{Good article Tiltrotor aircraft
V-22 The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-use, tiltrotor military transport and cargo aircraft with both vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and short takeoff and landing (STOL) capabilities. It is designed to combine the functionalit ...
V-22 The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-use, tiltrotor military transport and cargo aircraft with both vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and short takeoff and landing (STOL) capabilities. It is designed to combine the functionalit ...
Boeing V-22 High-wing aircraft Turboshaft-powered aircraft Articles containing video clips Aircraft first flown in 1989 Aircraft with retractable tricycle landing gear