Bell and Boeing have completed the MV-22 Program of Record for the United States Marine Corps, closing out deliveries of the tiltrotor to the service after 359 aircraft, the companies stated.
The milestone was marked with a ceremony at the Bell Amarillo Assembly Center in Texas on 28 July. The Marine Corps operates the largest Osprey fleet of any service, and attention now shifts to sustainment and upgrade work, with the companies saying the Corps expects to keep the type flying until 2055.
Eldon Metzger, V-22 programme director at Bell, said in the release that for the Marine Corps the milestone “isn’t an end, it’s a transition to the next chapter”, and that the company is committed to delivering sustainment, readiness and modernisation.
Colonel Robert Hurst, programme manager at the V-22 Joint Program Office, described the completion as significant, saying delivery of the MV-22 has “extended the reach and lethality of the United States Marine Air-Ground Task Force for 20 years”. He said efforts remain focused on fleet readiness, capability and modernisation.
Danielle Hoelzer, V-22 programme director at Boeing, credited engineers, technicians and suppliers with delivering a capability that lets the Corps operate with speed, range and flexibility, adding that the companies remain “committed to keeping the fleet mission-ready well into the future”.
The release points to several operations the type has flown. Marine Ospreys have been supporting United States and partner nation search and rescue teams following the Venezuela earthquake since 24 June, and the aircraft were used through Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq and Syria for troop movement, resupply and casualty evacuation.
During the 2022 Haiti earthquake response, the companies state MV-22s flew 5,300 nautical miles, moved more than 230,000 pounds of food and carried 320 aid workers. The type also supported the 2009 operation to recover Captain Richard Phillips after the hijacking of the Maersk Alabama.
Bell and Boeing say Team Osprey draws on more than 500 US-based suppliers across 44 states and some 27,000 employees. Production continues on the CMV-22 for the US Navy, which uses the variant for carrier onboard delivery in place of the retired C-2 Greyhound, and the partnership is running the Nacelle Improvement programme intended to address maintenance burden on the Air Force CV-22 fleet.
The Osprey was the first tiltrotor to enter military service, reaching initial operational capability with the Marine Corps in 2007 after a development history stretching back to the 1980s that included fatal crashes and repeated attempts at cancellation. The aircraft takes off and lands like a helicopter but cruises like a turboprop, roughly doubling the speed and radius available from the CH-46 Sea Knight it replaced.
