It will be awhile before Air Force Special Operations Command gets its first CV-22 Osprey, but that hasn't lowered the command's enthusiasm for the aircraft. The eagerness to get the plane isn't just because the CV-22 will replace up to 89 aircraft currently in AFSOC's inventory. Neither is it just because the CV-22 can take off and land like a helicopter and fly like a turboprop airplane. AFSOC - which has headquarters at Hurlburt Field, Fla. - is confident in the belief that the CV-22 will enable the command to do what it can't do now. That is, conduct long-range, high-speed, vertical lift missions in an aircraft capable of getting troops into and out of an area in one night. Almost futuristic in its design, the CV-22 looks like a helicopter on the ground with two sets of propeller rotors on each wing tip. Once airborne, the rotors tilt forward so the aircraft resembles a dragon fly with turboprops.

An MV-22 Osprey was delivered to Bell Helicopter Textron's Arlington, Texas, facility June 7 to be remanufactured into the CV-22, the Air Force version of the tiltrotor aircraft. This aircraft, a representative of future production models, will be used as a flight test vehicle. MV-22 No. 9 is one of four engineering, manufacturing and development (EMD) Marine Corps Ospreys that have been undergoing flight tests at the Naval Air Weapons Center - Aircraft Division (NAWC-AD) at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. The Air Force is acquiring the Ospreys to replace its fleet of MH-53J Pave Low helicopters used to insert and extract special operations forces covertly from hostile areas. The Air Force version of the Osprey will have a Suite of Integrated Radio Frequency Countermeasures (SIRFC), which includes an active jammer. SIRFC can geo-locate threats using its missile warning receivers, as well as incorporate real-time intelligence from a multi-mission advanced tactical terminal (MATT).

An MV-22 Osprey was delivered to Bell Helicopter Textron's Arlington, Texas, facility June 7 to be remanufactured into the CV-22, the Air Force version of the tiltrotor aircraft. This aircraft, a representative of future production models, will be used as a flight test vehicle. MV-22 No. 9 is one of four engineering, manufacturing and development (EMD) Marine Corps Ospreys that have been undergoing flight tests at the Naval Air Weapons Center - Aircraft Division (NAWC-AD) at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. The Air Force is acquiring the Ospreys to replace its fleet of MH-53J Pave Low helicopters used to insert and extract special operations forces covertly from hostile areas. The Air Force version of the Osprey will have a Suite of Integrated Radio Frequency Countermeasures (SIRFC), which includes an active jammer. SIRFC can geo-locate threats using its missile warning receivers, as well as incorporate real-time intelligence from a multi-mission advanced tactical terminal (MATT).

An MV-22 Osprey was delivered to Bell Helicopter Textron's Arlington, Texas, facility June 7 to be remanufactured into the CV-22, the Air Force version of the tiltrotor aircraft. This aircraft, a representative of future production models, will be used as a flight test vehicle. MV-22 No. 9 is one of four engineering, manufacturing and development (EMD) Marine Corps Ospreys that have been undergoing flight tests at the Naval Air Weapons Center - Aircraft Division (NAWC-AD) at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. The Air Force is acquiring the Ospreys to replace its fleet of MH-53J Pave Low helicopters used to insert and extract special operations forces covertly from hostile areas. The Air Force version of the Osprey will have a Suite of Integrated Radio Frequency Countermeasures (SIRFC), which includes an active jammer. SIRFC can geo-locate threats using its missile warning receivers, as well as incorporate real-time intelligence from a multi-mission advanced tactical terminal (MATT).

An MV-22 Osprey prepares to launch from the USS Saipan in the Atlantic Ocean. Maintainers from Edwards Air Force, Calif., deployed onboard the Navy ship for recent Osprey sea trials.

The Air Force's newest aircraft, the CV-22 Osprey, landed at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., Sept. 18 to undergo two years of flight-testing. The Osprey's electronic warfare suite will be tested and then other features will be tested to include a multi-mode radar used for terrain following and terrain avoidance; radar jamming and integrated radio frequency capabilities and special auxiliary fuel tanks.