US Air Force welcomes arrival of first combat-configured CV-22 Osprey

Air Force leadership accepted the keys for the first combat-configured CV-22 Osprey from Bell Boeing March 1 in a ceremony at the Bell manufacturing facility in Amarillo, Texas.

While earlier versions of the CV-22 tiltrotor aircraft are in use as test assets, this is the first of the "Block B/10" aircraft, representing the configuration that the Air Force Special Operations Command will take into combat in 2009.

Senior DoD leaders taking part in the ceremony included Army Gen. Doug Brown, commander of U.S. Special Operations Command; Air Force Lt. Gen. John L. Hudson, commander of Aeronautical Systems Center; and Air Force Maj. Gen. Donald Wurster, vice commander of AFSOC. The man to receive the keys to the aircraft, however, was Air Force Lt. Col. Jim Cardoso, commanding officer of the 71st Special Operations Squadron, which will get this Osprey to support aircrew training at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M.

The Air Force will purchase 50 CV-22s for long-range infiltration, exfiltration and re-supply of special operations forces in hostile or denied territory. The Osprey provides twice the speed, up to five times the range and significantly enhanced survivability over other conventional rotary wing platforms.

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