Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey

V-22 Osprey
A MV-22 being used during a MAGTF demonstration during the 2014 Miramar Air Show
General information
Type	Tiltrotor military transport aircraft
National origin	United States
Manufacturer	Bell Helicopter Boeing Defense, Space & Security
Status	In service
Primary users	United States Marine Corps United States Air Force United States Navy Japan Ground Self-Defense Force
Number built	400 as of 2020[update][1]
History
Manufactured	1988–present
Introduction date	13 June 2007[2]
First flight	19 March 1989
Developed from	Bell XV-15
Variants	Bell Boeing Quad TiltRotor

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 functionality of a conventional helicopter with the long-range, high-speed cruise performance of a turboprop 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 in 1980 during the Iran hostage crisis 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 (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 and Boeing Helicopters was awarded a development contract in 1983 for the V-22 tiltrotor aircraft. The Bell-Boeing team jointly produces the aircraft.^[3] 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 (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 Knights. The U.S. Air Force (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 operations over Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and Kuwait. The U.S. Navy began using the CMV-22B for carrier onboard delivery duties in 2021.