Under an agreement worth $590 million, the United States Navy has confirmed the purchase of new CMV-22B Osprey aircraft after the Department of Defense awarded a contract to the Bell-Boeing Joint Project Office. According to the statement, the agreement covers the manufacture and delivery of a total of five aircraft, with work expected to be completed by 2028.
As part of the modernization and replacement programs for its tiltrotor fleet, the U.S. Navy identified the need to replace its fleet of C-2A Greyhound carrier onboard delivery (COD) aircraft in the mid-2010s, as these are currently being phased out. This led the service to adapt the V-22 into the CMV-22B variant specifically for carrier resupply and transport missions, among other features. Years later, in 2018, the U.S. Navy ordered the first 39 CMV-22Bs. However, although the Navy’s Program of Record initially planned to acquire 48 units, over time, the service determined that only 44 aircraft would be required.
In this regard, the first CMV-22B Osprey, built by Boeing and Bell Textron, was delivered to the U.S. Navy in February 2020, reaching Initial Operational Capability (IOC) in 2021. By 2023, the Pentagon signed another $482 million agreement for four additional Ospreys as part of the program.
Additionally, as a tiltrotor aircraft, the Osprey has a key feature for carrier operations—its rotatable engine, which provides vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) capabilities as well as short takeoff and landing (STOL) capabilities. Regarding its operational tasks, the CMV-22B is designed to transport personnel and cargo from land bases to aircraft carriers and is the only aircraft capable of delivering the main components of F-35 engines directly to a carrier’s flight deck, a critical capability for U.S. Navy logistics. Furthermore, this variant has a greater fuel capacity than other Osprey models and is the only one in the Osprey family capable of carrying up to 2,700 kilograms of cargo over a distance exceeding 1,150 nautical miles.
It is important to note that these units have been affected by the suspension of operations following a 2023 accident in Japan involving a V-22 Osprey. Among other deployments, Ospreys have been stationed in Japan by the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, while those of the U.S. Air Force operate out of Yokota Air Base in Tokyo.
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