Mission

The MV-22 Osprey’s mission for the U.S. Marine Corps is the transportation of troops, equipment, and supplies from ships and land bases for combat assault and assault support.

Description

The MV-22B Osprey is a tiltrotor V/STOL aircraft designed as the medium-lift replacement for the CH-46E Sea Knight assault support helicopter. The Osprey can operate as a helicopter or a turboprop aircraft and offers twice the speed, six times the range, and three times the payload of the CH-46E.

Initial Operational Capability (IOC) for the MV-22B was declared in June 2007. The Osprey had three successful combat deployments in Iraq from October 2007 to April 2009 with VMM-263, VMM-162 and VMM-266 respectively. VMM-263 embarked on the first MV-22 shipboard deployment with the Bataan Ready Group in May 2009 as part of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU).

On Mar. 28, 2008, NAVAIR awarded a five-year, $10.3 billion dollar contract to Bell- Boeing for 141 MV-22 Ospreys for the Marine Corps and 26 CV-22 Ospreys for the Air Force Special Operations Command. It is the first multi-year procurement contract for the Osprey program, covering purchases in FY08-12. The deal saves the taxpayers $427 million and reduces risk to the government by establishing cost ceilings.

On June 12, 2013 the Navy signed a second multiyear procurement (MYPII) contract with Bell Boeing for production of the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft.  This multiyear contract procures 100 V-22s during FY13-FY17 with 93 MV-22s going to the Marine Corps and seven CV-22s to the Air Force.  The total contract value is nearly $6.4 billion and is expected to save approximately $1 billion during its period of performance.

This fixed-price-incentive-fee multiyear contract provides program stability that supports both services’ needs to field new and better capabilities, and in the Marine Corps case, retire old aircraft.

Specifications

Primary Function: Medium-lift assault support

Contractor: Bell-Boeing

Date Deployed: 2007

Propulsion: Two Rolls-Royce Liberty AE1107C engines, each deliver 6,200 shaft horsepower

Length: 57’ 4”

Height: 22’ 1”

Wingspan: 83’ 10”

Weight: maximum gross 60,500 pounds (self-deployment); 57,000 pounds (STOL); 52,600 (VTOL)

Crew: 2 pilots, 1 crew chief

Program Status

ACAT: ACAT IC Program
Production Phase: In Production
Achieved Initial Operational Capabilities (IOC) date: 2007
Projected Full Operational Capabilities (FOC) date: 2018

Updated: February 2023