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Navy orders four more CMV-22B variant aircraft in $309.5M deal

A CMV-22B Osprey helicopter -- four more of which have been ordered by the U.S. military -- takes off from the USS Carl Vinson in November during the aircraft's first operations aboard an aircraft carrier. Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy
A CMV-22B Osprey helicopter -- four more of which have been ordered by the U.S. military -- takes off from the USS Carl Vinson in November during the aircraft's first operations aboard an aircraft carrier. Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy

March 1 (UPI) -- The Bell-Boeing Joint Project Office received a $309.5 million Navy contract to deliver four CMV-22B Osprey helicopters, the Defense Department said last week.

The multi-mission, tiltrotor helicopter features vertical takeoff and landing, and short takeoff and landing capabilities.

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A variant of the MV-22B, introduced in 2007, it is replacement for the C-2A Greyhound helicopter for deliveries to aircraft carriers, known as the Carrier Onboard Delivery, or COD, mission.

Regarded as the Navy's next long-range/medium-lift helicopter, it is designed to combine the tasks of a conventional helicopter with the high-speed cruise performance of a turboprop aircraft.

The contract was announced on Feb. 26, the same day a CMV-22B made it's first delivery of an F-135 power module -- the engine for the F-35 Lightning II -- to the deck of an aircraft carrier.

A CMV-22B of the Fleet Logistics Multi-Mission Squadron of Carrier Air Wing 2 brought the module to the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, at sea in the Pacific Ocean.

The ability to bring complete F-35 engines to ships will allow for the aircraft to under the replenishment, replacement and repair process while aboard aircraft carriers and at sea.

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The USS Carl Vinson was also the site of the first landing of a CMV-22B aboard an aircraft carrier in November 2020.

The Navy purchased 39 CMV-22Bs in June 2018 in a $4.2 billion contract, which included helicopters assigned to the Air Force and Marine Corps.

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