Way to go Bell/Textron and the US Marines – just this week the 100th MV22 Osprey
rolled off the assembly line. With things going well in Iraq/Afganistan with the stellar performance of the Thunder Chickens and a new weapon system being fast tracked by BAE things are finally looking up for this beleaguered aircraft.
The production milestone, celebrated at the Bell Helicopter Military Aircraft Assembly Center in Amarillo, Texas highlighted the joint partnership between Bell Helicopter and Boeing, said one industry official on hand at the celebration. Officials marked the occasion by celebrating the aircraft already built and the long term contract the military and Bell-Boeing hope to finalize soon. That would produce another 167 in the next 5 years.
“They said teaming agreements would never work,” said Gene Cunningham, vice president and director of the joint Bell-Boeing V-22 Program office in Amarillo, according to a statement.
The long term contract is a welcome sign to Bell and its employees for continued production. Lieutenant General George Trautman says the Osprey is unlike anything the Marines have now, “The range and the speed of the Osprey and its ability to carry more than our aging CS-46 has been beneficial to the commanders on the ground.”
Two variants of the tilt-rotor aircraft are under production, for the Marine Corps and Air Force Special Operations Command. The Corps deployed 10 MV-22s from Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron-263 — the first to launch for real-world operations — to Iraq this past fall.
