The U.S. Air Force is deploying its first CV-22 Osprey aircraft to Africa next month, according to Air Force Special Operations Command officials.
The aircraft will participate in Flintlock 09, an exercise in the trans-Saharan region of the continent intended to help African nations patrol their own territory, according to a command statement. With poor road systems and vast distances to travel on the continent, the Bell-Boeing CV-22 is seen as well suited to provide the speed and reach needed for such missions.
These missions will employ the CV-22’s unique defenses and terrain-following radar, and will differ starkly from those of the Marine Corps, which is operating the MV-22 in western Iraq.
Air Force Special Operations Command currently has nine CV-22s in its young fleet, including five here at Hurlburt (with a sixth expected soon) and four at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M. for training, says Brig. Gen. Bradley Heithold, the command’s director of plans, programs, requirements and assessments.
The CV-22 recently completed the initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) period, and a final report is being written. However, command officials wanted to press the aircraft into service as soon as possible to support activities abroad. Meanwhile, the last MH-53 Pave Low helicopter, the CV-22’s predecessor, is retiring this month. CV-22 initial operational capability is expected next year.
The aircraft will also deploy with the Suite of Integrated Radio Frequency Countermeasures (SIRFC) defensive system.
Read the rest of this story, see why PEO Soldier is looking for input, check out some Pope buzzin’ and find out where to look for your robot gas monkey from our Aviation Week friends at Military.com.
– Christian
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Maybe I’m missing some info, but it sounds like AFSOCOM retired its Pavelow fleet before the CV-22 was ready. What are they flying in the meantime?
With regards to the PEO-Soldier story, isn’t it funny how asking the end user for input is considered a revolutionary step and not SOP?
@ TB
The last Pave Low was flown to the junk yard on Sept. 16. We have a few Osprey’s that are performing well. And plans are under way to increase the delivery time of the rest of the Osprey’s so AFSOC can do its job. There was just no way to keep on flying the Pave Lows. They were falling apart and the maintenance was too overwhelming. BTW, this is also becoming a problem with the AC-130s and MC-130Es, thus, the plans to acquire AC-27J and MC-130J aircraft.
The oft repeated evacuate expatriots from the lastest African civil war or coup ridden country mission is one that the V-22 seems perfectly suited for, so it is nice to see exercise that emphasize this role.
The irony is that we have the Air Force doing exercises in Africa, where Marines are usually deployed to respond to a crisis, while we have the Marines in landlocked Western Iraq, which is a deployment that isn’t squarely in their mission statement.
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