Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) is working with the U.S. Marine Corps to improve the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft’s survivability and establish its assault-support elements in high-threat situations, National Defense Magazine reported Wednesday.
Col. Matthew Kelly, head of the Department of Defense’s joint V-22 program, said at The Patuxent Partnership’s virtual conference in February that the V-22 program office recently concluded an internal study on the aircraft's potential medium-lift capacity through the mid-future.
Kelly noted that his office is also looking into implementing helmet-mounted visualization technologies for the MV-22 variant for missions in degraded environments.
According to Kelly, the V-22 production line will accommodate additional orders through fiscal 2023. The governments of Indonesia and Israel are also looking to procure V-22s, he added.
“We’re really proud of the work the pilots, aircrews and maintainers do, and we’re looking forward to another 30 to 40 years of flying the V-22,” said Kelly.