On a rainy day in Paris earlier this year, the Marine Corps officer who oversees the V-22 Osprey program talked about the aircraft’s rising international demand.
More than a few countries are lining up to buy the tilt-rotor aircraft, which takes off and lands like a helicopter and flies like a plane, Col. Greg Masiello said during a June 17 press conference with reporters at the Paris Air Show. He didn’t specify which, though the Defense Department has already said Israel will be the first.
International sales of the V-22, made by a joint venture between Textron Inc.‘s Bell Helicopter unit and Boeing Co., may eventually reach more than 100 aircraft, Masiello said. That’s on top of the U.S. military’s planned purchase of 458 Ospreys, including 360 for the Marine Corps, 50 for the Air Force and 48 for the Navy, he said.
The Army, however, still doesn’t plan to buy any.
link.
No comments:
Post a Comment