A US Marine V-22 Osprey ascends the USS Bataan in Aqaba, Jordan, to begin flight in 2017. (US Army photo by Sgt. Mickey A. Miller)
WASHINGTON — The Marine Corps welcomed its final MV-22 Osprey into its fleet today.
The aircraft is the 359th Osprey delivered to the Marine Corps and completes the program of record — prompting the service to invest in modernization initiatives for the aircraft moving forward, according to a Marine Corps news release.
The Marine Corps’ Osprey fleet reached initial operating capability in 2007, logging more than 686,500 flight hours across 114 operational deployments. The aircraft can take off and land vertically, and is designed to ferry troops, equipment, and supplies across ships and land bases, according to Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR).
“The MV-22B didn’t just join our fleet; it fundamentally changed the way the Marine Air-Ground Task Force generates combat power,” Lt. Gen. William Swan, deputy commandant for aviation, said in a statement. “It provides commanders with decision space that only speed and reach can provide, connecting ships, bases, and distributed forces in ways previous generations could only imagine. Today, Marine commanders build operations around the assumption that the MV-22B will be there.”
