The Air Force added the CV-22 tilt-rotor aircraft to its list of 2007 unfunded priorities to try to answer a US Special Operations Command request that “this critical capability be fielded as soon as possible,” Maj. Gen. Stanley Gorenc told lawmakers yesterday at a Capitol Hill hearing. The upfront funds the Air Force is seeking would accelerate full operational capability by three years. Gorenc, USAF’s operational capabilities requirements chief, said the CV-22 Osprey would “greatly enhance SOF capabilities.” The Air Force version of the Osprey will replace 31 Air Force Special Operations Command MH-53s.
The U.K. and the U.S. will continue to enjoy access to the ports, airfield, and workshops at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean for at least another century, under a deal inked between the U.K. and Mauritius May 22.