The te
st team at Edwards AFB, Calif., has completed developmental flight-testing of the CV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft. Next up is operational testing at Hurlburt Field, Fla., where the operators of Air Force Special Operations Command already are flying the new aircraft. SrA. Jason Hernandez reports that the Edwards integrated test team, comprising personnel from Air Force Materiel Command, AFSOC, Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center, Naval Air Systems Command, Marine Corps, Bell Helicopter, and Boeing, began flight testing in September 2002 with two CV-22s. In 2005, the team gained a third Osprey and flew a total of 2,000 hours with all three. “In those 2,000 hours, we have met all of our test objectives and goals,” said Steve Sisterman, the team director.
The U.S. sent Air Force F-16s over central Syria in a show of force following the Dec. 13 killing of two U.S. Army Soldiers and one American civilian interpreter by a gunman linked to the Islamic State group.
