The Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey fleet surpassed 25,000 flight hours on March 9, when a crew from the first Osprey student class at the 71st Special Operations Squadron at Kirtland AFB, N.M. flew a two-hour qualification flight, according to Bell-Boeing officials at a Washington defense conference Wednesday. Air Force Special Operations Command’s 71st SOS became the Air Force’s inaugural CV-22 unit back in 2005. Gene Cunningham, Boeing Vice President and deputy V-22 program director, told Air Force Magazine he expects delivery of CV-10—AFSOC’s 10th Osprey—to Kirtland this month, with 11 CV-22s scheduled to roll off the line this year in total.
Air Force officials are exploring the idea of creating a new acquisition office to oversee the point defense mission, in the service’s latest move to intensify its focus on defending airbases from drone and missile attacks, Air Force Secretary Troy E. Meink said Sept. 14, during AFA’s Air, Space &…
