The Bell-Boeing team has delivered the first combat-configured CV-22 tilt-rotor aircraft to Air Force Special Operations Command. Getting the keys to the new Osprey was Lt. Col. Jim Cardoso, commander of 71st Special Operations Squadron, which will use the new special ops aircraft for aircrew training at Kirtland AFB, N.M. At a March 1 ceremony at the Bell assembly center in Amarillo, Tex., Maj. Gen. Donald Wurster, AFSOC vice commander, called the CV-22 “the single most significant transformation” for special ops since introduction of the helicopter. AFSOC expects to field the CV-22 by 2009.
The U.S. military conducted strikes on Iranian targets around the Strait of Hormuz on May 7, as the conflict with Iran flared up again—though officials say the ceasefire remains in effect.