The Air Force reports that Air Force Special Operations Command flew a total of more than 13,000 hours and nearly 3,150 sorties over the course of 2006. Those flying statistics were spread across six models (see chart). The leader in flying hours is the AC-130V, with more than 6,500; the leader in sorties is the MH-53 helicopter, besting the gunship by 35 sorties, but flying about half as many hours.
The U.S. military’s V-22 Osprey fleet is set to receive a slate of improvements to increase safety as the fallout from a deadly crash of a U.S. Air Force Osprey off the coast of Japan in late 2023 continues to reverberate across the fleet. The primary focus of the confirmed…